Wonderful December Weather

We got a bit of snow today... 

It was really coming down hard for a little while.

It had rained for most of last night (yay!) but, wonderfully, it turned to snow late this morning.  Well, snow and hail, more hail than snow, but hey...it's all pretty.

We had thunder with the snow today, too.  The weather people are saying that we have another chance of snow on Sunday...I hope they're right!

Just a Little Cheer...

"Ooh, a mouse!  Just what I wanted!" 

"Yum!  I hope the human who's drinking this doesn't come back too soon." 

"OMG!  It's Santa!!!" 

All photos from Pinterest...kitty thoughts from my imagination :)

A Quote for Monday

"Would you like an adventure now...

...or would you like to have your tea first?"  ~~ J.M. Barrie

Sunday Sunsets

Lake Gregory, San Bernardino mountains. 

San Bernardino, Continued

The most recent mass shooting (there have been over 350 just this year) in America was close to home for me.  One of the victims lived  in my community.  The town where the shooting took place, along with the town where the shooters lived, are places where I do most of my non-grocery shopping.  I have family and friends in both towns.  If a mass shooting can happen here, it can happen anywhere.

Whether the shooters were terrorists or not doesn't really matter. Their religion and ethnicity, how or where they were raised, are all unimportant.  What is important is that in America, if you can pay for a gun you can own it...even if you're on the Terrorist Watch List or the No Fly List.  The day after the San Bernardino shooting, republicans in Congress voted down a bill that would have made the sale of guns to the people on both lists illegal. The population of America is one fifth of the world total population, yet Americans own 40 percent of the world total of guns.  How crazy is that?

These republican congress members, and other republican politicians, are so quick to say that they're the ones who will keep America safe.   They're so quick to say that they'll keep the families of victims of crime in their "thoughts and prayers."

Thoughts and prayers are nice, but they're not enough, and republicans' votes in Congress proved that they're not interested at all in keeping Americans safe from gun violence.   They don't care how many die, as long as they keep the NRA happy.  Because a happy NRA means money, big money, in their pockets.

 My country is sick, and as long as there are people like this in power, it will just get sicker.

San Bernardino

Michael Wetzel
Damian Meins
Sierra Clayborn
Aurora Banales Godoy
Tin Nguyen
Juan Espinoza
Harry Bowman
Yvette Velasco
Bennetta Betbadal
Robert Adams
Daniel Kaufman
Isaac Amanicos
Nicholas Thalasinos
Shannon Johnson 

Wednesday's Winding Road

Taken in the spring of 2014. 

Happy December

It's my favorite month of the year (although October is a very close second).  The lights, the decorations, the baking, the...everything!  I hope everyone has a wonder-full December, wherever you are in the world. 

My husband spent today putting away the last of Autumn and bringing out Christmas, while I spent the day making new bows for all the wreaths and garlands and sorting through Christmas stuff.  I'm not going to obsess about getting it all done by a certain day this Christmas season...I'm just going to enjoy the "doing."

Monday's Quote

I was uplifted above a world of love, hate and storms of passion, for I was calm amidst the eternal silences, bathing in the living blue.  Peace rested that one bright day on the mountaintop.  ~~ Isabella Bird,  "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains" 

Sunday Sunsets

...and a very cold one.  Temperatures haven't been out of the thirties for the past week, and our lows have been in the teens and low twenties.  I've been struggling with a cold, or something, for the past several days.  Usually I sleep a lot when I have something like this, but I haven't had a night in a week where I managed to sleep longer than an hour without waking up.  So, if this post isn't very coherent, that's why...

Sunday Sunset

Wishing...

All the ferns have turned a beautiful pale gold, a sure sign that autumn is on her way out.  We haven't had the amount of rain I had hoped we would by this time, but the weather people say big rains are coming...maybe in January.  The Santa Ana winds are back, and nearly all of Southern California is under a red flag warning, which means extremely high wildfire danger.

There are little bits of color left here and there in the forest, while inside my house the annual chaotic transition from Halloween to Christmas is going on.  The garland is up around the living room ceiling, and the tree is up, but neither are decorated.  My collection of witches is still on the living room mantle, but they'll be leaving soon, while the autumn decorations in the dining room and kitchen will remain up until after the Thanksgiving dinner.  Every year I say the same thing: "I wish Thanksgiving was in October!"

Wednesday's Winding Road

Taken October 14.  This tree is bare now, but it was certainly eye-catching while it lasted.  It's a little maple tree, and I like to imagine how it will look when it's fully grown, arching over the road and gently showering passers by with beautiful leaves in the autumn...

Leafy Thoughts

A couple of nights below freezing helped the trees to really color up. 

Some trees still have green leaves that are very stubborn... 

They just won't give up.  I like that.  They remind me of our nation's motto (the Cherokee nation, that is) "Endeavor to Persevere."  

Monday's Quote

Photo from Pinterest

Paris

Paris, vous etes dans mon coeur et mes prieres. 

Cattitude

The temperature is plummeting (just after 9 p.m. and it's already down to 28 degrees F) and the cats are seeking out their favorite warm spots.  I had books on top of the book Purcilla is on, but she she shoved them down on the floor.  And, she doesn't like having the camera pointed at her!

 

"Hmmpf.  She's always got that camera with her.  She stalks us!  I feel like a mouse.  She better pay attention to the title of the book I'm laying on...we cats have our ways of getting even...heh, heh, heh."

Monday's Quote

"Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen."  Robert Bresson

Sunday Sunlight

This N' That

Autumn mist rising from Lake Arrowhead, so pretty.  Cold though.  The lows have been in the low twenties for the past several nights, and the highs have been in the thirties and forties.  Some of the stores in the village already have their Christmas decorations up, ready to welcome the influx of Thanksgiving tourists. 

Lots of beautiful leaves flying about with the wind today.  Some of the dogwoods have already dropped their leaves and some only have a couple of red leaves in among the green.  The maples are mostly done, unless I can hunt up some down in Crestline. 

The trees that haven't dropped their leaves yet are like lanterns, lighting my way home through the forest as I come back from a walk in the too-early November twilight.  I hate the time change, whether in the autumn or spring.  Time...it goes far too fast.  I miss the luxury of the abundance of time that it seemed like I had when I was young.  Ah, well...

One Word Wednesday - Shades

Blessings

Last night it rained, so wonderful.  It looked like it was going to clear up today, so we went for a drive.  After about an hour, it started raining again!  Yippee!  I took these photos from car in the parking lot of Goodwin's, a market in Crestline. 

On my computer I could see the rain in this photo and the one below.  I hope you can, too.  AND...it  snowed today!!!  Not enough to stick, but enough for me to get the first snow of the season on my face and hands.  Beautiful autumn leaves, the forest soaked by rain, and a tiny bit of snow.  Blessings, so many blessings.

Monday's Quote

Pay heed to the tales of old wives.  It may well be that they alone keep in memory what was once needful for the wise to know.  J.R.R. Tolkien