Wednesday, December 23, 2009

MELTING INTO THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT:))



SAND HILL CRANES HEADING FOR THEIR FEEDING GROUNDS WITH THIS MORNINGS SNOW COVERED MULE MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND

Tuesday's buffeting winds left quietly sometime during the night. We had gone to bed with our slides pulled in to lessen the noise & around 3 I woke up & all was quiet except for a pinging on the sides & rooftop of the motorhome which I just assumed was rain. Figured that was ok as long as the winds didn't come back so rolled over & headed for dreamland again. 

SNOWING THIS MORNING WHEN WE GOT UP!!

It was still dark when we both arose around 6 & when Kelly opened the door to let the little Motormouse out..........the ground was white!!!! Those pinging sounds I had heard earlier was rain transitioning to sleet & then snow. Needless to say it was quite a surprise to see snow all over the ground. We did see snow once before here back in February of this year & there was more of it at that time. The surrounding mountains were totally beautiful in their new white cloaks. Took a few pics & then hustled down to the corral & opened the pasture gate for the donkey's to come in. Had my favorite Christmas Carol playing in my head while watching the snowflakes falling slowly on the donkeys as they came happily trotting through the gate. Johnny Mathis singing, 'Sleigh Ride.' "Just here those sleigh bells jingle-ing, Ring ting tingle-ing too." I even hum that one in the summer time when I'm feeling happy:)) Fixed the donkey guys up a nice fresh bale of hay for breakfast & there were contented Hee-Haw's all the way around. I'm sure they were glad to get in with a roof over their heads because it was still snowing a bit & they looked pretty bedraggled.


I generally have myself a pre-Christmas bluster every year but as Christmas Eve draws closer the little boy in me comes trotting out of the past & puts this old cursmudgeon right in his place for a couple days. And you know what, I kinda like when that happens every year. But, more about that little boy later.


We needed a few groceries plus I was feeling a little Christmassy when I woke up this morning so we decided to slip over to Wal-Mart in Douglas. Besides, I wanted to see the snow covered mountains on both sides of the valley on the drive south.  I  also felt like a people fix & usually a half hour in Wal-Mart takes care of that for me. Kelly said the store was not busy yesterday so I took a chance that it still wouldn't be busy this morning,  And, it wasn't.  Nice to see the Christmas decorations, hear the Christmas Carols, & tune into the Christmas feeling tingling in the air. Not quite the same here in Arizona though when you have been used to over 60 years of gently falling snow on quiet winter nights. Twinkling colored lights melted into snow banks under evergreen trees & the soft crunch of new fallen snow under warm winter boots. Nope, not quite the same I thought to myself as we walked across a snowless parking lot back to the car in the warming rays of the morning sun.

ON THE WAY TO DOUGLAS ARIZONA THIS MORNING

Resurrected our Star Choice television satellite dish this afternoon & after some finagling with the elevation adjustment we were locked back onto the bird. Of course after the first couple sweeps of the sky when the signal was not found I was convinced the LMB was wrecked & was ready to throw the whole set-up in the garbage but Kelly persevered & with a tweak here & grunt there, all was right in AL's world again.




SLAM DUNKED TRIPOD
TUESDAY & SET UP AGAIN WEDNESDAY
Kelly picked up a nice string of cactus/cowboy boots lights a week ago so we have them hanging in the motorhome. I left them on last night when I went to bed because they cast a warm Christmassy glow inside making everything look so warm & cozy. When I awoke in the night & looked around I was reminded of those festive & fun Christmas times so many years ago when I was just a little feller. My first Christmas memory sometime in the late 40's was of being in an old department store in Woodstock Ontario & there were Christmas Carols playing. Large colorful red bells, wreaths, & decorations were all around me & everything seemed so big & so happy. Remember, I was just a little fellow probably only about 3 feet tall. I was with my Mom & Dad at the time. It's the only pleasant memory I have of them to-gether. They were later bitterly divorced when I was about 6 I think. But, I still have that memory & I kept that in my mind last night as I drifted off back to sleep. Despite all my pre-Christmas blusters, the little Christmas boy is still inside me playing happily with his memories of warm & fun filled Christmas's long ago:))

SNOWY DESERT MORNING

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I have a friend who is a real inventor. He took the fender from a Chevy, a motor from a Ford, & the transmission from a Mercedes Benz. D'ya know what he got for that? -- Three years!!

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/  
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.



11 comments:

  1. Your photo "snowy desert morning" was totally awesome. So very beautiful with all of the fresh snow.

    Love the little donkeys. Maybe one of them would like to move in with you guys and the pups. They seem like great little critters.

    Merry Christmas to you and Kelly!

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  2. Glad to hear the dish and LNB are ok.Nice pic's of the snow on the desert.
    Strange about the different latitudes.Your at about 4000ft with snow and yesterday I was at 7800ft and it was a sunny 57 degrees.Then a half hour later I drove down to where it was 80.

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  3. Unbelievable photos. I have to say it looks like one of the most beautiful places on earth. You not only have a way of capturing beauty in your photographs but your writing captures many of my own childhood memories. Thanks for taking me back.

    -Connie

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  4. Great blog this morning... (as usual)
    I am sitting in the cold cold north with storms blustering outside, the plows just growled their way down our quiet country road. We are going to be snowed and iced in for Christmas. I think the desert where you are looks mighty nice this time of year! The weathermen are sounding quite gloomy and doomy around here.

    Merry Christmas to you and Kelly and the doggers!

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  5. Ya see, ya got snow at Christmas!! :) Hope you both have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Blog on mates. :))

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  6. Ho! Ho! Ho! See, a little Christmas spirit and you are rewarded with a White Christmas - even in the desert! Enough to make an old curmudgeon say "Bah, Humbug"!!

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  7. Thanks Al....I just feel all warm and fuzzy after reading your blog....Merry Christmas to ya both!

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  8. We aren't fuzzy like Debbie, but we enjoyed your pix. Snow landed here during night before last but didn't stay -- just on the mountains.

    See, you asked us to wrangle up some snow and we did. Aren't you glad you didn't ask for a blizzard?

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  9. The snow was wonderful to see. We also were out and got some pics (for later). Your photographs are great as always. Hope to see you Mon. at photo group. Merry Christmas to both of you. Love the lights :)

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  10. A very very MERRY CHRISTMAS to the entire Bayfield bunch !

    the hermit

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  11. Merry Christmas from the southern tip of Texas on the Mexico Border....

    You need to get yourself a "Claw" to hold the dish down. Just google CLAW or airplane tie down's. That way you can throw all the blocks and water jugs away,,,,It works beautifuly.. Let me know if you don't find it and I'll look it up..

    Great memories!!!! Great pictures and great BLOG!!!

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