Spencer Jack Is Having Himself A Rare Skagit White Christmas

I mentioned earlier that whilst I was wind walking around Sikes Lake I got an incoming text message from Spencer Jack's dad, my Favorite Nephew Jason.

That text message included the photo you see here, along with a screen cap from Seattle's KOMO TV showing Santa in the midst of delivering, according to KOMO, seven billion presents.

Looking past Spencer Jack's Christmas tree, through the window, the outer world appears to be white. And I'm not just talking about the white vehicle.

The text in the message confirms that outer world being white thing...

FUD---Santa arrived here some time last night while I was sleeping.

I am now waiting on FNSJ to arrive.

As you know, he maintains two residences here in Mount Vernon, one on the Skagit flat farmland and one on the hill. His home on the hill is enjoying a white Christmass this morning. The snow which arrived two days ago and has stuck around providing white Christmas.

FNSJ has asked that I take him to the Eaglemont area today to do some Christmas snow sledding.

I don't recall the last time we had a White Christmas in the Skagit Valley.

Hope Santa found you at your new residence. Have yourself a very Merry Christmas.

Just as I was about to hit the publish button on this blogging a new incoming text message arrived from Spencer Jack and his dad. This one included sledding video to be YouTubed and then added to a blogging.

Extreme Christmas Deflation Prior To Windy Wichita Falls Walking At Sikes Lake

For Christmas illustrative blogging purposes my plan today, prior to walking around Sikes Lakes, was to journey a slight distance further north on Taft Boulevard to photo document, in daylight, the biggest display I have ever seen of Christmas inflatables.

Well.

Due to this bout of extreme weather we are currently weathering, that biggest display of Christmas inflatables is currently deflated, I assume so as to prevent the wind from blowing Santa and his friends into the next county.

I will try and remember to return when the inflatables are once again full of air, before they leave when the new year arrives.

The way back south to Sikes Lake takes me by the parking lot for the Polar Express.

The Polar Express consists of multiple trams which haul Polar Expressers on an after dark journey through a winter wonderland of Christmas lights the likes of which I have seldom, if ever, seen.

I must remember to try and photo document that which the Polar Express sees before the lights disappear for the year.

By the time I got to Sikes Lake the wind was in full gusty mode. I saw one person step out of his vehicle to instantly find his baseball cap airborne at high velocity. I wish it had occurred to me to get out my camera and video document that guy's chase of his windblown cap.

I was not long into walking into the gale when my phone made its patented incoming text message noise. It was Spencer Jack's dad with a snowy Christmas message with photos.

After reading the text message I re-inserted the phone into its pocket and took my camera out of its pocket and put it in video mode. That video is viewable below. The wind is very loud, drowning out my commenting, for the most part.....

Thick Fog From Texas To Washington With Ice & Snow

This morning I blogged about my foggy outlook on the outer world in A Very Foggy Merry Christmas Eve Morning.

A couple hours later my phone made its incoming text message noise.

The text message noise was coming from Spencer Jack and his dad, with the following message...

Thick fog, with ice and snow, here today too.

Along with the picture you see here.

The "too" part of this message is a bit erroneous, due to the fact that the fog I was trying to see through this morning contained no ice or snow.

In the picture it appears Spencer Jack is driving his dad north on the I-5 freeway, about to exit to Highway 20, in my old hometown of Burlington.

If it were not foggy, to the right, you would be seeing what would be called a "mountain" in Texas, but is just known as Burlington Hill in the Skagit Valley, a location from which one can see actual mountains no matter which direction one looks.

Speaking of fog (and who isn't?) the fog has now lifted at my location.

What you are looking at above is the same view from my computer room window we had a foggy out look from this morning, with the sky now clear, with no mountains to be seen.

Actually the dirt hill known as Mount Wichita is about two miles in the distance, to the right. Also known as to the southwest. However, Mount Wichita does not reach a high enough elevation to render it visible from two miles away.

A Very Foggy Merry Christmas Eve Morning

Living close to the ocean it is no surprise when the sun arrives for the day to find that a pea soup fog has rolled in, rendering visibility only a couple hundred foggy feet in the distance.

Such is the case at my location on the planet on this Christmas Eve Morning of the Year 2016.

