Christmas Is Almost Here With MSU Fantasy Of Lights Being Installed

Several days ago I was surprised driving by Midwestern State University to see that the annual MSU Fantasy of Lights installation was underway.

Underway way before Christmas, marking, for me, the start of the dreaded (by me) holiday season.

We are only a couple days from Halloween.

After the trick or treating ends, we zoom quickly to Thanksgiving, followed quickly by Christmas, then New Year's Day, and the start of yet another year, which will seem to fly by at warp speed.

The past couple days my north Texas location has been like a stereotypical Pacific Northwest winter day. A totally gray sky, with hour upon hour of sky drippage.

Today blue sky returned, along with temperatures in the 80s.

So, I drove the short distance to that aforementioned Fantasy of Lights installation underway, to take the photo you see above.

I believe that is Cinderella in the horse drawn carriage, on her way to lose her shoe and find a charming prince.

I have driven by some over the top Halloween themed yards of late. I will try and remember to take a photo of the one I saw yesterday on Hamilton Road, by Hamilton Park.

Wobbling On My Strained Achilles Heels Looking For Signs Of Christmas

What you are looking at here is what I was looking at a few minutes ago when I walked to Albertsons. This view is looking northeast from the north side of the Albertsons' parking lot. That little structure on the right is a Fort Worth bus stop waiting room.

Soon after I snapped this photo a bus arrived and soon thereafter I started hearing a guy shout "hold that bus, hold that bus." The guy was riding one bike whilst holding on to another, smaller bike. The bus waited for him. I did not wait to see if he successfully boarded with two bikes.

I took this photo not because I was enamored of the bus stop, but because of the billboard in the center pf the picture. That billboard is shilling a store I have never heard of called At Home, apparently with multiple locations in the D/FW Metroplex, with the main message being that this store is the "Home of  the Christmas Spirit."

I thought that home was Walmart.

Speaking of Walmart, it was at Walmart yesterday I saw my first sign of the coming, dreaded, by me, Holiday Season, that being a partially assembled Christmas tree, with its upper third missing.

I likely have passed by many other signs of the coming Holiday Season but did not notice them due to my blissful obliviousness. Which makes this billboard only the second sign of the Holiday Season I have seen.

Changing subjects to something more pleasant, like the weather.

As you can see via the photo documentation my location in North Texas is currently enjoying a totally clear blue sky. The temperature this morning at the time of my regularly scheduled swim was 46. I opted out of swimming. The temperature currently is 64 at a bit past noon. I likely will opt out of swimming tomorrow morning as well.

I am currently being medicated to mitigate the pain I have been suffering from due to strained Achilles tendons. The strain is currently not causing much pain. Apparently the medication is working.

I must now see if can remain vertical long enough to make lunch....

Spencer Jack's Christmas Tree Has Me Thinking About Driving To California

Spencer Jack's Christmas Tree

I saw on Facebook this morning that Spencer Jack has now installed his 2012 Christmas tree. In the picture, that is Spencer Jack on the right, topping out the tree, which would make the Christmas tree that gaudy item on the left.

Either Spencer Jack has had a big growth spurt since I saw him in Arizona in March, or Spencer chopped down a rather short Christmas tree.

Where Spencer Jack lives, in the town of Mount Vernon, in the Skagit Valley of Washington, one can drive up into the mountains to a Christmas tree cutting zone, where, if you have the proper permit, you can cut down a tree.

Where I currently live, in the town of Fort Worth, in the Trinity Valley of Texas, there are no mountains to drive up to to cut a Christmas tree. I have read reports of Christmas tree harvesting occurring on the Tandy Hills, but I suspect these are just unsubstantiated rumors.

The time of year known as the Holiday Season is not my favorite time of the year. As far back as my memory goes I have not had much fondness for the Holidays. It starts off okay with Halloween. I always had fun as a kid at Halloween.

Then comes Thanksgiving. This particular holiday has been relative free ever since I moved to Texas. I never much enjoyed the big Thanksgiving dinners with a lot of relatives.

And then comes Christmas. I was disillusioned with Christmas at a very young age. I had been misled to believe that one told Santa what one wanted for Christmas and what one wanted would magically appear.

