Christmas 2011

This is about all that's left in our house- us and empty walls. Ok, there' s our furniture that we're leaving for the renters and our packing boxes, too. This week we put the finishing touches on the construction of the apt in the basement that was started March 2010, right after our wedding (hear a whoop that could possibly have neared the joy and celebration of the angels announcing the birth of Jesue!). That meant a big transition into final packing stage. 

Here's Doug and his masterpiece load of tools and kitchen boxes, ready to take to our storage.  The garage is almost clear and that, my friends is also a masterpiece in and of itself. We drove the load up on Christmas Eve to Doug's parents. 

On Christmas Eve, we helped to perpetrate the myth of Santa by sneaking out a window with gifts, eating cookies and hanging bells on twine rigged to be rung through the window by a tug.  On Christmas day after singing carols in church, we took a walk in the sunshine around the frozen lake with the nephew puppy.  It was unseasonably warm for Minnesota. Forgive me, but I've been wishing for big loads of snow so I can get my fix before leaving the lands of winter and skiing for 3 whole winters! So though I enjoy the sunshine, a part of me says, alas! no real winter??!

Frozen lakes are beautiful things and these deep cracks run everywhere. Sometimes you can see big white bubbles frozen deep in the clear black ice. Often you can hear the creaking and cracking that sounds almost like weird synthesizer sounds. 

An ice fishing house with ice fishing hole scars all around it as well as an ice sculpture of some sort. The holes freeze over, but it leaves a scar that wouldn't be so friendly if you were skating...

Only a few days after the winter solstice, the evenings begin mid-afternoon around here as noted by my long shadow.