Wildlights

We finally took time to visit the Living Desert for the Wildlights. “More than 350,000 twinkling lights illuminate the park after dark, turning the desert into a holiday winter wonderland. North American and African plants and animals as well as traditional holiday scenes are depicted in giant lighted displays.”

We joined our friends Barbara and Dave for pizza at their place then went on the Living Desert to see the lights. It had been a windy day and with the temperature drop you always get in the desert when the sun goes down we had a number of layers to protect from the cold. Luckily the wind in the park was not bad and we did not get cold. We started with an animal show with rats, Serval, Owl, Hedgehogs and Porcupine making an appearance.

We then took a leisurely stroll through the light displays. With a number of moving displays and the mixture of lights it was enjoyable but difficult to get all the photos I would like. The golfing Santa and red Teddy Bear were some of the favorites but their were many other displays were outstanding.

To add to the enjoyment there wood-burning fireplaces, hot apple cider, hot chocolate, s’mores, barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers available at two different locations as you wondered around the display.

Christmas at RCB

Well what is like to have Christmas in Indio, California? Well I have spent many cold winters in the snow in Montana and Wyoming and rainy cold winters in Oregon. Now it is the desert of Indio, California. Well we did go out to the mall on Saturday. Not that we had a lot of shopping to do but did enjoy the crowd and the festive decorations. Even got to see Santa. It was in the 70’s and sunshine. Yes I will admit I enjoy not driving in snow or ice and facing the cold weather.
Well for Christmas Eve we were off to the RCB Chapel. For the Christmas Eve service I sang A Midnight Noel for special music. I enjoy having a chance to share this talent I have with the people at RCB and they continue to tell me how much they enjoy it so it makes it easy to continue.
We started our Christmas by playing tennis first thing in the morning. Marilyn was in charge of our table for Christmas dinner so she met we some of the other ladies to decorate the table and do all of those things that are important to her and not to me, to make the dinner perfect. We gathered at about 3:30 PM for drinks and sococializing before dinner. There were 11 tables of 12 people each. The dinner was catered but we supplied dessert and appetizers and our drinks. Again I took the chance to lead some group singing. After dinner and setting the tables back to normal setting, we went back home. All in the sun and warm 70 degree temperature. Of course once the sun goes down it is headed toward 40 degrees for the night but we enjoy the warm days.
More pictures of the dinner and shopping are on my Flickr photos.

Getting Out

Well last night was our first real chance to go out. There are so many activities here at RCB that we seem to akways be off to a potluck, playing tennis, or working on a project and we seldom leave the park except to get food or other things we need.
One of the projects I have been helping on is digging out a hole to pour concrete base for recycle bins. Most of the garbage areas only have room for one bin so we are in the process of adding a second bin. One of the big things in this park is that you save money by having people volunteer to help doing a project. Well four additional pads have been created except for laying the block walls around the pad. I know nothing about laying blocks so should not be asked to help with that project.
Well back to getting out. I met the Artistic Director for the La Quinta Playhouse this last week and will be working with her to bring one of their shows to the park. (More on that latter.) They were doing A Tuna Christmas as their show right now, and I thought it would be a fun show to see. Two guys playing 28 parts both male and female of the Christmas Eve activities of Tuna, TX. After all today is the ninth anniversary of our engagement. So we when out to dinner at the Elephant Bar and then on to the show.
It is a new theatre that has yet to build a building so they perform in a tent. It will hold about 80 people and has a small stage. Maybe that is the reason they would like to use our clubhouse even though I feel it has a small stage. But with only two people in the show it worked. It was a funny show and a nice chance to get out.

Christmas Caroling

Well tonight was the RCB Christmas Caroling. People decorate their golf carts and drive around the 800 spaces in the park to places where the people are not able to get out very much. In an over 55 park like ours that means a number of places. I am sure we missed some and some people were not home but we made a number of stops.

The number of people that turned out for the parade and singing was great. I did not get a count but there must have been at least 30 carts and several people on each cart. Four people were on ours.

