May this New Year be one of peace and good health for you and your family!

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I enjoy your sites and appreciate each of you. So many lovely photos, great poems, good stories and the updates into your lives are such fun and the sad times bring me to weep with you as I read of your struggles.  Life is good and Xanga makes it even better.

Happy New Year!

This is the perfect amount of snow for this Iowan.

Christmas is how many days away? Too close that's for sure. I've sent out 4 Christmas cards, that is FOUR from a list of over 50. I blame the great mild weather we've had here in Iowa, it just doesn't 'feel' like Christmas. So I think this calls for a hike instead of being cooped up inside. Bad weather is forecast for this area tomorrow. Maybe snow, then maybe I will feel in the mood for working on my Christmas card list and not in the mood for a hike.

Decorating myself for Christmas is all the decorating I've done so far.

What puts you in the Christmas spirit?

Along a 30 mile stretch of highway I traveled yesterday I saw a dozen old  abandoned  barns and buildings all within my camera range from the highway. I was on a time schedule so I  foolishly decided  not to take the time to take a few shots along the way. I was thinking that I could make my stops on the return trip.Not a good choice. Because on my return trip it was raining hard but for one brief break allowing me to hop from my vehicle and capture this:

Because I have not quite gotten the lesson learned to get those shots while I 1st see them, I will have to make a date to backtrack along that 30 mile stretch and get the photos of the other buildings. I just hope none have been bulldozed or burned down before I return to them.

After years of being self employed Lucy's husband went to work for a major trucking company in 2001.

 After nearly 8 years of stressful steady working and adjusting to all the many rules and regulations his retirement became a major topic of conversation. Several of my friends warned me that having a retired husband around the house takes major adjustments. They shared horror stories about it as proof. Lucy's husband had it counted to the exact day he would retire, he talked of it more each day. Several times a day actually.....as each day passed he mentioned it more frequently........well I should admit it, he talked of little else these last few weeks.

 Received a phone call from said husband to come get him.............he had quit, had it up to here, retired, thrown in the towel, ended his employment!

Retirement Chapter 1

 Day #1 of retirement went well we were busy getting his gear put away and ending our cell phone contract.....we do not need the 1,000 minute plan anymore

 Day #2  Lucy's husband spent most of the day outside blading the drive and trimming trees. I hear him singing.....a very good sign

 Day #3The husband helped make the bed, did several repair jobs around the house, burned the trash without me mentioning it, this seems to be working out well. We both could attend  #4 Son of Boy Genius' birthday party.....actually plan on it and be able to do as we planned...this retirement is rather nice.

Day #4 Lovely but cold day. Husband asked me to go for a little walk with him. We bundled up since it was 17 degrees out."Isn't this great" he said several times. I jogged trying to keep up with him as he marched along. We quickly went 1 and 1/2 miles......that means another 1 1/2 miles to return home but this time walking into the wind. 3 miles total at a very brisk pace....wearing heavy winter snow boots and a bulky parka. Since my body was nearly frozen and it took some time to warm up after we returned home the pain of screaming muscles didn't set in until later. Husband several more times said," this is great we need to do this every morning". I think we may have hit the makings of our first sour note to this retirement.

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As a result of this, Lucy changed RL's name to Fritz since he is like a new and different man since his retirement.

Originally a blue Valiant the years have not been kind to it.

After posting this a couple of days ago I became curious of the push button transmission Xanga's Buckeyegirlie mentioned.

So I returned to the Valiant with camera in hand and an inquiring mind.

 2 sets of push buttons, one row on the left one on the right. What are they for?

What are these on the left?

The right side would be maybe for "park, neutral, reverse and drive?

I can see why this button pushing didn't revolutionize the auto industry can't you? Somehow stepping on a clutch and shifting those gears or pulling that automatic shift lever seems so much more like actually driving a car don't you think?

On a recent hike I stopped by to see the horses.

What a joy it is to see them. It was a chilly morning with the hoar frost on the grass and bushes. This one was hesitant to approach me so I zoomed in on her as she watched the others running to me.

This pretty girl is usually the 1st to gallop to the fence and let me pet her velvet nose.

This is a shot of an eagle that you'll have to take my word for. It is an eagle really. By the time I got my camera out it was almost out of my camera's view.

It was a lovely day for a hike and I was very happy I had my insulated coveralls on.

Have a nice weekend.

While on my hike I spied this

Do you remember this model of car? I do not remember seeing very many of them do you?