The view you see here is via my computer room window, looking at a car slowly plowing its way through the fog, heading north on Taft Boulevard in the port city of Wichita Falls, Texas.

I am almost 100% certain no ships are currently sailing on the nearby body of water known as Lake Wichita. I am not totally 100% certain this lack of sailing ships has anything to do with this morning's pea soup fog.

I do not know when, or if, today's Christmas Eve fog is scheduled to lift. I do know today's temperature is scheduled to be somewhere in the 60s.

Fog or not, I intend to have myself a mighty fine very Merry Christmas Eve, and I hope yours is mighty fine too.....

Fast Fudge Free Caribbean Tour Before Circle Trailing Home

Yesterday events conspired to prevent me from acquiring my daily prescription dose of endorphins gained the natural method via aerobic activity.

In the past couple days the mail person has delivered three packages which contained cookies and one which contained fudge.

Lots of fudge.

I am not used to consuming large quantities of nutritionally bereft buttery sugar products.

By this morning I was almost totally recovered from overdosing on sugar. I won't make the same mistake today.

And already today I have acquired by daily prescription dose of endorphins. Acquired via moving fast in bipedal mode through my Caribbean neighborhood, going from Barbados to Haiti to Grenada and then back to my abode via the non-Caribbean Circle Trail.

That is the Circle Trail you see above, via a photo taken a few minutes ago, looking north at a cold trail and a stormy sky.

Thunderstorms and rain and relatively high temperatures nearing 80 are on the menu for Christmas at my location.

Nothing like a few bolts of lightning and thunder booms to get a person totally in the Christmas spirit....

First Day Of Winter Attacked By An Old Lady In ALDI

This particular blog title is inspired by the new fake news fake headline ethic. Except in this case the headline title is sort of accurate.

Changing the subject from this blogging's title.

That is Google's First Day of Winter greeting from today you are looking at here. When one clicks its play button snowflakes begin to fall.

That's all. Click and snowflakes fall.

The Arctic Blast has retreated from my location, rendering the outer world less winter-like than it was a day or two ago.

Right now the outer world temperature is approaching 60.

Almost balmy.

I think I may have had my first encounter with a Trump empowered nincompoop today.

I was in line at ALDI.

A store where the line moves fast.  Sort of the antithesis of the Walmart line waiting experience.

I was waiting for the lady ahead of me to move forward, so I could push my cart forward, and thus easily unload onto the conveyor belt, when the borderline elderly lady behind me aggressively tapped me on the shoulder and officiously informed me I could begin unloading my cart now.

I told the overbearing busy body that I was waiting til there was more room. She then informed me there was plenty of room.

I ignored the lady, and then when I was able to easily unload the few items I was buying, I did so, After which I stuck one of the marking sticks on the conveyor belt. After which the officious lady thanked me.

I am not sure, but I suspect the look I gave this lady likely would be characterized as glaring, with me hoping my non-verbal communicating communicated something appropriate that indicated I thought her to be an overbearing officious moron.

As I wheeled away I heard this lady lecturing the checkout person about something. I suspect this lady is one of those who goes through her day having one idiotic confrontation after another, and considers such behavior to be normal.

So, that has been my first day of winter so far....

I Don't Think Spencer Jack's UPS Bobblehead Voted For Trump

I think, if I remember right, that yesterday I mentioned that whilst I was walking towards Lake Wichita my phone made its incoming text message noise.

When I got to a safe place I took the phone out of its pocket to find that the text message was from Spencer Jack's dad, and included the photo you see here.

I saved the photo attachment but somehow, in my high technology ineptness, deleted the text of the message.

Near as I can recall, and keep in mind I was outside in bright sunlight with a temperature well below freezing, but near as I can remember the message was something along the line of....

Aunts Clancy and Fancy sent Spencer a Xmas package to the wrong address. Don't know if Grandma and Grandpa helped with the address info. The Xmas package included that which you see here, a life size UPS Bobblehead which Clancy and Fancy apparently had made for themselves as some sort of morphed combination of their memorable likenesses. And then, apparently the morphed combination was extremely photoshopped, hence this UPS Bobblehead appears to have only one chin.

Hope you're having a good Monday and that those Electors do the right thing and not vote for that narcissistic, sociopathic madman.

