Goodbye, Eartha!

Eartha Mae Kitt
January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008

Christmas Eve in Santa Fe

Each year on Christmas Eve there is an area of Santa Fe that decorates their neighborhood with farolitos. Thousands of people descend upon this area and walk the streets admiring the wonderful glow coming from all the little paper bags filled with sand and a candle that line the streets and walkways. It is a perfect way to spend the evening. There are usually bonfires (luminarias) burning at different spots along the route to allow people to warm up as they enjoy their stroll. And you will hear Christmas Carols being sung all around you. It is the best reason to be in Santa Fe for the holidays.

Usually Thomas and I travel to Louisiana to spend Christmas with my family. I come from a large family - my dad is one of eight and when you add the spouses, grandkids, great grandkids and significant others we usually end up with close to 100 people for our annual Christmas Eve celebration. Until a few years ago one of my aunts would have this at her house, but it finally became to big of an ordeal and the eight brothers and sisters decided to take turns hosting the night. One of the changes involved renting a hall for the night so that we had the space to actually enjoy ourselves. Everyone also contributed decorations that get passed around each year so that we can decorate the hall so that it is more festive. We also do a potluck so that one person doesn't have to do all the cooking. We always have a good time and it gives me a chance to see everyone in one place instead of having to find the time to visit all of my aunts, uncles and cousins seperately. This year we decided to stay in Santa Fe for the holidays since we were in Louisiana in October for my dad's wedding.

On Monday night and Tuesday morning of this week we had as incredible snowfall. Tuesday afternoon and today was sunny but the temperatures stayed in the low 30's so we still have most of the snow on the ground - everything looks so beautiful and what a treat to have a white Christmas. Tonight Thomas and I left the house at 4:30pm so that we could make our dinner reservations at 5:00pm at Cafe Paris. We enjoyed a great dinner and dessert and just chatted about nothing in particular. It was very relaxing. Afterwards we walked through the Plaza and made our way to Canyon Road. We strolled slowly along Canyon Road stopping every now and then to enjoy a bonfire or take a picture of the farolitos. It was quite crowded but still very pleasant. Quite a few people were singing Christmas Carols as we passed - it was not always the most pleasant sound but it was fun. At some point we made our way over to Acequia Madre, which was much less crowded. We stopped to take pictures a couple of times and then finally made our way back to the Plaza and our car. We ended the night by attending an Open House at our friends, Diane & John's house. We visited for about an hour and then headed home - by this time we were tired and cold and were ready for our warm house. It is always nice to spend the holidays with your family, but Thomas and I can't always make it to Louisiana for Christmas. And besides Thomas is my family, so enjoying the holiday in Santa Fe with him is very special.

So Merry Christmas from Santa Fe. I hope your evening was as pleasant and special as mine was. I hope Santa is good to each and everyone of you.

A White Christmas?

Last night it started snowing around 8:00pm. It continued snowing through the night and morning. At about 11:00am it cleared up and the sun came out. What a beautiful sight! We had from 8 to 12 inches accumulate over the property. Everything was glistening and white - it looked just like a song. I decided to bundle up and take a walk on the property and take some pictures. Here is what I saw.

So with all this snow maybe we will have a white Christmas in Santa Fe. That would be a wonderful treat.

Holiday Enrichment at the Zoo

This morning Thomas and I drove down to Albuquerque to meet his cousins, Ruth and Chris. We met them at the Rio Grande Zoo to watch the animals open Christmas gifts. The zoo had a Holiday Enrichment for the Animals. The zookeepers spread the holiday cheer to some of the animals by decorating their areas and giving them presents. They did this for the primates, elephants and cats. It was a lot of fun watching as they sniffed the packages, ripped them open and ate the food that was hidden inside. They all seemed to really enjoy the activity. We spent the most time watching the gorillas and the orangutans. They really got into the swing of things and made us laugh. Besides watching the animals open gifts we wandered around the zoo and enjoyed all the other animals as well. It was an extremely pleasant morning since there were very few people present and we didn't have to fight to see the animals. There was a mother orangutan with her baby (Reese) - it was nice to see the mother holding the baby and still participating in the fun.

After a couple of hours we left the zoo and decided to head to Old Town to find something to eat for lunch. We parked and walked for a short time and then went to La Placita Dining Rooms for lunch. It was great food and a great place - I do recommend it if you are in Old Town. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and talked about the morning and just relaxed. It was a great day and we enjoyed our time at the zoo and our visit with Ruth and Chris. Below are some pictures of our morning at the zoo.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

When I woke up this morning there were a few clouds in the sky and the sun was shining. I did a few things around the house and then got things together to run errands. By the time I was leaving the house a light rain had started. After running two errands the rain had gotten worse. I noticed that the mountains were completely covered in clouds. So I deduced that if we were getting rain in town and the temperature was in the mid thirties then it was highly probable that the mountains were getting snow. So I decided to take a drive up Hyde Park Road. At first it was just rain. By the time I reached the turn for the Dale Ball North Trails there was a mixture of snow and rain. A little further up the road and it was just snow and coming down hard. When I reached the Black Canyon Campground I turned in and parked, bundled up, grabbed the camera and headed for a little walk. I walked into the campground to the first junction. The snow was about mid-calf deep in most places and a little higher than my knee along the edge of the road. I took a lot of pictures and I was covered in snow. I had to keep putting the camera under my jacket so it wouldn't get too wet. I returned back to the entrance to the campground and crossed the bridge to the picnic area. I walked a little ways up the path and continued to take pictures and enjoy the beautiful snowfall. After about 40 minutes I walked back to the car - I had to brush snow from the windows and put the defroster on so I could clear the windshield in order to see. As I headed back down the road I enjoyed the views that the snow had created. I realized I wasn't ready to give this up yet so I pulled into the parking area for the Chamisa Trail and took a short walk along the trail headed north. I could of stayed up there the entire day but duty called and I had to complete my errands. Here are a few pictures from my walk in a winter wonderland.

SkyWatch Friday #23

I was so happy to find out that I was guest host on this week's SkyWatch Friday.

Here is another shot of that incredible sunset.

To see more sky photos visit SkyWatch Friday.

He's Gonna Leave, He's Gonna Leave, He's Gonna Leave

Something that not many people know about me is that I secretly love TV commercials. Don't get me wrong there are plenty commercials out there that are stupid and some really horrible ones. But I have found one that I just love - it is funny and wonderful. I could see myself reacting in much the same manner as this little kid when I was his age. Anyway, I thought I would share my favorite TV commercial of the holiday season.