Christmas in Vacationland USA

December 26

As we rush to end 2020 as fast as we can with hopes to begin anew . . .

Did you ever notice that life seems to follow certain patterns? Like I noticed that every year around this time, I hear Christmas music. ~ Tom Sims

December 11

[My new camera helps show off Alexandria’s Broadway during the holiday season . . . ]

Merry Christmas, nearly everybody! ~ Ogden Nash

‘White Christmas’ is the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ of Christmas songs. ~  Stewart Stafford

It’s that’s special time of year when your whole family gathers together in one place to look at their cellphones. ~ Jimmy Kimmel

December 19

The Great Conjunction: The planets regularly appear to pass each other in the solar system, with the positions of Jupiter and Saturn being aligned in the sky about once every 20 years. What makes this year’s spectacle so rare, then? It’s been nearly 400 years since the planets passed this close to each other in the sky, and nearly 800 years since the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter occurred at night, as it will for 2020, allowing nearly everyone around the world to witness this “great conjunction.” (nasa.gov)

[The Super and I could see the two planets with the naked eye from our sun room. I hopped in the car, drove to the far SW corner of our hockey arena parking lot, and took this shot out the window. The moon in the upper left, the city lights of Alexandria along the bottom, and you can see two small dots just above and to the right of the city lights – Saturn on top, Jupiter on the bottom . . . ]

[And handholding a 400mm camera lens shot out the car window. You can see a couple of Jupiter’s moons at about 10:00 from the planet . . . ]

[And then to town again to check out the Christmas lights . . . ]

The office Christmas party is a great opportunity to catch up with people you haven’t seen for 20 minutes. ~ Julius Sharpe

The main reason Santa is so jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live. ~ George Carlin

What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day. ~ Phyllis Diller

Christmas: it’s the only religious holiday that’s also a federal holiday. That way, Christians can go to their services, and everyone else can sit at home and reflect on the true meaning of the separation of church and state. ~ Samantha Bee

Christmas and the New Year are actually two holidays. So there is a plural, which in the English language, necessitates the use of ‘s.’ I suppose you could say ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy New Year,’ but you probably have sh*t to do. ~ Jon Stewart

Nothing says holidays like a cheese log. ~ Ellen DeGeneres

Most Texans think Hanukkah is some sort of duck call. ~ Richard Lewis. 

I hate the radio this time of year because they play ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ like, every other song. And that’s just not enough. ~ Bridger Winegar

December 22

To err is human, to purr is feline. ~ Robert Byrne

[Guinie and Laddie will be 5 months old on Monday . . . ]

[The Great Conjunction was lost in the clouds on the solstice. This night was looking promising . . . ]

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn’t show. ~ Andrew Wyeth

Melancholy were the sounds on a winter’s night. ~ Virginia Woolf

Dad, you taught me everything I know about exterior illumination. ~ Clark Griswold

One cat just leads to another. ~ Ernest Hemingway

A cat is an example of sophistication minus civilization. ~ Anonymous

Cats are connoisseurs of comfort. ~ James Herriot

You can not look at a sleeping cat and feel tense. ~ Jane Pauley

[The Great Conjunction: Taken at the same time and same place as two days previous . . . ]

[This time Jupiter is on the left and Saturn is on the right . . . ]

December 23

[There was an overnight and continuing blizzard . . . ]

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again. ~ Lewis Carroll

[And the continuing blizzard. We didn’t get a lot of snow, but we got a lot of wind . . . ]

December 24

I called all three siblings on Christmas Eve. I got the answering machine for all three . . .

[We were trending toward a non-white Christmas. Then the blizzard came . . . ]

Ever wonder what people got Jesus for Christmas? It’s like, ‘Oh great, socks. You know I’m dying for your sins, right? Yeah, but thanks for the socks! They’ll go great with my sandals. What am I, German?’ ~ Jim Gaffigan.

A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water. ~ Carl Reiner

What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness. ~ John Steinbeck

I was just thinking, if it is really religion with these nudist colonies, they sure must turn atheists in the wintertime. ~ Will Rogers

[I caught the Tasmanian Devils in a moment of contemplation . . . ]

[Today they got on the kitchen counter and ate a packet of yeast. They may rise over night?]

[The classic forever family Christmas Eve dinner – grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup!]

[Mmmmm – mmmmm, good!]

Christmas Day

[The Tasmanian Devils had taken the Christmas tree in stride for a while. But Guinie must have realized it was Christmas Day and decided to go on the attack again . . . ]

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, How lovely are thy branches! ~  Traditional German Carol

A Christmas tree, the perfect gift for a guy. The plant is already dead. ~  Jay Leno

There must be some other places where I can also raise havoc. ~ Guinevere

T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. ~ Clement Clarke Moore

Help!! I’m stuck on something! ~ Guinevere

[Christmas Day, 2011, was avoided at the last minute this year . . . ]

[Masters of all they survey . . . ]

If cats could write history, their history would be mostly about cats. ~ Eugen Weber

If cats could talk, they wouldn’t. ~ Nan Porter

In ancient times cats were worshiped as gods; they have not forgotten this. ~ Terry Pratchett

[Arrowwood to pick up Christmas dinner . . . ]

[A last minute change because of this (thanks, MLT). They received 82 orders . . . ]

[We dropped one off for Brad . . . ]

Live long & prosper . . .

[By the time we got home Brad had already emailed something to the affect that he didn’t need food for 3 people . . . ]

[He was right. The Super and I split one and have another whole one in reserve . . . ]

[I believe it was a dry Riesling . . . ]

The problem with cats is that they get the same exact look whether they see a moth or an axe-murderer. ~ Paula Poundstone

[The received Christmas booty . . . ]

[Whom amongst us doesn’t like booty?]

December 26

[The Tasmanian Devils’ Christmas present was late in arriving . . . ]

[But they made up for the delay . . . ]

When Rome burned, the emperor’s cats still expected to be fed on time. ~ Seanan McGuire

Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause most inconvenience. ~ Pam Brown

I gave my cats a bath the other day … they love it. He sat there, he enjoyed it, it was fun for me. The fur would stick to my tongue, but other than that… ~ Steve Martin

The phrase ‘domestic cat’ is an oxymoron. ~ George Will

Everything I know I learned from my cat: When you’re hungry, eat. When you’re tired, nap in a sunbeam. When you go to the vet’s, pee on your owner. ~ Gary Smith

[And even more booty. There is no such thing as excessive booty . . . ]

It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it. ~ John Burroughs

Blow, blow, thou winter wind Thou art not so unkind, As man’s ingratitude. ~ William Shakespeare

In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. ~ Albert Camus (I never did understand Camus?)

In summary (or any of its 5640 synonyms), the Super and I have been passing these quarantine times by binge watching all our PBS favorites: Professor T., Endeavour, Fearless, Doc Martin, Dreamland, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Frankie Drake, Midsomer Mysteries, Vera, Unforgotten, Modus, et al. I hope they can carry into June. I don’t foresee any kind of normalization before then . . .