One year ago today: December 25, 2019, a JeePee Xmas.
Five years ago today: December 25, 2015, remember the 2,600 Humvees?
Nine years ago today: December 25, 2011, very fine indeed.
Random years ago today: December 25, xxxx, WIP
A cool and crisp morning, we had the neighbors over for breakfast. Best of the Season to everyone. We are not that big on Xmas as a holiday. This weather sends my appetite wild, probably some instinct picked up from my upbringing on the prairies. Here is the mini-van, which you’ll come to know and love. The Carfax on it is nearly three times what I paid, but I will have to immediately put new tires and the windshield has a crack I don’t like at all. Other than that, only the driver’s seat shows any sign of wear. Pardon me, the trim around the satellite radio is worn.
Eventually all the neighbors came over so we did not gt out of here until noon. Mostly walking the dog, and you can see the dusing of snow, let me tell you it was cold. I would as soon stay under the quilt all day reading, butSammy is still so stressed, he gets a lot of short walks. We gave a friend a ride out to Hendersonville, which can’t be reached without driving way around the lake.
There is a park on the way with a small bridge. Thinking we would walk the dog, we soon learned the folly. The ducks were okay with the wind across that pond but that was the coldest I’ve been in since the 1970s. We later learned it was 68% humidity, both being west coast types, we learned what that can do. On the way back we sang Xmas carols in the car, it was a reminder of how often we’ve planned to record. I would describe our sound as “it blends well”.
Swiss Vatican brass band.
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Back home, we had to put on the room heaters. I prepped the veggies, letting the Reg do something I never managed. Cook fish. In this case, Norwegian salmon. She found a brand that was ecological, so that’s my first in,well, a lot of years. It was our best Xmas dinner yet, with roast brussel sprouts. That’s another thing I never got the knack of. And nutmeg sweet potatoes. I peeled enough for a week. And wine, I drank wine. Most out of character for me, but with the Reb, I’m game.
We held Santa Paws, nobody is over Sparkie yet. Here is
I braved the cold a few times to do things like check how long it takes the Smithsonian (tentative nickname for the van) to warm up. A full 4-1/2 minutes. Certainly not instant on like the Taurus. Mind you, I may not be using the settings right, separate driver and passenger A/C does not make a lot of sense to me. It’s all the same compartment, right? She swears by it, I’ve never had it. Even my old Cadillac was one temperature, but it did it to a tee.
Sadly, Sammy, the smaller dog, is lost without his companion. Around an eighth the size of Sparkie, it’s likehe got used to letting the big dog crash along and clear the path. Poor little tyke is depressed and lies in one spot a lot by the window. You can’t help but think he’s waiting for his pal to return. The Reb’s gift was a plaster cast of Sparkie’s paw, most touching. Those snowman glasses from the club last week, remember those. You look through them and it makes Xmas tree lights look like little snowmen. I finally got the camera to capture the effect. How do you like these? Can you see the snowmen?
For those familiar with my life-long quest to go see the Smithsonian, you can smile at another bit of karma. Am I destined to never see that museum? Just moments after I bought the van, thinking here is my ticket to finally see the place, Trump announces he will veto spending on museums during the lockdown. Later I heard the money was for building a wing dedicated to yet another liberal brain-fart like the role of some minority in the Mars space program. Still, the museum is shut down and I just found that out. Will I ever make that tour, now over 50 years in the waiting room?
