...and a Very Merry Christmas to All!!!

We had our Christmas snowfall a day or two early; by December 25, all the white stuff in the neighborhood will be gone, though it remains on the mountains.

However, I'm simply too old (and don't bend easily enough) to be building my own snowman. Which is why I couldn't resist this sign when I wandered Whiskey Row with the DIL this afternoon.

This is Frosty, the popcorn man! Do read his vital statistics below -- impressive. You wouldn't want that 200 pound popcorn ball to fall over on you!

This being my last post before Christmas Day, I just want to wish everyone of you to enjoy a wonderful holiday. Eat, drink, be merry!

The big Christmas bazaar

I don't know how many different non-profits were there today with their wares, but the Sparkes Activity Center was full of tables that were full of goodies, seasonal or suitable for gifting. To give an idea of the range of groups present: the snowmen above were made by members of the Gourd Patch, a club of gourd fanciers, while the gingerbread tree ornament below was on sale at the Heritage Park zoo's booth.

Other holiday wares that caught my eye: the Christmas clock (above) and the flurry of white handkerchiefs (below).
But there were also a handful of "paintings" made by elephants! Huh? Apparently kids from one of the local charters are raising money for a trip to Thailand (see below) and loaded up on exotic items from that SE Asian nation.

Above, just one of the tee shirts from the Highland Center collection -- very unfortunately, I had already bought a nature tee for the Sson (who collects), though I did find suitable tops for the SDIL and the grandson.

Miss Kitty has a new tee and a sweat shirt -- perhaps to celebrate the move of their cat house to a new location on South Alarcon. Also on display (and/or sale), two cat quilts. The fine example below was a prize in a drawing.

Other handmades for sale: quilted items above, and old-fashioned rag dolls, below.

Chris Hoy was there to promote his book, proceeds of which all go to the Elks Opera House renovation. The dressy ladies below were also promoting the Opera House -- seems to me we always have somebody in historic costume at civic events in Prescott, though I didn't see any cowboys today.

Other giftables -- a wooden panda and Indian jewelry, the latter on sale by the Smoki Museum.

Perhaps my favorite of all the items on the floor -- earrings made from feathers of the Heritage Park peacocks. Already I'm kicking myself for not buying the set! I'll be sure to make the big bazaar scene next year -- this was great fun!

Merry Christmas to One and to All!

My dotter brought this lovely Christmas card from the granddotter and I decided that it would be my card to everyone out in the strange and wacky on-line world that we share. Wishing you...

A MOST MERRY AND WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS

And may the spirit of Christmas last you all the coming year until Christmas is once again with us! Thank you for your comments, your readership and your support.

The Great Wall of Xmas

Continuing yesterday's adventure...

What distinguished Sam's Club from other plain-pipe-racks, brightly lit, Big Box retailers? Yesterday, it was the Great Wall of Xmas that greeted me as I entered (above). And exited (below).

One of those curious aspects of our overstuffed age of plenty: individual products become mere atoms of color and texture in an abstract canvas that celebrates one or the other of the six seasons of merchandising, in this case the Cold Solstice.

In this season, would you dare display any other plant than a poinsettia?* Close to being unAmerican, you know.

The Christmas tree ornaments come 100 to the container, fifty bucks a pop.

Wreaths and/or poinsettias may be bought individually, believe it or not.

This cheerful guy is the checker-outer, who spotted me taking pictures and, instead of admonishing me, insisted on posing for a portrait. Scored one, two or ten points for Sam's right away!

*Aside from the tree, of course.

Linkage: Monsoon, one of the local life-style publications, has jazzed up its on-line presentation. And Tombo is back visiting the folks; he has posted some cool pictures of old-time brickworks in Van Buren, Arkansas.

A Merry Christmas to One and All!

My heart was more than a little heavy when I put Mom's Christmas angel on my front door today -- she must have been made over 40 years ago and has graced Mom's door forever, it seems. But I had two wonderful, quite unexpected gifts.

