Valley of the lights

What a wonderful Christmas holiday! Another unexpected adventure -- a trip through the Valley of Lights over in PV. Invited by the same lady who did Christmas Eve. I had hoped to pay a visit with the dotter and GD, but Mom's illness, unfortunately, clobbered those best laid plans.

You'll have to bear with me -- I was shooting from a car (stopped, however, for most pictures), it was night and I had no tripod, so some photos, such as the classic toy soldier above, are composed of multiples of multiple lights!

The snowflakes through the front windshield worked very nicely. They were the upper part of a light tunnel above the roadway (below). In the distance, a Santa, reclining in the islands after a long night.

Yes, there were many traditional Christmas scenes, such as the visitation of the angel Gabriel to the three wise men.

But most were on the wrong side of the car, like this smear of poinsettas and candles.

So my best pictures were of the quirkier scenes rendered in lights. Such as Snoopy as the Red Baron -- and, in the background, the Energizer Bunny. As well as the dozer (below), which moved the "M" in Merry from one side to the other.

Plenty of wild west pictures. The old town, above, and a stagecoach, below.

Scenes from a rodeo, natch.

Even a desert coyote baying at the moon. The entire production is sponsored by the Prescott Valley Chamber of Commerce, with members sponsoring individual displays that range from a Cinderella castle with coach to a huge peace-on-earth dove and a Statue of Liberty. Lights are on from 6 p.m. to midnight through December 30.

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.