Holiday Happenings

December 25, 2022

Howdy folks,

Well, what a 48-hour stretch of weather that we had!  Nothing along the lines of precipitation, just a big drop in temperature followed almost immediately by a huge rise in temperature.  Thursday peaked out at 40F during the day, but, by midnight, had plummeted all the way to -1F.  Friday saw a rise of a few degrees by dawn, but not much more than that even by lunchtime.  We might have topped out at 25F for the day.  That night it fell back down to about ten by midnight, by dawn was almost up to freezing and by the afternoon, it was nearly 60F with the sun shining!  The weather was so nice that we ran into Las Vegas to do a little bit of shopping before all the stores closed early and then ended up at our favorite restaurant in town, the Skillet, where we gladly sat outside to soak up some sun while I had a couple of beers, Erin had a couple of alcoholic hot chocolate drinks and we both grazed on green chile fries, a King's quesadilla and their house take on a pastrami sandwich.  Needless to say, we left very full and very happy, before heading back home to spring the dogs from their prison and let them run around outside for a while.  Today, Christmas Day, has only been nicer and we hit 60F out here on the ranch and it went all the way up to 65F in Vegas!  This week looks like it will bring an adjustment, but only back down to highs in the 50Fs at the beginning of the week and then in the 40Fs for the last few days of the year.  It was amazing on Thursday when the cold moved in from the plains, you could feel the temperature really dropping as my friend, Valentin, and I were out behind the new house cutting flagstone.  At lunchtime it was nearly 40 degrees and only two hours later it was hovering around 20F!  The drop was so sudden and noticeable that we actually packed up and left an hour early, as we were absolutely freezing and having trouble feeling our fingers and toes.  I took Friday off because of the cold and with that enjoyed a long three-day weekend.  No one could tell me what we were doing at work, as far as a day off was concerned, with the client not wanting to give one, the boss not wanting to confront the client about it, the foreman staying mum, and me and Valentin not knowing anything at all, as usual.  Amazingly, Valentin went into work Friday and cut stone in the cold all day(it was pay day); as for me, I opted to take a day off on Friday and come back in to work by myself(presumably?) on Monday when it will be nearly 60 degrees again...call me crazy!  It's very frustrating having spent my whole life in a family business, running it and owning it along the way, to now be back in at entry level, at the whim of everyone else's command...and more importantly, never being told what's going on.  Oh, well, it could always be worse.  The family business experience about killed me and caused Erin and I to divorce, so who's to say that this isn't a grand improvement?

We've been invited to a New Year's Eve party at the little, local bar that's here in San Jose.  Honestly, driving by it along the frontage road, you're really not sure what it is.  It's called El Alto, or the Stop, and there's a huge stop sign painted on the side of it.  However, 'Alto' in Spanish literally means 'stop,' so walking up to the place you're not quite sure if you should go in or not.  When we moved out here the bridge on the frontage road over the Pecos River was out and being rebuilt, so to get to the bar, you would have had to go out onto the interstate at the nearest exit, run back the other way, then get off and drive back towards where you started.  In time, the bridge was completed and life went back to normal, but patterns had been set and it took us a while to venture into there.  I finally went in with Valentin a few times and, after that, just started going there whenever I wanted to get a six-pack.  Out of the blue when I was in there the other day, one of the locals just struck up a conversation with me and within minutes I had met the whole bar and was invited to their New Year's Eve potluck dinner.  A week later I went in with Erin and she got to meet some of the same group that I did and we ended up staying for a half-hour talking with everyone.  There's a huge counter at one end with a tiny bar attached, two pool tables(always covered) and about half a dozen stools.  Whenever I stop in, there's never a seat available, so I still haven't navigated that yet.  But, now that Erin's stopped in with me, she's wanting to go back and hang out there some and is thinking of making her homemade, deep-dish, green chile pizza for the big bash at the end of the week.  The party's over at 10pm(midnight EST) so that everyone can make it home safely...we'll report back with all the news!  Maybe we'll find someone looking to sell a little bit of land!

So, here's another batch of photos for everyone's enjoyment.  First up, three shots of the new batch of kittens(just brought downstairs for the first time minutes ago): Erin's favorite, Charlie(because of the Charlie Chaplin mustache); one of the calicos; and Zia nursing her brood next to the bed upstairs.  Next, four shots of the horses: the first two from Friday morning when it was zero degrees...they weren't at the feeders, so I went looking for them; then, two other shots from the night before with a big, red UFO-shaped cloud hovering in the sky.  Then, three shots from the jobsite: my latest shot of the stack of stones that I've been working on; the new motion lights running at night; and, finally, Valentin's latest patio that he just finished(we get to cement it into place this week!).  Next, two shots from topping off the water trough on Friday morning when it was zero, one up close, one from a little further back.  Then, two shots of a flock of pinyon jays swarming the water troughs one afternoon.  And, lastly, two more shots: the first of my two favorite cars in the whole wide world warming up in the winter sun; then,  the second one Erin snapped of me licking all the chile off my lips at the Skillet. 

Happy Holidays!