How much difference a day makes!

For approximately a month, our radios and stores have been full of Christmas music, our towns and homes lite with Christmas lights. Even my Jewish friends take Christmas day off of work. It is a day that some folks spend all year planning for. They plan parties, and gifts, and gift shopping, etc. So, why is it that today, the day after Christmas, is just another day? This year it happens to be just another Wednesday. Most people go back to work, etc. Sure there are some that take this entire week between Christmas and New Years off. Just enough people do that to make the rest of us inconvenienced by what we can't seem to get done. For many of us, we will get home from work tonight and not even turn on the Christmas tree lights that was the centerpiece of yesterdays activities. The music has stopped, and other than the workers taking down the decorations, all is back to normal. A week from now, a completely different kind of celebration, one which lends itself more to the adult side of the crowd, where as Christmas, at least in the American consumer version, lends itself to kids. Happy New Year to All!

Lights out! Turn the lights off when you leave the room!

Lights out! Turn the lights off when you leave the room! These are all things that those of use raised back in the days of incandescent light bulbs are used to hearing. It looks like those days may be ending. The US government is moving to change how we light our lives. The latest energy bill bans incandescent light bulb sales starting in like 2012.
This comes at a time when L.E.D. bulbs , while still expensive, are all the rage. I must admit that I have switched to more efficient long lasting mini-florescent bulbs in my small home office, because I noticed a significant heat increase in the summer after having the lights on with the older bulbs. I also like to use the mini-florescent bulbs outdoors where they tend to be for long periods of time, and quality or color light for a yard light is immaterial.

Tis The season to talk about Joy. Tis the season.

There is something about that first heat that you feel from the wood stove when you first light it in the morning. You know the house will be warmer soon. You smile just a little as you place that cold water on top of the now crackling wood stove, thinking of the hot coffee to come from it. Yes, while the world rushes around on the last shopping day before Christmas, trying to package just a little more joy into one or two more presents, you find your joy in the simplest of things...heat, warmth, and coffee.

My mind drifts back to images from my visits to Zambia, Africa where we would chuckle at the men and women huddled around small fires along the roads in the early mornings. We thought it humorous that one could be cold when it was over 65 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Yet, here I am looking just as silly to some iglou dweller I suppose. I mean it is only a brisk 10 degrees out. (grin)

Well, the coffee is hot now, and the room has lost it's early morning chill. Be safe out there, have a Merry Christmas, and remember ... the old wood stove starts fires really well on those pesky credit card bills.

P.S. - Becareful Santa! The chimney here is hot!

Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak in Snow...

Well, Ok, Colorado Springs isn't covered in snow, at least not too deeply. But a short ride up into the mountains just west of Colorado Springs, and you will find plenty of snow for those new snow shoes or skis. Remember to keep your Jeep or other 4x4 on the marked routes, and to those of you that feel compelled to shot the signs, please don't. It just gets shooting and other recreational activities restricted.

Paintball Shooting at Signs from Moving Pickup Truck

I just received a call from a concerned neighbor about a truckload of guys driving recklessly up Old Stage Road shooting paintball. Yes, shooting paint ball guns from a moving vehicle. What are these guys shooting at? Well, it seems that road signs and other vehicles are the main targets.

The neighbor was concerned about the reckless nature of their driving. I guess one of the other neighbors that runs a guest ranch in the area, had one of their guests run into by some other reckless drivers traveling too fast for steep icy conditions.

While this is all part of living in or next to the national forest, I admit it gets old. I was recently shown a Facebook group or network, that is for people who do stupid things while drunk on Gold Camp or Old Stage roads. Nice... I so need to see more news stories of good kids doing good things. I am sooooo tired of seeing stupid kids / young adults doing really stupid things.