It seems that actual white Christmases are fairly rare in Colorado, with only about six such days in the past 30 years.
Regardless of whether it is a real white Christmas or a Christmas with a lot of white around, have a happy holiday, and here’s hoping you are enjoying the day with family, close friends and that it is a great day overall.
I have a small tradition I have carried out for about 25 years. When I get up on Christmas day I call each of my four siblings and wish them a Merry Christmas. That means a call to Fort Collins, Minneapolis, Tubac, Ariz., and Whitley, England.
I was fortunate to see all the siblings earlier this month during my (much older) sister’s 70th birthday celebration in Fort Collins, but, what the heck, I might as well keep up the tradition.
Even though we don’t have any children, Christmas is still my favorite time of year. I do wish it didn’t start in late October with the Christmas carols and those unending Christmas sales ads on TV.
Following the ungodly political advertising that started in the spring, the TV ads this year have almost been more than a person can handle.
I must admit I am looking forward to tomorrow, when most of the Christmas ads will be off the tube—well except for all those after-Christmas sales. But we only have to put up with those for another week or two.
What was my favorite Christmas gift of all time?
No doubt it was parental permission and $1,000 to spend as my best friend and I drove from Boulder to Cali, Colombia. We made the trip right after graduation from high school and it was an adventure we will never forget.
We drove all the way, covering well over 2,500 miles each way through Mexico, Central America, across the Panama Canal and down into Colombia.
There was one ground rule we were given and we stuck with it implicitly: We were not to drive at night. Back in the early 1970s, much like today, there are places you don’t want to be driving at night, especially in Mexico and through some of the jungles of Central America.
We drove only during the day and I must say we never had any trouble at any time during the trip.
It took us eight days in our ‘60s-style Volkswagen Bug.
We had the time of our lives. The people were wonderful, the scenery was breathtaking, the food was incredible, the gasoline and the motels were inexpensive and it was just about three weeks of a truly, fun, relaxing time.
I have visited Mexico probably more than 100 times since then (I did live eight miles as the crow flies from the Mexican border), and never did I have any problems —exercising a bit of caution along the way.
Another favorite Christmas gift was one I bought myself in 1974. I was living in Eureka Springs, Ark., which is a small town where everything is either uphill or downhill.
I bought myself my first car—a “lime yellow”—that’s the color Ford called my 1969 Pinto. And it really did almost glow in the dark.
I was so proud of myself. I was actually able to buy my first car, a necessity if one is going to drive up, down and around in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri.
I went down to the bank, made my first payment and picked up the final paperwork.
I drove back up Spring Street, parked in front of the newspaper office, opened the driver’s side door and before I could get my leg out of the car, a pickup truck hit the inside of the door, breaking all the hinges and supports and leaving the door on the car I had truly owned for about eight minutes lying about 30 feet down the street.
I was in shock. And for one of the few times in my life, I was speechless.
To make a very long story short, I got a new door and hinges and drove that car for several years. The last year I drove it, however, the button on the driver’s side door that opens the door from the outside, froze off and shot across a snow-filled, windy parking lot in Strasburg, Colo., amid a blizzard. After that, when I got into the car I had to climb in the open window or get in on the passenger side and climb over the console.
Anyway, those are my two most memorable Christmas gifts, and ones I will never forget.
I hope everyone has a wonderful, merry and loving day today and that the year ahead is a happy, healthy and prosperous one.
Guess what time it is?
It’s New Year’s resolution time.
Yeah! Right!
I used to make resolutions each New Year’s Day when I was a kid and a young adult.
Did I ever keep one of them?
I can’t remember ever having done so.
I have made resolutions about quitting smoking, resolutions about losing a ton of weight, resolutions about exercising more and even eating less. It doesn’t help when Christmas and New Year’s Day are two of the best days during the entire year to eat, sit in front of the television with a beverage and vegetate in front of several football games—I believe there are seven bowl games on Jan. 1 this year.
I quit making resolutions years ago. At midnight, however, I make my solemn oath that covers the entire year.
I resolve to not make any more resolutions.
And you know what? I have never been disappointed.
I admire people who can arrive at some obscure date on the calendar and stop smoking, start exercising, begin losing weight and concentrate on getting healthier.
Over the years, I have known hundreds probably who made a resolution and actually stuck by it. They are probably happier and healthier than those of us who gave up on resolutions a long time ago.
And I am proud of those who can make a resolution and can stick with it.
But unless I have an epiphany between now and next Thursday, it probably won’t happen.
It should!
But it probably won’t.
This is a great time of year to think of our service men and women who are deployed around the globe or around the country.
The military life is not an easy one, starting with boot camp and continuing through the rest of training, venturing into a war zone, being nowhere near loved ones on many birthdays or holidays, etc.
It is impossible to list all the sacrifices these men and women make to defend our country and engage the enemy when needed.
Thank you for your service now and in the past. And may Santa smile fondly on you this holiday season.