Well, it is now Tuesday and now we know those Electors did the wrong thing in not doing their duty regarding the intended purpose of the Electoral College, that being that that institution is the failsafe the Founders added to the Constitution as a final defense against a populist madman becoming president.

I found a couple incoming Christmas packages in the mail yesterday. But no UPS Bobblehead from Clancy and Fancy.....

A Frozen Lake Wichita Walk With UPS Bobbleheads

The temperature in the outer world at my location has not been above freezing for a couple days. If I remember right, and sometimes I do, the temperature was 14 this morning when I woke up my temperature monitoring device.

An hour before noon I decided to layer on several layers of outerwear so as to warmly venture out into the frigidity for a fast walk to Lake Wichita.

I was surprised when Holliday Creek came into view to see that the creek was frozen.

Holliday Creek was not running much water when the Deep Freeze arrived, hence the ability to freeze.

After I saw the creek was frozen I thought that maybe Lake Wichita might have turned into a giant ice rink.

But, when the lake came into view I could see no ice, not even on the shoreline.

As you can see, above, Lake Wichita looks like it is frozen, with nary a single wave rippling its surface.

That bump you see at the west end of Lake Wichita is Mount Wichita. When last I saw Mount Wichita the mountain was still green. But it appears this Arctic Blast has killed all the mountain's vegetation, rendering it a brown lump of a bump.

Whilst I was heading towards Lake Wichita my phone made its incoming text message noise a couple time. When I arrived on the Lake Wichita floating dock I removed the phone from its pocket and saw the messages were from Spencer Jack's dad.

I am still processing the message from Spencer Jack's dad. A UPS bobblehead is involved. I have not yet decided if this bobblehead is something I want to mention in the blog venue.

In the meantime, it is time for lunch. Mexican themed today. Sour cream chicken and bean baked enchiladas...

Arctic Blasts Into Texas Colder Than Predicted

The Arctic Blast blasted in colder than the predictors predicted it would this Sunday before Christmas.

10 degrees.

With the wind making those 10 degrees feel like 4 degrees below zero.

That is cold.

Real cold.

All the faucets in my abode are currently in prevent frozen pipes drip mode.

I suspect there are currently a lot of faucets dripping all over America.

Except in Florida and Hawaii.

Relief from this iceberg is supposed to arrive within 48 hours.

Just in time for this visitor from the Far North I got myself a new highly insulated jacket from Costco.

I have yet to test this highly insulated jacket at the current temperature level. I suspect it will do a mighty fine job of keeping me warm.

If not, I shall make sure when I am in the outer world today that there is never much distance between me and a warm interior space....

Spencer Jack Drives His Pickup To Frozen Padilla Bay

At some point in time between the morning hour of eleven and noon I layered on the outerwear to venture out to go to ALDI to stock up on vittles in anticipation of being icebound due to the incoming blast of cold from the Arctic.

Heading north on Taft Boulevard my phone made its incoming text message noise.

Eventually I  found myself stopped at a long red light at the intersection of  Maplewood and Kemp. So I took the phone out of its pocket location to quickly see, before the light turned green, that the incoming text message was from Spencer Jack and his dad.

Two photos were included with the one line of text which said...

Brutally cold, with ice, on Padilla Bay.

Ice on Padilla Bay? Padilla Bay is saltwater. The temperature has to get mighty cold to freeze saltwater.

Above Spencer Jack is waving at us from his new pickup, with the aforementioned icy Padilla Bay behind him.

Below is the second photo, one which shows the ice forming on the shore of Padilla Bay.

That smoke  you see rising on the other side of Padilla Bay is rising from the oil refineries on Marsh's Point.

Washington has no oil wells.

However, these big boats called Supertankers haul Alaskan oil to Marsh's Point, where it is turned into usable  products, like gasoline. Currently coal is also being brought to Marsh's Point, but not by Supertankers. The coal arrives via trains. Many of the locals in Western Washington have not been happy about those coal trains.

Spencer Jack waving at us from Padilla Bay reminds me of the fact that it was at Padilla Bay I first met Spencer Jack. At Bay View State Park, in early August of 2008. Bay View State Park is on the east side of Padilla Bay.

Below is the YouTube video I made of the day I met Spencer Jack for the first time. I suspect Spencer Jack does not remember this....