I'm dreaming of a White Christmas. No, I'm really not. Although I was born in northern Indiana, I have only one recollection of snow back from those days, of building a snowman and then watching from inside the house as my dad knocked it down later. My dad tells me of one time when I walked off the back porch and fell head first into a snow bank. He reached down and pulled me out by the ankles.
So snow is white, but then again, a lot of things are, but how many of them are as cool as a beluga whale? Polar Bears maybe, but I don't have a photograph of a polar bear, so a white whale will have to do for today. But we won't call him Moby. No. Besides he has too nice of a smile to be Moby, although I can understand why Moby wasn't a happy camper. I think you'd be unhappy too if someone was always trying to spear and kill you for no reason outside of wanting some of the oil in my nose. Heck, just mine your own teenagers nose. There's enough oil there to fuel an entire house for a year.
For more stories about White, click here.
It's the penultimate day of this challenge and I can write about food, which works well for me. The title, however, is too restricting mainly because there's too many meals I've consumed over the course of my lifetime to just casually pick one thing.
I like food in general and this is one of the reasons I probably should be cutting back. Food likes me way too much, because it sticks around a lot longer than it should, although in the past year, I've been able to reduce the amount of food that hangs on to me, which is a good thing for my health.
I have to say though, that the one food I look forward to every year is my sister's cheesecakes. I don't know where she got started making cheesecakes, but it was a long time ago. They have become her staple item that she brings to our holiday meals. And it's not just one cheesecake but two different varieties. It gets to the point that when she asks what flavor I want, I just say, "Yes." This is unless she's decided to make a peanut butter cheesecake. Then the answer is always the other one, but that's a different story.
In reality, it actually helps that I know she's bringing cheesecake for dessert. I've learned how to moderate at Thanksgiving or Christmas, so I can always enjoy two pieces. Should she bring the dreaded peanut butter cheesecake, I know I can always have a slightly larger slice of the other one to compensate for the loss of that second slice that I would normally get. By the way, the one pictured is her pecan pie cheesecake. Yeah, it tastes just like a pecan pie, but in cheesecake form. It's just yummy.
This was an interesting prompt. What the heck? There is no Vitamin N. But then, when I googled it, it all made sense. Nature.
Yeah, I believe I get a good dose of Vitamin N on the weekends and an even bigger dose of it during my breaks, but I don't think I get enough of it on a daily basis. But then again, who has the time, except for those who are independently wealthy, or those who are retired?
I'm getting out on a daily basis for a little bit. I did a short walk today to find a geocache. It was the 227th consecutive day I've found a geocache. The goal is to get to at least 366 days. Finding geocaches gets me outside, but it's no necessarily nature like going to Bryce Canyon and hiking down in the canyon. Then again, very few places can compete with Bryce Canyon.
So that's why I get out on the weekends for my hikes. It fulfills me and keeps me fairly fresh for the upcoming week. It's one of the reasons I really love my spring break the most. Christmas break is a cruel holiday, especially if you're an adult. You see two weeks off and you think, "Yeah, two weeks off." But you spend the first week dealing with everything leading up to Christmas and you spend the second week with everything leading up to New Year and in reality you only have about two or three days to do what you really want to do.
My school district has taken two weeks at spring break for the longest time. I love it. Think about it. Spring break. No commitments, nothing really to do except you have two weeks off to do what you want to do. And if the weather is bad, it's only for a day, so you can curl up with a good book at home for that day. At Christmas, if the weather is bad, you still have to go out in that crap, because things have to get done.
So yeah, I don't get enough of it, but I try to make the most of my Vitamin N any chance I can get.
This is an interesting topic to be talking about for day two of the Chill challenge. I'm not exactly sure what winter comfort food really is, mainly because we don't get much of a winter compared to other regions in the United States or in the world for that matter.
The weathermen in Southern California could "predict" the weather as "Sunny and mild" every day and be right probably 75% of the time. In my book, that's a pretty good track record for weather guessers. Winter, the way most people view winter, doesn't happen here.
