Home for the holidays, I believe I’ve missed each and every face…celebrate me home. Kenny Loggins

The snow-covered San Francisco Peaks made it real – I was flying home, my other home, for Christmas, past Salt Lake City, past the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff, skirting east of the Four Peaks and into Mesa, Arizona. Yes, I was just there in August but Christmas is special and one can’t pass up any opportunities! Though not as warm as I was expecting (had to borrow some layers from Mom) the sun was brilliant and Phoenix was dressed for the holiday. This trip was all about family, fun, and making memories to last. Zane is just a little guy, watching and learning, but hopefully Eva will remember this Christmas – the fun, love, and sharing of her parents, great grandmas, grandmas, aunts and cousins. A fun time was had by all –


And there was such good food!

Mom and I went on a little excursion to Jerome – we bellied up to the bar at the Haunted Hamburger and indulged, then enjoyed the never-changing town, well, except for the old hospital, now a fancy hotel, but the ghosty buildings and skeletal facades are still there. It was doggone chilly, even by my standards.

Though nice now and then to see the saguaros and mesquite, my holiday was over and I was missing my kids. I flew home – to this – yikes – 15 degrees when I landed! I enjoyed the scenery on the way home and was shocked to see a foot of snow at home – I had to walk in from the neighbor’s, who’d already been plowed out. So cold but so pretty – a fine end to a Phoenix holiday to keep the spirit glowing.

“All along the Rockies you can feel it in the air…” Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Yesterday I took boys’ basketball teams to Hamilton, an historic and scenic little town south of Missoula. Lucky for me the main streets were within walking distance of the school. I parked downtown when we first got there so they could have lunch, then I walked back while the kids played.

The setting of Main Street would get even the scroogiest in the spirit. It’s hard to tell in the pics but there were lights and pine boughs and giant snow flakes all up and down the main streets. The weather cooperated nicely for strolling and for bus driving, and the surrounding mountains were dressed appropriately in winter attire.

As a special treat, I had a nice conversation and gave multiple pats and tickles to a black cocker, looking much like my Cooper but I could see Cassidy’s face in all that black cuteness!

Merry Christmas to all from Montana!

I was lucky to be in the right spot in the driver rotation Saturday and drove a kids’ ski club up to Big Mountain in Whitefish. It rained or snowed from start to finish of the trip, not my favorite thing, especially when it’s dark, but had a very fun day and I didn’t even ski! The snow was either too packed or too slushy for snowshoeing but I didn’t run out of things to do!

One of the other drivers lent me his DVD player so sat in the lodge at the base of one of the runs and watched Disney’s Haunted Mansion (not recommended) and next pic was the view from my table.

I walked up to the “village” and had soup in this building, which was there when I worked on the mountain 20 years ago, but almost everything else up there, the condos and the base lodge, are new. This was my view of a different run during lunch.

I walked and shuttled back down to the base lodge and read for a while, took a short nap in the bus, stood by a classic lodge fire. I got paid 🙂

It’s been so cold so far this winter, down to single digits. As I write this it’s 16.9 degrees. Sigh, a little early for this, but there’s a silver lining to all this cold like…

Standing by the warm oven when baking is done, like…

Kids catching snowflakes, like…

Snow landing on deer, like…

Friends who will hike with you no matter what the temperature, like…

Ice skirts around lake bushes, like…

Sara loving the snow and finding deer legs during hunting season, like icicles and glitter in the air. I can’t take pictures of glitter but found some great icicles today!

Another windy, rainy day in Northwest Montana. Staying in my jammies today close to the fire, if the dogs will make room, that is 🙂

Yesterday I was thankful it was dry, though terribly windy. I started my holiday by bundling up and taking the kids down the back slope, where they ran and played and wore themselves out. I was lucky to get to watch a bald eagle playing in the wind. It was blowing so hard that he flew at a complete standstill, his wings motionless. He was close enough that I could see him looking around the valley, his white head clear against the sky. I know eagles have no instinct for thankfulness or appreciation but I know it was having fun and I was grateful for both of us.

Then I made my sweet potato casserole and was off to Cindy’s folks for dinner. A good time was had by all with all the traditional holiday dishes contributed by a lot of talented cooks. Cindy’s mother-in-law made a uniquely Montana dessert – huckleberry pie! Of course, I ate too much! The old stove had been fired up and radiated warmth for soon-to-be-devoured squash, my sweet potatoes and a green bean casserole. The group picture is a little blurry but still tells the story. I hope the holiday was equally blessed for all of you!

Ha, hardly! After my morning route I was lucky to get to drive a bus to Kalispell, a 50-mile adventure, for repairs. Went from blasting through a squall of blowing snow that swirled around on the highway to clear, sunny skies bordered by mountains freshly draped with snow. After my boss picked me up we headed back through town and spotted legs in the air. It’s common to see deer in the back of trucks this time of year but rare to see elk. And this poor elk had been loaded up in a pretty comical manner.

My boss is a great guy and was kind enough to pull over at the lake so I could take a couple of pictures – the lake does weird things as it’s freezing up. We watched distorted mist and little wispy funnel clouds for miles along the west shore then drove through the same snowy squall line we’d hit on the way up. As soon as we got back from that we went and picked up a bus from Ronan, 20 miles south – that’s the last picture. Even with a town in the foreground the mountains are nothing short of majestic. Then I drove my afternoon run. Covered a lot of ground, saw gorgeous scenery, and got paid!

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If there are any pumpkins left they are wearing more than frost this morning – we awoke to a couple of inches of unpredicted snow! Perfect timing – Sunday morning, we lay in bed just watching it come down. No fretting over roads, ice, fog, or pre-warming buses 🙂 I started a fire first thing and Sara went out for her favorite activity – rooting around in the snow!!! Happy, warm winter to all!

I went out to get wood last night and there they were!!!!
Such a thrill to open that box and see my title, my name!!! And Lois wanted to get the first one out of the box, so I called her right over 🙂 Hollywood can call any time now 😀

October 21 is just around the corner, just nine days, and what happens that day? The release of The Sparrow’s Choice!!! Yay!!!