MORE CHRISTMAS CARDS.

It is one of those years where other tasks threaten to overwhelm my usual Christmas rituals. I see little kids with boundless joy at the impending Holiday and I hope people won’t go into debt for Christmas. When your kids are young and their school chums are bristling with every toy and electronic device known to exist, better to be swift to love and make haste to be kind. Teach lasting lessons of friendship and generosity. Teach what is really important and they will retain something for life long after the material things they crave are forgotten.

Have fun.

Laugh a lot.

Sing and listen to music.

Help with the decorating.

Dream a little of what might be.

Be positive, that snow will come.

Spend some time with grandpa ;or special loved ones.

Remember when Dad got on the floor and played with you at Christmas?

CHRISTMAS CAROLING LOST

The Sonora Elks Lodge I’ve joined has an organ/piano player, Lenny. At our meeting last night he played Christmas Carols while the rest of us sat around and chatted and sipped pre-dinner cocktails.

A few people gathered to sing along, myself, included.

I enjoyed the sing-along, something I hadn’t had an opportunity to do in years. In high school I relished high school choir, the recitals, the camaraderie, the whole process was so enjoyable that when it came to church choir, I would attend two masses each Sunday so I could sing twice. Fellow Elk member, Judy Roberts, (in pink) told me that she recently attended a community Christmas Party where many young people attended. At a community sing, they were lost. It is something they’ve missed along the way and they didn’t know the words or tunes to the most common of Christmas Carols. She sighed, feeling sorry for them. I hadn’t realized that our Christmas Culture is generational. As children, we caroled on the street from house to house with our school teacher leading the way. At our last stop, (my house one year) my mother had hot chocolate ready for our weary voices and a fire to warm cold hands and feet. I  guess we are turning into old fogies and caroling isn’t hep anymore. Their loss is our loss too.

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado – Day 1

Yesterday we drove the motorhome the about 20 miles from Cortez, Colorado to Mesa Verde National Park. In the process we gained 1,300 feet and are now camped at 7,500 feet elevation. The afternoon temperature yesterday was 79 degrees…much better that the previous afternoon’s temperature of 89 degrees.

This map of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico helps show our current location.

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

This is our campsite…

Shortly after our arrival here yesterday at about 1:30 PM, we had a visitor…

This park is so huge we decided not to start our sightseeing until today. It’s a 15 mile drive just to get to the visitors center and the cliff dwellings another 7 miles beyond that. We expect to spend two days exploring the park and depart here on Monday.

In the meantime, in yesterday’s Blog entry I promised to show you photos of Indian singers and dancers we enjoyed Thursday evening…

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
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