After the singing we all gathered at Clubhouse 2 for chili and Christmas goodies. Many people helped in preparing and serving the chili but I do have a picture of the two people that cooked the chili. After the drive around the park in the cool weather the people were glad to return to the warm building for an evening of eating, drinking, and fellowship.

Going South

Well we finished the first day of travel with rain about half of the time. It wasn’t too bad. We did make good time so we made it to Lodi before 6 PM. Part of the reason was that it was Sunday and we didn’t have any bad traffic that slowed us down.
As we pasted Mt Shasta we stopped and Weed and I took a picture. I must say it looks like they are having the same problem as many other ski resorts. There appeared to be much less snow that other times we have driven down.
Of course we did get to drive through the Sate of Jefferson. It is always fun to see the barn and the metal sculpture along the road. I didn’t get a picture; they are both on the other side of the interstate. Maybe another day.
Yes we have been at Indio for 3 days and I have yet to post the Drive down. I have been busy with all the things you need to do to get things up and running. I still have to get the golf cart going. I have a call into the man that sold it to us and knows something about them but he was out of town for a few days.
The second day was a good drive. We had a lot of heavy fog for the first 100 miles but then got better. Now we are cleaning, unpacking, buying what we need and even getting some tennis in. Marilyn played Wed. and I play tomorrow.
I assume that Mt. Shasta and others in the northwest now have more snow. I am glad we are not in Corvallis during this storm. I read that 19,000 customers in Corvallis were without electricity and 91,000 in the area and many houses were hit by falling trees. It is nice to not have tall pine trees next to our house. Also flood warnings are out but we live on the hill. But then we are here now it is just thinking about what it would be to be there.

Christmas Party

Ok, so this isn’t all about me. Marilyn’s exercise group had a dinner to celebrate Christmas and at the last minute she talked me into singing for the ladies. Ok I didn’t put up too much of a fight but I really didn’t have my Christmas Show ready yet.
Well I got my iPod ready and took along my speakers. Then got out the Santa hat, red shirt, and white tie. Since I didn’t have all the songs memorized, I had to print out the words. Then after a few practice runs at less than full volume to save my voice I was ready.
Marilyn said to show up at 7:15. They were to start eating at 6:15 so that should mean they would be about done. Well they were just in the middle of eating and drinking when I arrived so I waited until about 7:40. I hoped they would have most of their talking over by that time. There was 23 of the ladies in a private home so it was crowded (the picture shows half of the ladies). Well it is a fine line with people drinking wine between them having enough to relax and enjoy your presentation, with mistakes, and having too much so they make your singing harder.
I started out with White Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Of course many wanted to join in on the singing and the Grandma song almost required it. That was fine but with recorded music it doesn’t wait for you or speedup when you do. So I had to try to hear the music and not listen to the singers.
I finished on a more serious note, with Midnight Noel (It Came Upon the Midnight Clear and The First Noel) and O Holy Night. Both arranged by Mark Hayes. I enjoy singing his arrangements but the piano part is difficult. For this performance I had the CD of Mark Hayes playing. I plan to sing O Holy Night for chapel on the 17 and then I will have my friend Ruth playing for me.
I think the ladies enjoyed the singing and it was nice to get a practice completed. I will be ready by next week.

Early Christmas

Since we will be driving south soon, we need to get our Christmas done in Oregon before we leave. That means we must drive through Pastega’s Pepsi Bottling Plant display at least once before we leave. I guess the Grinch was out this year as someone stole one of the display figures. It is such a shame that people can’t just leave it all for everyone to enjoy. I will admit we made the circle twice, but then we were only following the example of the pickup in front of us.

Also Grandma Marilyn wanted to be with the kids when they opened their presents so we went to Portland on Sunday to share gifts with her son’s and the two granddaughters. I think the girls were happy so that was what was important. It was a good day and ended by Brooke taking us out to dinner. Things are going well on the new job answering phone for Adobe - money to spend.

Now Marilyn just has all the other Christmas lunches and dinners with her friends this week before we leave.