December 23, 2019

Yesteryear
One year ago today: December 23, 2018, and everybody’s still broke.
Five years ago today: December 23, 2014, Myth 3 is anti-welfare!
Nine years ago today: December 23, 2010, jam at Mr. Laff’s.
Random years ago today: December 23, 2012, Florida is potholes.

           Santa Paws day, but not the corny one all over the Internet. I mean the private party over here later. What a day. It decided to stop raining and warm up, so the boys and I drove up to their favorite Wal*mart in Mt. Juliet. You see, these critters actually know when they are getting presents, and also how to unwrap them. Stick around and I”ll get video of it. Meanwhile, see this pose of the dog, Sparkie. That’s what I felt like doing all day long.

           Instead, we did a three mile walk in the sunshine. You can always come along on these, you know. I also did a bunch of settle-in shopping, somehow manageing to forget to buy coffee. Maybe I’ve got Santa Paws on the brain.
           We took the dogs around the neighborhood again. I may try to get you some views of the best decorated houses. The advent of microcomputers and multiplexing has done wonders for the displays, although to fire in sequence, the LEDs have to be carefully placed in order. It breathes new life into an old industry, I wonder why nobody has brought out lighted ornaments yet. They still use old-fashioned bulbs.

Picture of the day.
Fun in the sun.
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           For lunch, I decided to make a pot of German style borscht. The kind with a spot of vinegar, and the clarified onions presoaked in beet juice to make them red. Funny how so many people then think the onions are the beets. Here’s your proof of total homemade, I could not find organic carrots and cabbage, so you will have to settle for non-GMO.

           I got about half done to learn an excellent chef was coming over here for the celebration. This is the chap who make that damn good Thanksgiving dinner last year, on the return leg of the Great Trek West of 2018. Remember that, with the brocolli tree? Same guy, and he did it again. Curried veggies and one of the middle eastern dishes that looks like buckwheat. And looks like hamburger, but not the chickpea thing. Oh, what’s it called?
           We never touched the borscht, so guess what’s for breakfast tomorrow? What, you never had borscht for breakfast before? Give it a whirl, hot or cold. Beet juice is good for you, and American food manufacturer’s have finally begun using it as a food coloring instead of that arsenic chemical or whatever they used before.

           You may not get any videos this trip after all. My installed version of VLC won’t capture the stills. So, here’s a still of the doggies getting into their presents. Santa Paws as it happens. There may be no videos until I get back to my desktop at the winter cabin. That’s where I live. At the winter cabin. I cannot take even the mildest cold any more, so I’m freezing my tootsies.

           I’m serious about the doggies knowing it’s Xmas. My theory is that they can hear the sound of wrapping paper behind a closed door. There’s Sparkie, the bucket-head with his mug in the paper bag for more. They do know how to open presents, but forget about saving the wrapping. There won’t be any pieces big enough.

Last Laugh
(when you see it – music shark)