SUNDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS

I'm reminded of the old Irving Berlin song -- "The Song is Ended (but the Melody Lingers on)." I hate to say that Christmas is over because, of course, it isn’t. Still, Hallie and Nick left this morning, and it felt as though the celebration had ended. Mike and I had to decide next steps. All things considered -- important mail outstanding, an overflowing laundry hamper, the forecast for cold temps and snow – we decided to go back to town tomorrow. And, as Mike says, the computer works better there.

This was not Nellie’s best day. How did she know that Nick and Hallie were leaving? Did she understand that there were no more pig ears in the sack? Was it the extra bustle about the house? At any rate she figured it out. While Hallie was showering, Nellie began to whimper. She was happy when Hallie took her outside to play, but back in the house, she curled up on her pillow to sulk.

“She hates good-byes,” said Mike. “Just let her be.”

So – what to do, what to do? Since new geocaches have appeared in the Gilbert area, Mike and I decided to spend the afternoon daylight geocaching. We followed the trail of caches along Highway 7 toward Nezperce.

While Mike looked for caches, I took pictures as the spirit led me. The sky was dark and sometimes beautiful. Will it snow? It’s predicted.

This distant butte was beautiful as the clouds reflected the setting sun. Returning to the farm, I took another picture of the butte as we see it from the pond before daylight totally disappeared. KW