Christmas Memories

 

 

Back about 1975, Christmas at our house looked like this:

 

A $5 permit in hand, we trudge through the snow in the mountains picking out the perfect tree to cut down.  We never wanted to cut off more than we had to, so sometimes the tree had to duck the ceiling a little.  Not many decorations, but we would buy one new box of Christmas ornaments every year knowing that eventually we could absolutely overload a tree.

 

A legacy from my childhood, there was the American Flyer train layout, different every year, with the Lionel transformer so the locomotives would have plenty of power.  Lots of practice putting train car wheels back on the tracks.  Drops down the smokestack of one of the engines would provide chuffing smoke (and a special aroma).  As presents started to accumulate they could be arranged as backstops and tunnels.  Running the trains was good for a week or two, until the tracks were overwhelmed by presents, even if we had to take the pack of a dozen Hot Wheels cars apart and wrap them all individually to accomplish our goal.

 

Reflections of my own overwhelming Christmases with presents piled high.  Later in life Mom told stories of Dad telling her that Christmas needed to be different this year.  We were just going to buy a few presents, then looking at the tree right before Christmas and declaring that this just won’t do, and going out shopping for a giant bag of toys because Christmas morning just has to “look right”.  So, Dad’s legacy to our legacy, Christmas just has to “look right.

 

Along the way

 

 

Coyote through the windshield.

 

 

Who knows what the heck left these prints

 

 

 

Not the ungulate tracks to the right, we’ve got white tailed deer, exotics, and javelina for that, but the small pointy, really sharp canine tracks on the left.  The tiny predator.

 

I’m thinking maybe gray fox.   Or maybe a Pomeranian in need of a pedicure.

 

A very wet

 

 

 

 

Lesser Goldfinch.

 

Until we’re Old and Eighty

 

 

Judy and Me.  That has been our mantra since we were children.  That was our pledge to each other, lying on the beach staring into each other’s eyes, when we were still teenagers, and innumerable times since.  Why 80?  Because the words Old and Eighty flowed, and anyway, old and eighty was so far out it was essentially the end of time, right?

 

Well, here I am today, the first day of my eightieth year and we’re both thinking, wait a minute.  Eighty is not that old.  It certainly isn’t the end of time.  We’re going to need a new mantra.

 

 

Tracks

 

 

Walking in the wilderness, we come across tracks.

 

Wolves and large dog tracks can be difficult to tell apart.  Dog tracks tend to have a little larger spacing between the toes and the central pad.  I don’t think we have any Mexican Gray Wolves here though, so I would guess this to be a dog or coyote track.  Surely canine because we wouldn’t see any claws on a feline.

 

For determining dog or coyote, dog tracks have an overall round shape.  Coyote tracks have a more oblong shape.

 

This looks pretty round overall to me.  And this has a large triangular central pad.  Coyote central pads tend to be smaller and not so triangular.  Dog tracks can often be a reckless mess as they run about sniffing and investigating everything.  Wolves and coyotes tend to be more down to business and travel in a straighter line.  Can’t tell that from just a couple tracks though.

 

I’m guessing that in this instance someone before me had a big dog along with them for a hike.

 

Remember that Texas Firebush?

 

 

It totally died and we cut it all the way back to the ground.

 

Then it showed a sign of life so we left it alone to see what it would do.

 

It grew back.

 

And after being gone all summer, we come home to this…

 

December/January.  It will be time to whack it back down again.  Maybe only knee high this time though.

 

Along the way

 

Both homeowners decided that solar power would be a good idea.

 

I suspect that they each spent the about same amount on the infrastructure that makes the panels work and ties them into the house’s electrical system.  From there, one went max, one went mini.  I wonder what the factors were that sent each their own direction.

 

Did you know

 

 

If you hold your nose you can’t hum.

 

 

Along the way

 

 

I looked for some good close-up bird pictures to send out and couldn’t find any.  I need to get out more.  I did come across some ducks on a pond in Arizona.  Usually, pond ducks are a whole mix of different colors and patterns, domestic Mallard hybrids paddling about in search of soggy slices of bread or crackers.  These ducks were different.  They all looked the same.

 

They’re not domestic ducks.  They’re all wild American Wigeons.

 

American Wigeons like to winter in the southern states.  Their breeding grounds are way north in Canada and Alaska.

 

Our lucky day today

 

 

Friday the 13^th.  Ever since our first kid was born on a Friday the 13^th.

 

 

Progress and problems

 

 

California has a high adoption rate for electric cars.    That’s cool.  EV adoption will prevent a lot of carbon pollution.  (Other states have a high adoption rate too, but we’re just using California to point out an issue.)  California also has a high adoption rate for renewable energy.  During 2024 there were 100 days where all the electric power needed, for at least a portion of the day, was provided by renewable energy, mostly wind and solar.  Again, great solution for protecting the atmosphere.

 

Problem.  How do we want to charge our EVs?  We want to plug them in overnight, so they’ll be ready to go the next morning.  When does California produce the most renewable energy?  During the day when the sun is out.  That means for California to meet the growing overnight energy demands, it has to increase the amount of petroleum-based energy it produces overnight.  Renewable energy production and energy consumption are not matching up.  It's interesting how two good solutions come together and result in a new challenge.  Not a dealbreaker, it’s still progress, but we sure could use some kind of affordable grand scale energy storage to cover the gap. 

