It's Beginning to Look...

...well, pretty much the same as always, really. We've been getting down under 32 degrees F at night, but we're not likely to see snow in the Old Pueblo any time soon.

The main signs of Christmas here so far are as follows:



1. Potted poinsettia plants have appeared at work, in hallways and above some of the cubicles. I noticed yesterday that in one department, one or more stockings have been hung on the wall of each cubicle. A cardboard menorah is sticking up from another cubicle near one end of the building. That made me smile.





2. Displays of Christmas lights are slowly taking hold around the neighborhood. I don't live in Winterhaven, where everyone is required by bylaws to have holiday displays, but by mid-December our block will look at lot like that anyway. I don't have the time, money, materials or expertise to do much of anything myself, but I really admire what some of my neighbors do each year. Here are a couple of early entries in the informal local competition. The prize? Nothing, except the oohs and ahs of passersby.

3. Last night I left work when it was already fully dark outside. The trees lining the path to the church door at nearby St. Michael's were shining with white "fairy lights." The lights are there all year, but I seldom see them lit except at Christmas and Easter.

It intrigues me that in one of these shots, the lights look tiny and far away. The lights are small, but the actual distance is probably about fifty feet. Neat!





Karen