So comfort food is, to me anyway, things that I don't get on a regular basis during the year, mainly because it's either not very good for me, or too expensive, or just ridiculous. Christmas time is always the time for all of us in the family to get some really good stuff, just because. That's what ends up stuffing our stockings every year. It's gotten to the point that our stocking stuffers take up grocery bags, because my wife goes all out with it.
Things that usually end up in my stocking are Oreo Cookies, Pop Tarts, Clamato Juice (don't judge me, I like it), bunches of Heath Toffee bars, boxes of Junior Mints and York Peppermint Patties and Pringles Potato Chips. Sometimes if I'm really lucky, I'll get a can of Macadamian nuts. See? All the things that aren't really good for me, but that I love tremendously. Once all of those things are gone, then Christmas is really over.
Needless to say, I've been rationing things this year, so Christmas isn't over, even though I went back to work yesterday. I still have half a bag of York Peppermint Patties and an entire package of mint Oreo Cookies. And my youngest better hide his stash, because I've been eyeing his Triple Decker Oreo Cookies that landed in his stocking.
This is the last day of the year and it's time once again for P.J.'s Photo Blogging challenge. This month, the theme was 'Tis the Season, and I've approached it, at least in my mind, from a traditional and non-traditional viewpoint. Some photos will make perfect sense with the theme, while others will need some explanation. But you already know I'm going to explain all of them anyway, so here goes.
1 and 2. The Evolution of our family Christmas trees
Christmas day, the family gathered at my sister's house to celebrate the day. Lots of good food was had by all and by the time the last of us had eaten the last portions of cheesecake that my other sister had made, most of us could probably have just rolled down the hill back to our own homes.
My sister's Christmas tree is the only tree in the family, that I'm aware of that has just white lights. I believe that all the rest of us have colored lights on our trees. Growing up, for the first ten years or so, our family tree at home was all blue. Blue ornaments, blue lights - everything was blue on the tree. Christmas of 1971 or 72, we went back to Indiana to have a "White Christmas." While we were back there, my last surviving grandparent passed away. He had been suffering from what we would call today Alzheimers disease, so it was not totally unexpected.
We ended up staying a couple of extra days because of the funeral and other family obligations that come along with an event such as this. One of the things that ended up coming home with us were a lot of really old Christmas ornaments from my grandparent's estate. The next year, we used those ornaments on the tree and over the next 10 years or so collected, purchased, etc., other ornaments so the tree was no longer a blue tree. We got new light strings with multi-colored lights to add to the non-blue theme. Some ornaments were even made.
As each of us eventually moved out of the house, the ornaments that had been given to us as children were taken and subsequently added to our own Christmas trees in our new places. My daughter has taken her ornaments that have been given to her and she now has them displayed on her tree in her place. My middle son didn't have a tree this year and isn't totally settled yet, so his, plus my youngest son's ornaments still adorn our tree every year. In the near future, I'm sure this will change.
Both my older sister and I have a strong affiliation for things Disney, so it was no surprise to see several Disney ornaments on her tree. This one of Dopey Dwarf climbing the staircase heading up to see who was up in the Dwarve's bedroom struck my fancy. To took several shots, because the shutter speed was very slow, one thirteenth of a second, which is usually too slow for hand held shots. I'm very pleased that this one is in pretty fine focus.
3. Games
Every time I blog this particular post, I look forward to the next month's theme. This is one of the few times I'm disappointed I can't use this photo for next month's theme as the theme for next month is Games.
In our house, the kids tend to generate the games and it was no exception this year as several games were pulled off the shelves and others were given as gifts this year. Growing up, I enjoyed playing games although sometimes found few takers. I can't imagine my competitiveness had anything to do with that. <smirk>
The day after Christmas, the kids gathered around to play games. My middle son's girlfriend is an artist and began sketching us as we played Settlers of Cataan. My youngest son is on the right and he's not complete obviously, but the rest of us, moving counterclockwise from the upper right, my son, my daughter, myself and my future son-in-law are all there. She did an excellent job capturing the character of each one of us in this drawing. If you look closely, you can also see that each of us are labeled and identified.
