Finally, the Happy Holidays are over.
It was our first season away from our ex-home in Southern California. (Actually, our house is still there, awaiting escrow to close on January 10th. Fingers are crossed that the deal will actually go through!) We both missed the traditional get-together that we would have with the kids and grandkids who still live in the Inland Empire. But, life moves on…
Son Jeff and wife Carol made the trip out here just before Christmas, so we got a chance to visit and show them the new digs. I also took the kids up to St. George, Utah to show them the area beauty. They were dazzled by the Virgin River Gorge and the red rock amphitheatre at Tuacahn.
Charlie didn’t make the trip up to St. George that day. She had acquired some kind of virus (which lasted for a couple of weeks, unfortunately), and had to slog her way through the holidays…the poor gal. If it not one thing, it’s another, with her.
One of our neighbors, Sandy Gordon, had a Holiday open house, which Charlie missed. Lots of good food and drink. Plus, dogs were invited, so I took Booger as my “date”. She immediately glommed onto a tennis ball, and then spent her time at the party pestering all of the guests to play with her. The other dogs, mostly small ones and “toy” breeds, stood around like idiots, watching a real dog hog the spotlight. Booger made a couple of dozen new human friends at that party, but probably alienated the other dogs, whose only talent was to look cute.
Then, I attended another neighborhood party at the McPhersons on Christmas Eve (again, Charlie was ill!), and enjoyed Italian Wedding Soup, baked Ziti, and specialty cookies…with Wine! Good times and nice folks!
Later, Charlie and I were Christmas caroled by some local folks, and one of our new neighbor friends brought us a gift of home-made Lemon cake.
The next day, Christmas, featured a neighborhood brunch at the Howa’s home at the end of the cul-de-sac that we live on. They have a beautiful home with a spectacular view of the Virgin Mountains. Charlie attended this party and had a nice visit with some of her new Mesquite girlfriends.
A few days later, some old friends from Temecula, Denise and Randy Wood, came by for the afternoon. They were visiting Las Vegas for a couple of days and made the 70-mile drive north to spread some Christmas cheer. I think that they were amazed that there was so much happening at this oasis out in the middle of the desert. Randy drooled at the numerous golf courses in town and the fact (that I mentioned) that there are a dozen more in St. George, just up the Interstate. I think he’d love to live in a place like this, but Denise, who he admits is “high maintenance”, would rather die first. Her idea of “roughing it” is camping out at the Wynn Hotel on the Vegas Strip.
Speaking of dying, I did a So Cal “turnaround” on December 28th, putting in about 14 hours behind the wheel. I left Mesquite at 2 a.m., got to Murrieta at 8 a.m., and dropped off some office equipment (for daughter-in-law Shanon),furniture (for granddaughter Jessica), and a piece of art for a friend. Then, I picked up the RV, which had been in the shop for 7 weeks, and drove it over to our home in Bear Creek. Whereupon, I loaded a bunch of potted plants into the RV and my Jeep, hopped into the RV, and headed back to Mesquite, with the Jeep in tow, leaving town at 11:40 a.m.
Sunofabitch…I hit the “Las Vegas New Year’s Eve crowd” on I-15 before I even got out of the L.A. basin! What a mess that was, bumper-to-bumper 100 miles out to Barstow. Exhausted and frustrated, I stopped off at Peggy Sue’s for a well-deserved Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs meal (the World’s Best, in my opinion), and then slogged another six hours north, getting home at 8 p.m. What a crummy ride!
I was dogged tired, having driven about 800 miles in one day, and went to bed immediately, hardly giving Charlie a kiss. And, slept like a log.
Remind me not to do that again.
However, Charlie is happy that I brought her beloved succulents from So Cal to Mesquite. We will probably use them to populate our entryway garden once it warms up a bit.
I say that because a very cold snap hit our community around December 31st, and has now lasted several days. We’ve had overnight lows of 24 for a couple of days, and daytime highs of the low-40’s. That’s pretty cold for this area, easily the lowest since we’ve been here. The succulents have been moved into our insulated storage room, which is an enclosed portion of our garage. I’m hoping that the frigid temperatures will abate within the week.
Speaking of the cold, I was supposed to go on a trek to the local mountains with the hiking club on New Year’s Day, but I begged off…the morning temp up there at Gunlock (the hike site) was 18 degrees and windy. No thanks; if I wanted to be that cold, I’d just cuddle up in my freezer in the garage!
On that very day, January 1st, I saw some Senior Citizen golfing at our local course, Connestoga, just down the street. The mid-day temperature was 43 degrees supplemented with a 20- to 25-mph breeze. How those morons (who are probably transplants from Minnesota) can even hold golf clubs in their frozen fingers is a mystery to me. Golf is supposed to be a game, not an endurance sport. If you’ve got to wear a parka, ear muffs, and down-filled gloves to golf…well, that’s not golf, it’s hockey!
Remind me never to golf when there’s ice on the course.
Our son Jonathan, who is coming to visit us tomorrow, is a big golfer. He just recently relocated from Whitefish, Montana (now THAT’S COLD!) to Lexington, Kentucky. He kept himself in shape while in Montana, during the winter, shoveling snow off of his driveway so that his wife to get to work. Not so cool. But, at least he had the smarts to take a rest from golf when the snow started to fall (in October!) and to, eventually, get his ass out of that Montana icebox after a dozen years. He’s now sipping Mint Juleps in Kentucky while it’s 20- or 30- below zero in Whitefish. Good for him.
I think my friends, the Quinns, can relate to this, as they winter in Yuma, Arizona. I’m sure they miss ice fishing, but…
Warm is a good thing.