'Tis Christmas Eve.
If you haven't shopped for gifts and stocked the larder by now, you really may be on Santa's "Bad" list.
So, last chance, get after it.
Or . . .
'Tis Christmas Eve.
If you haven't shopped for gifts and stocked the larder by now, you really may be on Santa's "Bad" list.
So, last chance, get after it.
Or . . .
Oh, joy to the world, it's a special edition of The Friday Funnies, just because it's (nearly) Christmas.
That time of year when the consumption of alcoholic drinks soars, that time of year when Uncle Ned and Dad nearly come to blows over the groaning table, that time of year when a lot of mothers and wives deem divorce not to be such a bad idea.
Oh you know I'm kidding.
A little bit.
But let's take a look at what my co-conspirators have come up with for this special Friday.
Time is running short.
I'm heading back in the kitchen today.
The stores are full of Christmas shoppers.
Candles are being lit.
As we saw yesterday, trees are falling and even if no one but the cat was there to hear it, that tree definitely did fall.
So let's get on it procrastinators.
Time is running short.
Winter Solstice has arrived!
That means the longest night of darkness in the year.
But there's good news too.
From here on, each day will be light a little bit longer.
Well, at least for the next six months.
Of course if you live south of the Equator the situation is exactly reversed so brace yourselves.
Did you recognize what yesterday was?
12-20-2022.
Try saying that out loud.
Meanwhile, on the Christmas watch . . .
SWMBO will come after me for posting this one because she hates the television commercial which is running constantly which echoes this scene.
But it's funny in The Christmas Story movie, isn't it?
Anyway, here goes.
Oooooohhhhh, it's getting closer.
It's only 9 days away now.
There's a tingling in the air.
(Really! The overnight lows here have been in the teens!!!)
There's a jingling in the ether.
(At least for those who haven't had their radios smashed yet!)
It's beginning to look a lot like . . . .
Well, you know.
So let's put some of that holiday cheer on the old blog, whaddaya say?
Oh, you must remember José For-Lease-iano!
Well, whatever.
Watch out for falling trees, smashed ornaments, candy crushed into the carpet and other joys of the season and have yourselves a very, merry weekend.
And always remember to keep laughing!
Your in-laws will think you're crazy but who cares.
Here, kitty-kitty . . .
'tis the season to be jolly!
And to eat and drink like folly.
You may have noticed an upsurge in posts here about Christmas goodies.
It's a season, possibly starting with Thanksgiving and running until after the New Year has been drunk rung in.
Everywhere there are talk and photos and t.v. programs about food and drink of the most extravagant kind.
It may be my favorite time of the year!
So I am indebted to the Mirthful Monk today for providing me with a perfect meme for the occasion.
Enjoy yourselves, everyone, for who knows what the morrow shall bring!
Whenever I post something about our cooler weather or snow I get the same reaction from folks far and wide along the lines of "I didn't know it ever snowed in Arizona" or "I thought Arizona was hot and dry".
Today I'm offering a short educational post.
Most people who've never been here or have only been to places like Phoenix or Tucson in the summertime have only one impression of the climate here.
It's true.
Much of the southern part of the state is in the Great Sonoran Desert where the mighty Saguaro Cactus thrives.
But as the tv commercials yell "But wait! There's more!"
In northeastern Arizona, one finds Monument Valley as the Hollywood director John Huston did a few years ago.
He used that scenic wonderland to make Western movies that turned John Wayne into a movie star.
Also near that part of the state is a big hole in the ground which gave my state it's nickname: the Grand Canyon State.
But I know you've all seen pictures of it so I won't bother to show it to you again.
Oh, oops, I guess I couldn't sneak that omission by the Canyon's press agent.
But now let me show you some other aspects of Arizona which are NOT copper-colored.
For example the Mogollon Rim, which covers many miles across the mid-section of the state.
See all those green trees?
Over to the east from there, near the border with New Mexico, are the White Mountains, a cool vacationland for Phoenix residents seeking to escape the summer heat and maybe do a little fly fishing.
There's a town over there called Snowflake.
And speaking of snow let me take you to the Flagstaff area and the San Francisco Peaks and Mount Humphreys, which tops out at nearly 13,000 feet.
So you see?
There's a wide diversity in Arizona.
Of terrain, of flora and fauna, and of climate.
I'm not getting paid for this but I'd recommend a subscription to Arizona Highways magazine if you'd like to see and learn more about my adopted state.
Actually I've lived here more than half of my life and that's a lot of years.
And hot or cold, I still love it here.
Surprise! We got more snow during the night.
As usual, the Weather Gods were trying to put The Fear into us about a huge winter storm heading our way.
It had already dumped a bunch of snow on the Sierras in northern California and supposedly was bearing down on us here in normally balmy Arizona.
(BTW, by "balmy", I'm talkin' about the weather, not our political climate.)
So Flagstaff, to the north of us, got about 6 inches and here in Prescott Valley we got maybe an inch or so.
Hardly a snowcopalypse but enough to make for some nice photos.
The Taylor Family Bakery was humming again today but with a difference.
The Master was back.
The Holiday Season that comes around toward the end of the year seems to bring out the Gingerbread Lady complex in my mate.
And today she was knee arm deep in cookie dough.
Proof: