On the 3rd Day of Christmas

As I wrote the other day, this was the Year Without Christmas, that is, there was very little remotely reminiscent of Christmas on the day itself. I guess if we had a “Christmas Tree” this year, it would be this tree outside our hotel decorated in autumn colors, 100% natural, no artificial additives. It stood out in contrast to the evergreens across the street, and in contrast to Madeira, where there the trees don’t ever really go through the change of colors.

We did make the flight to NY, and fortunately there was space available so we could fly on to Denver. It was 11:00 p.m. when we landed, so we didn’t get a good view of the snow as we drove to Pueblo, where we arrived at Rick and Margaret’s house shortly after 2 a.m.

We were up by 7 a.m., and by 8:30 everyone was gathered around the “real” Christmas tree, which had all the presents under it. Although it was the 27th already, everything else was “just like Christmas.” Having the celebrations spread out this way gives meaning to the idea of the “12 days of Christmas,” which, by the way, is exactly the number of days I’ll be away from home on this trip.
Below: Our seven grandkids under the tree