And So It Was Christmas

December 23

The Super said shoot my Christmas trees. We decided not to bring them upstairs this year – can we be far from tabletop models?

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We so enjoyed the Mississippi Headwaters Hostel at Thanksgiving we decided to reprise it for Christmas. FYI, rotary phones came into existence in the 1890’s and lasted until the 1970’s when they were phased out for touch tone phones.

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[The Super loves a good fire.]

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December 24

[Merry Christmas Eve from Itasca State Park. Up at 4:30 to start what will be breakfast, lunch, and dinner today. The Super and I have the entire hostel to our selves, convenient for gadabouting in our BVD’s.]

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[Other fine dining was available . . . ]

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[The hard life of the pioneer woman on the edge of the prairie. Heading out to the woodshed in unseasonably warm weather, carrying in 50 pounds worth of logs for the fireplace (I held the door open), and noticing upon her return that Santa had already been here.]

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[Mmmm, love that chili!]

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[The kids have arrived! I think the chili won them over.]

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[Let there be presents!]

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[And popcorn and a fire.]

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[From the hostel lobby, sunset over Lake Itasca.]

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[Makes it easy for the arson detectives.]

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[Moving on to the nether world.]

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[Danny flees knowing it’s best to just keep out of the way at cooking time.]

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[Back to the party . . . ]

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[Whom amongst us doesn’t need socks?]

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[Or shorty pj’s.]

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[Let the fun begin!]

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[What could it be?]

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[Yup . . . . it’s YUGE!]

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[And frightening!]

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[Did someone say socks?]

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[She buys herself the nicest presents from me! Apparently we’re engaged?]

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[And now Christmas Day dinner on Christmas Eve. We were now aware of the need to leave for home in the morning – to beat the coming ice storm.]

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[And Merry Christmas to all!]

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December 25

[We had to cut Christmas short. We knew the ice storm was coming, so we had our Christmas dinner last night with the kids at the hostel. The Super and I packed up Christmas morning (this was after a day and a half; I know it looks like we’re getting ready for an assault on Everest). Rather uneventful trip home, arrived about 10:30 . . . ]

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[What technology hath wrought, Grandson Tom set up a 4-way with Jami at The Harn (where we left her this morning), with grandparents Fran and Ed in Indiana, and with us and Danny in Alex to watch he and Celia open their Christmas presents in Colorado. Go figure?]

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[The storm hit us in Alex about 1:30 – not looking good. Ice is building up on the trees and with 50 mph winds could lead to power outages.]

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One can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books. ~ Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone [Editor’s note: Well, I got socks!]

Up Next: I believe a new year is coming . . . the 71st that I will have visited.

About tomobert63

The Journey Begins Thanks for joining me! This is the follow-up to the original, “alexandriacardinals.wordpress.com,” which overwhelmed the system’s ability to handle it any more. Thus, this is “Part 2.” As the original was initially described: 10-26-07-4 “It all began in a 5,000 watt radio station in Fresno, California” . . . wait a minute, that was Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show! Let’s see . . . oh yeah, it all began in 2003 when retirees, i.e., old people, in Alexandria, Minnesota, who had no desire to become snow birds, went looking for mid-winter entertainment here in the frozen tundra of West Central Minnesota. We discovered girls’ high school hockey, fell in love immediately, and it remains our favorite spectator sport to this day. Initially, and for several years, reports on these games were e-mailed to those who were actually snowbirds but wanted to keep abreast of things “back home.” It was ultimately decided a blog would be more efficient, and it evolved into a personal diary of many things that attracts tens of readers on occasion. It remains a source of personal mental therapy and has yet to elicit any lawsuits. ~ The Editor, May 9, 2014 p.s. The photo border around the blog is the Cardinal girls’ hockey team after just beating Breck for the state championship in 2008. It’s of the all-tournament team. The visible Breck player on the left is Milica McMillen, then an 8th-grader – she is now an All-American for the Gophers. The Roseau player in the stocking cap I believe is Mary Loken, who went on to play for UND; and the Cardinal player on the right, No. 3, is Abby Williams, the player we blame most for making us girls’ hockey fans who went on to play for Bemidji State. *********************************************************************************** Photos contained herein are available for personal use. All you have to do is double click on any of the photos and they will become full screen size. You can then save them into your personal “My Pictures” file. They make lovely parting or hostess gifts, or holiday gifts for such as Uncle Ernie who wants to see how his grand niece is doing on the hockey team. If any are sold for personal profit, however, to, for example, the Audubon Society, National Geographic, Sven’s Home Workshop Monthly, Curling By The Numbers, or the World Wrestling Federation, I only request that you make a donation to the charitable organization of your choice. You have two hours and fifteen minutes. Pencils ready? Begin! **********************************************************************************

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