This never quite worked out the way I expected. By the time I was 6 or 7 I refused to have anything to do with Santa because he'd lost all credibility with me.

And I have never been a fan of candy, so being bribed with a candy cane had no effect on my anti-Santa Claus feelings.

The only part of Christmas I vaguely remember liking was the hunt for our Christmas stockings on Christmas morning. That was fun.

The large family gathering of relatives at Christmas was something I did not much enjoy. I endured it up through my teenage years, and then, by the time I was in my 20s, I'd  find a reason to be gone for the latter part of the Holiday Season. Usually a roadtrip to Southern California, with a long stop in Reno on the way.

The last Christmas related roadtrip escape from Washington occurred Christmas of 1994.

I got to Disneyland the day before Christmas Eve. Stayed in a hotel right across from Disneyland.

Christmas Eve went to Knott's Berry Farm and had Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner.

Christmas day was spent in Disneyland, til closing. Strangest, funnest day ever at Disneyland. The attendance record was broken. Some of the food vendors ran out of supplies. The guide on the Jungle Cruise turned into a crazy man after he confirmed there were no kids on board.

The days after Christmas were spent driving around the Los Angeles zone. Went to the Nixon Presidential Library.

A few days before New Year's Eve took off for Las Vegas. The freeway was jammed so took backroads til rejoining the freeway somewhere around Barstow. In Vegas there were no rooms at the decent inns, so ended up staying two nights in the Vegas 6 Motel from Hell. Biggest 6 Motel in the World.

After Vegas it was on to Flagstaff, going to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon the next day. Snow on the ground. Had not seen snow on the ground at the Grand Canyon before. Two years later I would find myself stuck in a log cabin on the North Rim watching a blizzard pile up snow.

After Grand Canyon it was across the Painted Desert to Monument Valley, then past Mexican Hat where I saw the San Juan Inn, a place I was to return to a few days before being stuck in the aforementioned blizzard.

New Year's Eve took place in Moab, Utah. One of my favorite places on the planet. The next day, New Year's Day of 1995, hiked all over Arches National Park, and then drove into Canyonlands National Park, ending up at Islands in the Sky, looking down to the canyon below, seeing mountain bikers and resolving to get a mountain bike and return.

The return, with a mountain bike, took place two years later.

Leaving the Moab zone, the night of New Year's Day was spent in Salt Lake City, next night in La Grange, Oregon, then home to Mount Vernon.

I have no idea why it was that I preferred the roadtrip holiday option to the relative type holiday option.

Very perplexing.

Elf Elsie Hotpepper Spreading Christmas Cheer To Me With Cheesecake, Key Lime Pie & Coconut Cake

As you can see, Elsie Hotpepper is in Elf Mode today. Before I say anything else, I must say, Elsie is not going saloon hopping in Elf Mode.

Elsie is out and about, today, bringing Christmas Cheer to those in short supply of Christmas Cheer.

That would include me.

My normal state of mind is pretty much Cheer-Free, but during what is commonly known as the Holiday Season, my Cheeriness really hits a low ebb.

This begins some time after Halloween and then begins to abate quickly following January 1 of the New Year.

This means I have about 17 more days of feeling fairly Cheerless.

I did experience some small amount of personal Christmas Cheer last night, at Gaylord Texan, partaking of desserts, which is something I usually do not partake of. But the few things, in Desert World, that I actually like, were present at Gaylord Texan.

I had what may have been the best Cheesecake I've ever had, topped with several types of berries. Then there was Key Lime Pie. Just a small slice of that. And Coconut Cake. I had never had Coconut Cake before, til I discovered this place called Sam's Buffet, about midway between Dallas and Houston. Gaylord Texan's was at least as good as Sam's.

This morning, when I got on the scale, I was mortified to see I have ballooned to 212 pounds. I'm so fat I likely will have no problem getting in the pool when I get around to doing that again, what with this nice layer of insulative lard I've added, keeping me warm, that will also likely let me float like I've got my own built in air mattress.

I have long envied Fat People regarding their advantages whilst playing in water. And now, thanks to a couple months of overeating, I am one of them.

I think it's time to go eat my nightly bag of tortilla chips with melted cheese.