 

Desperate times

 

 

26 degrees this morning; so cold that I had to change into long pants for the first time in about a year!  Our happy dirty van was covered in frost for the first time.

 

We’re back in Laredo Taco country, the gas station concession that serves very good, simple, and inexpensive Mexican food.  Up and about early we were able to start the day with delicious breakfast tacos from LTC, and very good coffee from the Love’s Travel Plaza.

 

The cold weather was the first desperate moment of the day.  The next came at the first rest area when digging through the layers of clothing, I discovered that as I dressed in the dark this morning, I had accidentally put my boxers on backwards.

 

We drove from Sonora through Junction, Segovia, Mountain Home, skipped past Kerrville and Comfort, headed for Boerne.  At that point, plans changed as navigation informed us there had been a accident on Interstate 10, the road was closed, and alternate routes were advised.  We detoured toward Bandera, but not all the way there.  We went left on Highway 16 through Government Canyon, past the town of Helotes, and into San Antonio.  We continued on Highway 16 through Leon Valley and caught Interstate 410 to southbound Interstate 37 toward Corpus Christie.  Past Braunig Lake, and made a fuel stop at Exit 125.  Gasoline for $2.47 a gallon and a bratwurst for lunch.  A right turn on Highway 281 that continues south right past our house.  Through Three Rivers, George West, Alice and Ben Bolt.  One last stop in Falfurrias for groceries and a Blizzard.  Enough groceries to last us two or three days before we have to go out and stock up properly.

 

Home by 3:30.  Still daylight.  Arrival temperature 66 degrees.  Now we are where we want to be again.

 

2024 Trip Home Map

 

Deep in the Heart

 

 

From Deming to Las Cruces on Interstate 10.  Hang a right and go south to El Paso.  Cruise through El Paso right after rush hour, no problem.  East through Sierra Blanca and into the eastern time zone.  Van Horn.  Interstate 10 and 20 split.  Continue on 10 past Balmorhea.  Less trucks now.  Fort Stockton, Fort Lancaster, Ozona, and stop in the evening light at Sonora.  Tonight’s low, 26.  Another hotel.

 

400 miles to go.

 

2024 Trip Home Map

 

 

Headed home

 

 

Said goodbye to all the family here, including our fabulous hosts with the casita, Lindsay’s parents, Steve and Lori.

 

A leisurely leaving.  On the road before noon.  Deming, New Mexico tonight.  300 miles accomplished, 850 miles to go.

 

Expected overnight low, 31.  We’re in a hotel.

 

Happy Birthday Judy!

 

A celebration at Matt’s house

 

With Judy’s birthday buddy Ayla. 

 

Ayla was born on Judy’s 70^th birthday so it was a joint celebration.

 

Ayla just turned six.

 

 

Cactus

 

 

This is the usual large distinctive cactus we see here, the saguaro.

 

This cactus is different.

 

This looks like an organ pipe cactus.  It’s similar to a saguaro in that it sucks up water during wet seasons and expands to save it inside for the dry season.  It closes the pores on its surface during the day to eliminate transpiration during the heat and conserve water.  It blooms only at night.

 

I’m a little skeptical about what this cactus is for sure, because in the U.S., organ pipes only grow naturally inside the Organ Pipe National Monument right on the southern border of Arizona.  It also grows in Mexico.  This one is growing in a yard where we are in the Phoenix area.  We’re a little far north, out of the cactus’s natural range.  They can’t tolerate a freeze.  Maybe this is a landscaping version of an organ pipe cactus that can tolerate slightly colder winter weather, I don’t know.

 

A cloudless sunset

 

 

 

The look of Matt and Lindsay’s backyard

 

 

For as long as they have been in the house, the backyard has been dirt.  They have done a lot of work around the edges, particularly the patio pavers, but it still looks rough.

 

Then, a delivery to the street out front.

 

A few hours work by a crew of four.

 

And now, the new backyard.

 

 

That’s how yards happen in Arizona.

 

Customized palm trees

 

 

 

Right there in the golf clubhouse parking lot.

 

Apparently shaped to order.

 

Monday Night Football

 

 

Go Broncos!

 

We all, meaning Steve, Lori, Judy and I, watched the game with Matt at his house.  It took a lot of cheering and groaning to get the Broncos to that win.  Now we’re all exhausted.  Lindsay was off on a birthday treat but got home in time for the end of the game.

 

 

Here is an interesting cactus

 

 

 

It has pads like a giant dense prickly pear, but without the pricklies we’re used to seeing in Texas.

 

Meeting up

 

 

…with my great horned owl friend again.

 

 

 

An invitation to a play

 

 

 

A performance.

 

And an opportunity to mingle with the players after,

 

complete with autographs!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Let the Thanksgiving food prep begin!

 

 

Judy made three pies and cranberries today.

 

I made two quarts of ice cream for a start.

 

I’ll make two more quarts tomorrow morning.  Matt’s friend Mike is smoking a turkey.  Last headcount I heard was seventeen.

 

Gnarly