Oh Phoo!

Bah humbug.  Christmas at Farview has been postponed until further notice when Larry recovers and Deb and Craig get over the creeping crud they've come down with.  Since we've never paid much attention to the calendar, preferring to make our holidays whenever we can all get together, I really have no complaints.  Clay said he's coming up tomorrow anyhow and Dave hasn't made up his mind yet.  We won't do "Christmas" per se, but I will certainly enjoy the company.  Chili verde, however, will have to wait until the gang's all here.

Weather ran the gamut yesterday, starting with wind and rain and ending with a big bang.  Several times there were flurries of snow, enough to cover the deck, rain again, and then everything stopped and there was a period of calm.  And then....  And then in late afternoon there was an alert on the cellphone and on TV announcing a tornado had hit in Folsom and was headed this way, warning all to stay indoors and away from windows.  Well, that was unexpected, to say the least.  Rather than see goats whirling past as in the Wizard Of Oz, it seemed prudent to put the girls inside.  Bess and I had no more than started out the door when hail the size of Tic-Tacs started falling, lightning flashed literally overhead and huge, I mean really huge, claps of thunder shook the ground.  Did I say the day ended with a bang?  Walking on acorns was good training for the hail pellets, arms outstretched and careful steps like a tightrope walker.  We never did get the winds, but I breathed a sigh of relief when all the furred and feathered clan were inside and safe for the night.  Camille and I had compared notes when we got the first warning.  She has a longer, steeper hill to travel to her barn and we agreed to connect when we were both back in the house, just in case.  It's what neighbors do; we watch out for each other.

Down in the 20s this morning, hail still covers the ground.  It's the Farview version of a white Christmas, whether it's Christmas or not.  Happy holidays to all you traditionalists!