4. Trip to the Lake
My father-in-law lives up in Lake Arrowhead and for the past several years, we make a trip up there over the holidays to visit with him. This year, he went all out for us to enjoy our short stay up there. Blintzes, tamales, the chocolate cake that was to die for were just some of the treats he had for us.
Usually, we'll go down to the lake to feed the ducks and this year was no exception to that. It's no wonder the ducks and geese are fat and happy up there as there were all sorts of people doing the same thing.
The shot is of my middle son on the left and my future son-in-law. I had a couple of different shots of the two of them, plus one of them with my daughter, but this one turned out the best of the set that I took while we were down there.
Both men get along very well with each other, which is a very good thing. We are all looking forward to July when Brian and my daughter Kathryn tie the knot. He is very good to her and he is a very welcome addition to our family.
5. The Granddaddy of them all
Finally, what seasonal blog would be complete without something dealing with the new year, which is literally right around the corner now. In some cases, it's already here and you might even be reading this in 2015.
Growing up in Southern California meant watching the Rose Parade and watching the Rose Bowl on television. I actually attended two Rose Bowls in the late 70s, courtesy of my good friend who was attending U.S.C. at the time. U.S.C. was a powerhouse in football back then and they usually contended for the Rose Bowl every year back then.
Every year, we'd get the Pac 10 vs. the Big 10. Since we were from northern Indiana, our allegiances were more toward the Big 10, especially since my father attended Notre Dame. We wouldn't root for U.S.C. We would very often root for west coast teams in other years when U.S.C. wasn't there however.
Now with the old BCS and the new playoff system in place today, college football doesn't always have the traditional rivalries we came to expect in certain bowl games. This year, the Rose Bowl (which is the 101st edition) is giving us Oregon vs Florida St. in one semi-final game. The Sugar Bowl in New Orleans is giving us Alabama vs Ohio St later in the evening on the 1st.
Given that I've always enjoyed the traditional match ups for bowl games, it should come as no surprise that I'm rooting for Ohio St. and Oregon to prevail and meet in the championship game. And yes, I will be rooting for the Ducks in the championship game as well. I took this shot just after Christmas when we went on a hike up the Arroyo Seco, which is where the Rose Bowl is located. Walking back down to our car, we also found a geocache. So what else is new?
And there you have it. This was my interpretation of the theme 'Tis the Season. I hope you have enjoyed these shots. Please stop by P.J.'s blog to see his interpretation and look below on that page for the other links to others who have participated this month.
Happy New Year. This being the last day of the year and I have insomnia, it works out well I can put this post out before everyone is up. We will have our annual New Year's Eve party this evening and I have a hike planned for tomorrow morning. By the end of the day tomorrow I will probably be exhausted, so I want to make sure this posts for the December Challenge that P.J. put out for this month.
Festive was the challenge and I had some fun this month taking photos, both with my regular camera as well as my iPad, which I use for my Instagram shots. The quality isn't quite up to par with my iPad, but I wanted to test it out thoroughly this month. You'll be able to tell the difference of the two since the Instagram format is square, whereas my regular camera will be more rectangular. Anyway, here's my five shots for the month of December.
1. Christmas wreath
When I first started with Instagram, I posted quite a few shots from it on Flicker. As noted above, I don't think the quality is nearly as good as my regular camera, although there are a couple of images that I've really liked, this one being one of them. I found this wreath hanging on a gate of a neighbor's house. It was one of the first signs of Christmas I'd seen, so I wanted to include it here.
I don't really like the way the wreath's bow blends together into a red blob, but I guess that's part of the appeal of Instagram. Perhaps appeal isn't the right word to use, but it's the best I can come up with for the time being. The filter I used however, Lo-fi, did a nice job of bringing out the details and textures of the fence the wreath was hanging on so I'll give props for that.
2. The Spirit of Christmas Present
My parents have an entire Victorian village they put up under their Christmas tree every. Usually one of my nephews who live close to them help put it all together. Each of the bisque porcelain houses has lights inside them to give it a nighttime glow to it and the set even has the characters from Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol.
