January 26
Snow brings a special quality with it—the power to stop life as you know it dead in its tracks. ~ Nancy Hatch Woodward
Still in full catch up mode . . .
It was the kind of snow that brought children running out their doors, made them turn their faces skyward, and spin in circles with their arms outstretched. ~ Eowyn Ivey
December 22
It snowed last year too: I made a snowman and my brother knocked it down and I knocked my brother down and then we had tea. ~ Dylan Thomas
[Snow dunes, snow drifts, and sun dogs. May the forces be with you . . . ]

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ~ Charles Dickens

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. There’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow. ~ Andy Williams

Thank goodness for the first snow. It was a reminder–no matter how old you became and how much you’d seen–things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered. ~ Candace Bushnell

Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people’s legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world. ~ Sarah Addison Allen

They watched the snow fall and fall and fall until they thought that they were the ones falling. ~ Ann Patchett.

December 24 (a/k/a Christmas Eve)
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
[We had planned on cruising around South America over the holidays, but . . . stuff happens. Ruthie could not stay home then without putting up a tree, which she did on this day. Laddie (here) and Guinie were so appreciative . . . ]

We build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt. ~ Walter Scott
[An unwrapped kitty under the tree . . . ]

A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder. ~ Susan Orlean

I just want to be rich enough to buy enough ornaments to cover more than one side of the tree. ~ Charlotte Christmas
[Two unwrapped kitties under the tree?]

It’s that special time of year when your whole family gathers together in one place to look at their cellphones. ~ Jimmy Kimmel
[The Super and I indulged in our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. In later years champagne also entered the picture . . . ]

Christmas is always a problem to the man who has to convince his kids that there is a Santa Claus, and his wife that there isn’t. ~ Evan Esar
[Who let him in?]

They watched the snow fall and fall and fall until they thought that they were the ones falling. ~ Ann Patchett.
[Air temp: minus 12; windchill: minus 35. Still the Saturday morning doughnut and peanut brittle run continued unabated!]

Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty. ~ Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

The most delightful advantage of being bald—one can hear snowflakes. ~ R. G. Daniels

I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It’s not bad at all really. Maybe it just needs a little love ~ ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’

There’s nothing cozier than a Christmas tree all lit up. ~ Jenny Han

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
[Why yes, Thurston Howell III did indeed drop by for a taste of Christmas Eve bubbly . . . ]

Christmas, here again. Let us raise a loving cup; Peace on earth, goodwill to men, and make them do the washing up. ~ Wendy Cope

December 25 (a/k/a Christmas)
We build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt. ~ Walter Scott
[And so this is Christmas . . . ]

The snow doesn’t give a soft white damn whom it touches. ~ e.e. cummings

Advice is like the snow. The softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon and the deeper it sinks into the mind. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Cats are connoisseurs of comfort. ~ James Herriot

Pets, like their owners, tend to expand a little over the Christmas period. ~ Fanny Wright

One good thing about Christmas shopping is it toughens you for the January sales. ~ Grace Kriley
[Guinie prepares to pounce . . . ]

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats. ~ Albert Schweitzer
[While Laddie is still opening his presents . . . ]

If you see a sign that says ‘Peep Show’, that doesn’t mean they’re letting you look at presents before Christmas. ~ Father Christmas in Elf

We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space. ~ Dave Barry
[Holiday thoughts abound as I reach for the champagne adjacent to Christmas dinner . . . ]

One can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books. ~ Professor Dumbledore
[Christmas can be quite exhausting, what with opening presents and all . . . ]

I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending. ~ Fred Rogers

[And Happy Birthday to niece Jessica, a birthday she shares with Jimmy Buffett, Sissy Spacek, Karl Rove, Annie Lennox, and the guy for whom the holiday is named. This photo was two days after her birthday . . . in 1992. Now she has two young’uns of her own and remains a true blue George Mason Patriots basketball fan . . . ]

December 27
A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running. ~ Groucho Marx
[After yet another appointment at St. Cloud Hospital, we stopped here for lunch on the way home . . . ]

I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed-reading accident. I hit a bookmark. ~ Steven Wright
[We split a Reuben and onion rings and read the “Geezer Gazette” . . . ]

December 31 (a/k/a, New Year’s Eve)
There’s just something beautiful about walking on snow that nobody else has walked on. ~ Carol Rifka Brunt

December is the toughest month of the year. Others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, October, August, and February. ~ Mark Twain

I’ll own it’s cold for such a fall of snow. ~ Robert Frost

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! ~ Edgar Allan Poe

Winter is not a season, it’s a celebration. ~ Anamika Mishra

[Why yes, we did go to a holiday party last night. Of course, not until midnight – 8:30 was late enough. When we got home the neighbors across the lake were partying on the ice . . . ]

Good parties create a temporary youthfulness. ~ Mason Cooley

If you want an interesting party, combine cocktails and a fresh box of crayons for everyone. ~ Robert Fulghum

Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. ~ Mark Twain

Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to. ~ Bill Vaughn

Out with the old, in with the new’ is a fitting expression for a holiday that is based on vomiting. ~ Andy Borowitz

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one. ~ Brad Paisley
[This was also Ruthie’s sister Rita’s 80th birthday . . . ]

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool. ~ F.M. Knowles

No one ever regarded the first of January with indifference. ~ Charles Lamb
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance. ~ Yoko Ono
Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring out the false, ring in the true. ~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Up Next: Still more catching up . . .