We had a good ’un out here in Frontier Partisans Land.
Daughter Ceili snapped this shot on a Christmas Eve hike. Note the absence of snow. Bad. Ceili is a freshman on the Outlaws high school ski team and she is NOT happy. The charm of dry-land training has its limits. Speaking of which, I piled the hike on top of a Monday Crossfit workout and several very vigorous games of racquetball and found myself barely able to lever myself up off the couch Christmas Eve night. Fell asleep at 8:15 p.m. and it would have taken a lot more than reindeer hooves on the roof to bestir me. Ugghhh!
We celebrated the Yuletide quietly but well. A home-cooked prime rib dinner, followed by a trip to Bend to the Seventh Mountain Resort for ice skating.
Santa Claus was, of course, good to Ceili. Lots of clothes. Wife Marilyn will never have a dull knife in the kitchen again. Your correspondent is comfortable and stealthy in Twisted X moccasins (highly recommended) and has ordered two books and a DVD for Frontier Partisans research. At long last I will have in my clutches Richard W. Stovers’ book on the New Zealand Wars irregulars “Von Tempsky and the Forest Rangers.” Also ordered Brian Duncan’s award-winning novel of South Africa and Rhodesia “The Settler,” and the PBS American Experience documentary on Kit Carson.
Also, ammo and guitar strings. A fine haul for a man of my inclinations.
I could not, however, convince the girls to adopt my favorite version of Santa Claus as pagan badass…
Shunkaha Witko says
Mary Krissmust! And a Happy Knew Deer! Belated as that is…..Great photo–looks like you could utilize coursing hounds with all that open territory??…. And I can relate to your daughter’s peeviness at lack of snow(although it seems some parts of the country are getting more than their share this year!)–having some gung-ho sled dogs myself! I DO have a cart with wheels when there is no snow, but it is not nearly as aesthetically enjoyable, in my opinion, as my genuine wooden dogsled!…. And I never knew CONAN, in his old age, originated the Santa Claus legend! Well, that’s what it looks like. I expect Santa HAS TO BE purty darn buff to have survived all those centuries of Xmas shopping!…..And Santa was good to me, too–one PRACTICAL thing I got was an Amazon gift card! Yee-Haw! I got me two wolf books I’ve had my eye on awhile, and, at long last Jonathan Kingdon’s guide to the mammals of Africa! Which I have been wanting now for only half-a-century!…..L.B.