DRY CRIK Journal

Snow down Sulfur Ridge to about 2,500 feet towards Dry Creek where we measured .07 rain. A distinct tint of green is showing through the old feed, cattle high on the hillsides.

Sunset North, Dry Creek
December 17, 2006

Robbin and I are making special Christmas preparations for my eldest daughter and three year-old grandson flying in from Kauai later this week. We spent yesterday trimming a store-bought tree and stringing lights around the outside of the house. In the blackness of this canyon, our simple place is lit-up like a Nevada casino.

Working around yesterday’s slow drizzle, I managed to salvage six “Made in China” strings from years past, methodically interchanging the primitive and delicate bulbs from a well-weathered seventh string, crushing a fair percentage of them between my fingers in the process. Generally immune to Christmas consumerism, I was quite pleased, however, with my diligent effort – one that Robbin noted might have saved ten or fifteen bucks with my five hours invested.

She’s right, of course, but I lay it on the culture – which is what this weblog is supposed to be about. At only two or three bucks an hour, the value of my satisfaction makes all the difference. Like Robbin’s small jars of pomegranate jelly, an incalculable effort with others in mind, we try to embrace the Spirit of Christmas, or so I rationalize. We’ve been running at a pretty fair clip since April, truly busier than we’d like to be. With the rain, we can slow down and relax a little. Happy Holidays to all!