A QUIET CHRISTMAS AND A "NEW KING"

TREES DECORATED AT HAUSER'S ORCHARD

HAUSER'S BARN PRIOR YEARS...DARK THIS YEAR

Monday, 8:45 AM.  38 degrees F at the ferry dock, 34 on the back porch. Wind SW, strong with gale force gusts.  The skies are partly cloudy, but the sun shines strongly.  The humidity is down to 70%, the barometer 29.39" and steady for now.  Snow and continued windy conditions are predicted for later today and this evening. The days ahead look to be similar, but with slightly lower temperatures and somewhat diminished winds.
   The roads are covered with several inches of frozen slush this morning, cutting our walk short; I was reminded of my mother walking a half mile to the bus to go to work on similar roads while in her 80's.  A life long hiker and walker, she was tough as nails.
   Seeking a break from TV and being housebound Christmas Day, we took a drive in the orchard country at twilight.  There were a few Holiday lights, but not nearly as many or elaborate displays as other years.  Putting up lights on a barn is a whole lot of work, and maybe folks were tired after a bumper crop of apples, but for whatever reason, it wasn't anywhere as enjoyable as some other years.
   Folks should be in a better mood this year with the election over, the stock market up, the economy picking up...but I think people were in a malaise for so long they are having a hard time digging out of it.

OFF THE CUFF

A New King

   The Never Trumpers are at it again, complaining vociferously that a RNC Christmas message referring to Jesus as the "New King" really referred to Donald Trump, whom they were somehow comparing to Jesus Christ.

  Don't you just love it when someone tells you what you really meant to say?  How pitiably absurd! Don't these people realize that this sort of nonsense is exactly why they lost the election?