Holiday Views

There's just a sliver of a moon tonight and apparently a meteor shower to come later. I may or may not be awake for that. I guess depending how many Hallmark Christmas movies I watch. The DVR has been very busy for a November!

Last night it as fun to watch a Heidelberg Holiday. Carter attended college there for a semester and I visited him one weekend. Things looked familiar and it was awesome!

This is the Church of the Holy Ghost. And we saw the inside of it, too.

Here's my scrapbook page!

And of course every view has Heidelberg Castle in the background. It was cool to see in person!

Today's views weren't as exciting. Ran a few errands and got a car wash on this mild opening day of deer hunting. Then went with the neighbor to a craft show at Fallback while her electrician husband updated our kitchen and dining room outlets.

Now I'm onto the Saturday round of viewing DVR'd Hallmark Christmas movies. I'll be sure to let you know if I have any recommendations! 

Castles in the Clouds

One thing I like about Facebook is that every day you have an opportunity to view your "memories" of posts you made on this day in previous years. I don't even look at them every day but today popped up and I wondered why I had a memory with Carter. Well, 3 years ago I was visiting him for a long weekend in Germany!

What an adventure. Seeing him and the Heidelberg Castle up on the hill. And exactly 3 years ago today...

We hopped a train with croissants in hand and headed to France for the day. Because we could.

We both said that it seems way longer than 3 years ago. I think this pandemic has warped our sense of time. It's been 2 very long years. And we are super grateful that it was 3 years ago – not 2 – that he was studying abroad for a semester. There's no way that would have worked out for him in 2020 or 2021. 

And we both would have missed out on those amazing French pastries!

Of course, not all memories that popped up today were so sweet. Some were bittersweet.

This was my dad and me 9 years ago today. Knowing he was declining, I decided that as a gift to him, I'd cheer for the Packers for one day. Or the 4 hours we were with him anyway. I guess we knew then that either Hell was freezing over or he was on his last days.

He did last another 6 weeks after that but I never donned the green and gold again. Nor will I. Now that the king of our castle is up in the clouds.

Again, with that pandemic time warp, I've had no sense of how long Dad's been gone. Nine years seems like a lifetime ago. Or yesterday. Depending on the day. And when I see this picture of us together, the clouds are breaking up and raindrops are falling on my cheeks.

I'm reminded how short life can be. Do those things you want to do in case you can't later. Hop on that train or plane. Climb the castle. Go see that friend or loved one. 

You'll be grateful when it pops up in a future "memory."

Home for Christmas

I'll be home for Christmas

You can plan on me

Please have snow and mistletoe

And presents on the tree

– I'll Be Home for Christmas

When they wrote that Christmas carol in the 1940s, members of the armed forces were begging to be home for the holidays. In 2020, it's kind of a punishment of sorts. But we made the most of it.

Santa visited overnight. We all got goodies in our stockings. Carter and Dad both got Seinfeld calendars. Carter also got this one from Heidelberg, Germany, where he lived for a semester way back in 2019. That didn't arrive until Christmas Eve so I'm glad I had a backup. 

I was thrilled to find a golf punch card in my stocking so I can play several times next summer – vaccine and the good lord willing. Definitely something to look forward to. Thanks, Mr. Claus.

We had a pretty low-key day at HOME. Carter left after presents and breakfast so he could be down in Platteville area in the afternoon to celebrate with his girlfriend's family. Both hubby and I got a walk in this afternoon before watching a bit of the Vikings game. We didn't have to suffer too long before heading up to Marshfield to deliver a gift to his aunt, who's been in a care facility and hasn't been able to receive a hug during this whole stinkin' pandemic! So sad. Glad we could spread a little cheer.

After seeing her (masked and 6 feet away, of course), we headed over to Wildwood Park in Marshfield, where they have a winter wonderland light display each year. It's been a long time since we saw it. This time, instead of driving through, we took the walking path. It was like 9 degrees and felt like zero so it was a brisk walk. But oh so beautiful! A few highlights...

Did I mention Wildwood Park is also a zoo? This mountain lion or bobcat or kitty is probably pretty sick of hearing Christmas music by now!

Cold selfie!

A holiday hole-in-one!

Quite the variety of lights!

When our walk concluded with a purple and gold display, I thought for sure it was a sign our Vikings were gaining ground on the Saints while we weren't watching.

Nope. They managed to put the "ugly" in ugly Christmas sweater. Good thing we left the confines of home and skipped most of that. As an added bonus, we saw the Christmas Star. Well, sort of.

Earlier this week, the solar system decided to grace us with a cosmic Christmas miracle that hasn't been witnessed in nearly 800 years. On Monday/Dec. 21 (aka the December solstice), Jupiter and Saturn aligned so closely in the night sky that from our vantage point, looked like they collided and created a radiant point of light often referred to as the "Star of Bethlehem" or the "Christmas Star." It was rainy/snowy and cloudy that night, so we couldn't see it from central Wisconsin.

Now, since it's been a few days, the planets aren't aligned the same. But one of the two definitely was giving off more light than the other. Looked real to us.

Happy birthday, baby Jesus. Thanks for staying in our home for the holidays!

 

The Castle on the Hill

It's starting to sink in that our baby will be flying the coop next week. A long, long flight over a big, big pond. Nine days for those of you keeping score at home.

Yup in nine days, he'll be saying nein. As in "No, I'm not staying home, Mom."

Today I was thinking about the "to do" list and how we really better get one established and start checking off items sooner rather than later. The thought that we'll have all this time after Christmas isn't reality. We're basically talking a week here and there's holidays involved. Again.

So we should now hit the "things to do the week before you leave" list. Yikes.

And I know. I am not the one traveling. Jim is not the one traveling. But still, we are the double-checkers to be sure the traveler is dotting his i's and crossing his t's. And firmly nudging – not nagging by any means – the traveler to start the dotting and the crossing!

When I was looking up info today and saw this picture of the Heidelberg Castle (a huge tourism draw in the old city he'll be living in for 16 weeks), I was in awe. So amazed by what is there and thrilled by what he'll get to see and do.

Yes, this momma will miss her baby. But oh wow. Look at that castle on the hill. How can I not share in the excitement?

Just gotta get cruising on our list of lists so Prince Charming can be on his merry way. Thank goodness it's the start of another 5-day weekend in the Kingdom of Blue Jay Drive.