You may recall that I lusted after this strange cat creature that I met at the Brinkmeyer House bazaar. A knock at the door yesterday morning: there was a neighbor I occasionally see while out walking. He held a gift bag and explained that his wife (who worked at the bazaar) thought that I should have the cat! There he/she now sits, in my kitchen.

And tonight, I was part of a lovely family dinner, thanks to a taxi driver/dispatcher with whom I regularly ride. All I can say is how kind and thoughtful people can be. My friends and family, certainly they are great folk, each and every one -- what would I do without them. But what made this Christmas even more special were the surprises. Wow!

Christmas notes from all over town

I guess that I'm more than somewhat weird. On the one hand, I celebrate Christmas, with a capital "C", not some vague "holidays" or "seasons". On the other hand, I'm pretty lazy about all the presumed "duties" that go along with the holiday, for example, all that shopping. In my book, if gifting isn't fun and a pleasure, it isn't worthwhile doing. And it's been years since I indulged in Christmas cookery.

There are many, many aspects of Christmas that I really enjoy. Family time, always. But also catching the artist in the act of decorating a store window. However, I must admit that as a scientific purist, I'm disturbed by all the 4- and 8-sided snowflakes I've seen this year (see below for example.)

And, of course, we have the trends. Biker Santas, for one. I saw the first one over at the True Value store in early November and the second on Ruth Street along with a lot of other blow-up figures...

...including Pooh characters that apparently the Disney folk have declared to be an official part of Christmas. Don't mind Pooh characters at Christmas, tho I really do object to the Disney commercialization!

Now here's the perfect gift package for a certain kind of guy (or woman, for that matter.) The Bro, who had a sports car fling during his younger years, truly admired this MG on display at the new Batterman's showroom on Gurley.

Of course, you would expect me to admire the new trend toward decking out one's ride for the holidays. Just surprised that I haven't seen more Christmas cars this year. Last year, there was a VW bug with strings of lights.

Nice angels next the gas log out at our city's little airport.

A collection of seasonal decorative objects at Samaritan Village ... and a invitation to to a holiday kiss in the lobby at Las Fuentes (below.)

Also at Samaritan Village, where my Mom is now staying, is a very traditional Christmas tree, complete to crocheted snow flake (6-sided, of course.) But then I have one friend who was complaining that there weren't any Western items for his yule tree. He had definitely not been over to Watters' annual Christmas tree display. Below is a perfect set of lights for him!

I kinda like the hat-on-a-hat decoration I spotted somewhere. Sounds somewhat like a Dr. Seuss idea.

And what could be more symbolic of Christmas and the spirit of giving than the traditional Salvation Army bell ringer over in front of Albertson's. I can think of just one thing: a traditional Salvation Army brass duo or trio belting out carols on a cold downtown corner in Chicago.

And Another: Turns out that Ronni, whose blog I introduced yesterday, has a husband who also blogs (as well as doing other techie things and flying airplanes). You can see what he has to say at The Flying Beagle.

Happy Thanksgiving -- turn on the Christmas lights

What more can I say -- Thanksgiving dinner with Mom and her tablemates is past. It's now officially Christmas, even though the worried merchants have long since opened up their boxes of Santas, reindeer, lights and other seasonal decorative paraphernalia . But let's pause a moment for a few more turkeys before we move on. And speaking of Thanksgiving, I should mention that my bro, over in Memphis visiting daughters & grandchillen, made four pumpkin pies for expected guests. Not bad for someone who's lived in Oz for at least 30 years now.

In the meantime, back to the birds. This turkey hen -- a real one, once -- was photographed at Koldoff's Arizona Gems & Beads last year; the lead-in turkey, also for real, was on display at the Drake Station antiquery on Iron Springs Road.

Believe me, I was tempted when I saw the fellow above at the Tru Value hardware store -- especially since harvest themed items had already gone on sale (also below) some two weeks ago.

But as I said at the beginning, it's now officially fitting and proper to turn on the Christmas lights, as represented by these snow flakes adorning most of the city street light poles. The big downtown lighting ceremony is scheduled for December 1, after my bro gets back from his family visit. In the meantime, enjoy these photos of the Square at night from last year, posted by Vision in Time.