Fun and Games Dept

I’m infatuated with our first winter here in the Sonoran Desert. We have hints of snow on the mountain tops surrounding Tucson and I find it to be quite beautiful. I can’t get enough of it.

It was a few degrees below freezing last night, but warmed up into the mid 60s this afternoon. Temperatures will be back in the mid 70s by the end of this upcoming week and I find that quite delightful as well.

Earl and I tried to drive to the top of Mount Lemmon today (to play in the snow) but Catalina Highway was backed up for miles. Apparently this happens after the first snow on the mountains in this area. They were allowing only four-wheel and all-wheel vehicles up the mountain. We would have been fine but didn’t want to wait in line.

I’m often reminded of how good life can be. Here is a shot from the local Target parking lot. Mountains, snow on the mountains, sunshine. Life is beautiful.

It’s 2022 in Mountain Standard Time here in the United States. Happy New Year! Tonight I learned that in Mountain Standard Time we are fed the Central Time Zone delays of Times Square and assorted locals. The ball dropped at 11:00 PM MST. Both Times Square and Miley Cyrus’ Miami celebration lacked exuberance. It felt more obligatory than anything.

I hope everyone that has stopped by has a joyous holiday celebration.

Today is the last day of 2021. In some places in the world it’s already 2022 and they’re celebrating appropriately. I am off from work, having lunch with a friend, and using the day to gather my thoughts for the New Year. Tonight we shall have a small celebration at home. I am looking forward to it. This will be my first experience of the ball dropping at 10:00 PM.

My husband made a reservation for dinner to celebrate our anniversary this past Sunday night. We went to a local eatery we’ve never been to, Commoner & Co on the foothills side of Tucson. It was a wonderful experience.

It’s been a long while since I’ve had a martini, so I ordered their house special vodka martini with a bleu cheese stuffed olive and a pickled something. It was delicious. Earl had another of their special cocktails. Called “The Ultraviolet”, it’s gin based with crème de voilette, lemon and thyme with burlesque bitters. We then both had a well sized meal with an appetizer, salad, pasta course, and main dish. It was both delicious and suitably sized so we could safely drive home after our cocktails.

Social distancing and mask requirements were in effect and the safety measure was appreciated. Earl and I decided it’s been way too long since we’ve had a date night like this, and that’s mostly due to the pandemic. Everything is due to the pandemic. With Omicron flying about with wild abandonment, we probably will continue this “we’re not going out very much” trend into 2022.

I’m happy that we were able to spend our 25th anniversary together in this fashion. I look forward to what the New Year brings but more importantly, I look forward to what being together brings.

The few blogs that are left in my blog roll are doing year round up things and I applaud them for this. I actually applaud them for knowing what year it is; ever since the pandemic started it’s just felt like a really long limbo of nothingness.

I’m still getting used to the fact that we don’t live in Chicago, so that happened this past year. We watched a bunch of television and movies at home. We haven’t been in a movie theatre in nearly two years. I don’t really miss the experience but my husband does.

I’ve gained some weight. We’ll generously spread that over the two year pandemic period. I hope to lose some weight soon but then…. chips and popcorn.

I’ve grown a mustache in 2021. It’s not like the “awesome ‘stache” I had a few years ago, it’s a trim little Sully mustache you’d find on a pilot. I love being a pilot.

Mostly I’ve been weary in 2021. Weary of politics, weary of pandemics, weary of rampant stupidity. I’m want to feel cheery.

In 2022 I’ll try harder at finding the cheery.

We stopped at Burger King on the American side of the border at Nogales. Many of the locally owned restaurants were closed and we had no plans to cross the border (COVID-19 and all that), so we opted for the Burger King right at the border where they have ample parking ($5.00 please) for folks walking over to the Mexican side.

Because of Omicron we’re back to maintaining plenty of distance and eating where there’s plenty of ventilation. We opted for the drive-thru and then park somewhere to eat in the car route.

After we settled into a parking spot I heard the sweetest sounding meow I’ve heard in a long while; the long haired grey tabby knew how to be sweet to get my attention. I saw no signs of neglect or angst; she appeared to be quite healthy. Against the wishes of my husband, I jumped out and gave her a couple of pieces of my chicken sandwich. She was skiddish and maintained her distance, but was appreciative and thanked me before we left Nogales to head back to Tucson.

She knows how to work her audience.

Time flies when you’re in love.

It is no longer Christmas on the East Coast but here in Mountain Standard Time we have an hour and a half left of the official holiday.

We had a lovely Christmas dinner of ham and macaroni and cheese and a green bean dish of some sort. Dinner rolls rounded out the menu and it was very good. I’ve been drinking wine on and off all day and if it was any other day I’d probably delve into some other memories of Christmases past and share many anecdotes of how great my life experiences has been. Honestly, I miss seeing the relatives a little bit during this holiday season, but with COVID-19 and the dangers of contracting the disease from others in the world, now is not the time to fly back east to see the relatives. Luckily technology keeps us virtually connected.

We played board games tonight and we laughed and had good meals and just spent time together, the five of us, on this joyous of holidays. My mind is completely disconnected from the timeline; I have little realization as to what day of the week it is. (I know, it’s Saturday). There is no snow to be found here in this southern Arizona desert, but the weatherman promises snow on the mountains soon. I can’t wait to see that.

I’ve been watching clips of my favorite show, “Bewitched”, and leaving comments on YouTube about things I’ve learned about the production of the show over the years. It’s amazing to me the number of youngsters that think computers and CGI were involved with the special effects of the enduring series from the 1960s. No, they didn’t have anything called “CGI” back in 1964 when Bewitched first came out. That’s all a very clever use of wires, trick photography, and film editing used to make Endora and Samantha do magical things. A sign of me getting older, but these youngsters that think computers have been around forever are slightly amusing and slightly annoying. I’m thankful to be part of the last generation to know American life before the invasion of computerization.

We purposely kept gift giving at a minimum here in our desert home. A few shirts here, some jeans there, and some other trinkets filled the space under our main Christmas tree. It was quiet but it was beautiful.

Perhaps our most precious moments are not filled with what we received but what we remember. I am blessed with an uncanny ability to remember many things.

The key is to focus on the happy memories. Merry Christmas.

Our Christmas experience is in progress. It’s a very relaxed day. Presents were opened and enjoyed. Breakfast was delicious. Supper is in the process of being made.

I’m counting blessings and coming up with too many to count.