WHO IS THAT?

Who is that big fat guy with the white hair and beard, wearing a red suit and yelling "Ho!  Ho!  Ho!"?  Who is that guy anyway?  And what is he doing in my house?

Credits

The cat:  Lilly

The plant:  by Mother Nature

Photographer:  The BRD (Beautiful Rich Daughter)

HERE COMES WINTER!

Today marks the beginning of winter up here in the Northern Hemisphere, or as the scientists call it the Winter Solstice.  Living in the Arizona desert, actually properly known as the Great Sonoran Desert, we welcome winter as a time of moderate temperatures, a relief from the freaking days of 100+ temperatures.

But I remember winter.

That picture was taken some time in the mid-1940's in my home town of Stanley, North Dakota.  That's me on the left, my older brother, Wayne, on the right with his hand on the shovel. Apparently he had been detailed to clear the sidewalk and steps in front of our home.  I gather I was supervising and generally getting in the way.

This picture was taken just after the big blizzard of 1966 in Bismarck, North Dakota.  My Chevrolet Impala with my personalized ham radio license plate had been buried by snow drifting off the roof of the home I lived in then.  I had been shoveling it out but stopped to take this picture.

This one was taken in 1975 showing the frosted trees in front of the home I grew up in.  (Note the television antenna on the roof.)

So I can sympathize with you folks in other parts of the country that are currently (and many for the past several weeks) fighting their way through snow and ice and freezing rain.

But as we say in Arizona - "You don't have to shovel sunshine!"

FRIDAY FUNNIES

O.K. folks, put on your "grin face".  Ain't nothin' serious here today.

Have a great weekend and remember if you're thinking of sending me a Christmas gift cash is always handy.

CATS RULE!

If you have ever doubted the title of this post, just check out this video.

NO DOG SHALL PASS

And, just to lighten the mood further, here's a picture the BRD sent me this morning of one of her cats, Lilly, guarding a Christmas garland.

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

They aren't mine.  They belong to a former colleague of mine and a long-time friend.  I didn't know he was blogging.  In fact, this may be his first blog.  But I would suggest you encourage him, if you like his stuff.  I do.  His name is Roger, or as I call him "Rajah".

Try Ball Points

TURNAROUND

This is kind of how we feel right now.

We have given notice to our landlord that we will be leaving by January 31st, at the latest.

Once again we are looking for a place to live, preferably in Prescott, where the BRD lives, or nearby Prescott Valley, where we lived for 17 years before moving to Phoenix in March.

"Why?", you're probably wondering.

The basic reason was a severe reduction in our income that we hadn't seen coming.

But there was the heat, also.  We had lived in Phoenix for nearly 15 years before and thought we could handle it.  But it was severe and brutal and we didn't handle it very well.

So we moved to Phoenix in time for the summer heat.  Now we're moving back north in time for the winter cold.  Are we crazy or not?

Moving is a joyless task and, frankly, we're getting too old for this. So hopefully this will be our last move.

Hmmm, isn't that what we said when we moved to Phoenix 8-1/2 months ago?

We've enjoyed Phoenix for the most part.  The art museum, the Musical Instrument Museum, the concerts, the restaurants.  But we'll still only be about 80 miles away so we can visit.

Now...just where did I put that Powerball ticket?

JUST VISITING

We had a visitor the other day.

This mainly white cat showed up at the back door.  She had a tag so she belongs to someone and she looked well-fed and healthy. Blackwell was the most curious of our two and he and this stranger were nose-to-nose through the glass in the door.

The stranger didn't seem alarmed by either of our cats or even by me taking pictures of her.  (I assume she was a "she", just by the looks of her.)  She walked around the yard and even lay down for awhile on our patio.

Muggles checked her out but after a short look he wandered off.

She posed for my camera and the girl, even with a moustache, could melt any cat-lover's heart.

A friend of ours, Carol, sent  us a Christmas card and a book of poems "written" by cats.  Here is one of them.

O  Christmas Tree

O  please

O  come on

O  like you didn't know

What you were getting for Christmas

before I ripped open all your gifts

O  by the way

The tree looks better on its side

O  I really do think so