This Instagram shot, shows Ebeneezer Scrooge encountering the Spirit of Christmas Present who will show him things that are including how life is like in the Cratchett household, who celebrate Christmas the best they can even on the meager salary Scrooge pays his employee Bob Cratchett.
The story reminds us all that what's past is past and no matter how much we'd like to, we can't go back and change things. We can only move forward and if we have regrets, or things that we'd like to change, we can only do so by changing what we do and say in the future so things will turn out differently.
My parent's village is always displayed differently every year and it's always a festive addition to their holiday decor, so I've included it here.
3. The Santa Claus bank
This is a bank that originally sat under my grandparent's Christmas tree in Indiana. My dad was the baby of the family and inherited the bank sometime before his mother passed away in 1961 when I was three years old.
It then became a fixture under our family tree while we were growing up. About 10 years ago, my parents gift wrapped it and gave it to me and it now sits under our tree every year. Some time in the future, one of my three children will inherit it and the cycle will continue. The bank is probably close to 70 years old.
I've always liked this bank and it gives me a connection to my grandmother, who I never really got to know. It's a connection to my past, or more importantly, my father's past, one that I am familiar with, but have no memories of, so this gives me some consolation. The bank also keeps the festiveness going beyond the actual day of Christmas, because it reminds me that even Santa Claus needs to take a day off now and then.
4. Are you going to give that to me anytime soon?
This is Jack, our dog. Jack turned 9 years old early in the month, which roughly translates to 63 in people years if you subscribe to the 7 dog years theory. If this theory holds any water, then Jack is very spry for his age and all I can say about it is I hope I have as much energy as he has when I'm 63. Of course, Jack also sleeps many hours of the day. When he's tired, he takes a nap, which I think we should all subscribe to as a regular part of our daily regimen. I think the world would be a better place if everyone took a nap every single day. Unfortunately, we can't, but I think it's still a good regimen to follow.
Jack went to the groomers about three days before Christmas and it's our groomers policy to put a bandana on the neck of each of her clients that represents the time of year. We have bandanas for Jack from every time of year and this particular bandana had a very festive look to it, both in color and style, so it's included here. He'll wear the bandana for another week or so until it becomes too dirty and then it will have to be removed. We keep all of the bandanas as keepsakes, so I could probably find another one that's been washed to replace this one after the season is over.
5. Happy birthday
Christmas Eve is my dad's birthday. This year, the family celebrated it on the 28th, because it was convenient plus it made it a little easier on everyone since it was also one of those milestone birthdays. My dad turned 80 a week ago.
We gathered at my sister's house last Saturday to celebrate his life and wish him well. He was very appreciative of the time we spent with him, both on that day and on all days when we've been able to get together as family, either as a small unit, or a much larger unit as was the case this past weekend.
My sister cooked a couple of pineapple upside down cakes as his birthday cakes for this year. Both of my sisters and I noted at the time that none of us had ever attempted this type of cake in the past. It turned out rather well and if dinner hadn't been so good, I might have been tempted to eat a second piece, but I refrained and my waist thanked me for that decision later on.
My uncle (Dad's oldest surviving brother), turned 90 two days before Dad did, so there's some longevity in the family. My uncle came out here in July for a visit and both of them noted at that time that having a birthday around Christmas isn't a bad thing at all, especially if it's before Christmas. As my dad said and uncle agreed with, "Everybody's in the giving mood." I will never get tired of him saying that.
Well, there you have it, another challenge accepted and delivered. Please comment below and also please check out P.J.'s photos and the link at the bottom of his blog to see other's interpretations of the theme festive.
That's it for this year. 75 posts, which fell a little short of the 100 that I thought I could write when I started this blog two years ago, but still well over the 28 I posted in 2012, so I would call this a success for this year. I hope to continue with this on a regular basis next year. Here's hoping you all have a very prosperous and happy 2014. Thank you all for reading this and for all of your comments. They are truly appreciated.
