December 25, 2015—An RV lot in Yuma, Arizona

Merry Christmas everyone!  We hope you had a blessed day.  This is our first Christmas to be away from all of our family.  Although we will miss them all so-o-o-o much, we are handling it well.  We have lots of Christmas memories wrapped around all of them.

We went to have Christmas dinner with 15 other friends, most of whom we knew, some for a long time.  Todd and Bonnie were friends back in the days when we were Volkswalking.  We can’t remember how long ago we met them…perhaps about 30 years ago.  Most of the other people at dinner we met through Todd and Bonnie.  All are full-timers, so there is always lots to talk about.

We grilled steak and shrimp, had salad, bread, green beans, and Jello salad.  There were several kinds of pie…way too many choices, and all good.  At least the things I sampled.  There were lots of munchies, but I stayed away from them.  Surprise, surprise!

We had a gift exchange and did more chatting.  Most of the people live at least part of the year in Yuma.

As it got dark, some people in the neighborhood began to walk toward the desert, about two blocks away.  Keeping in mind there was a full moon and this is Yuma, they were going to howl at the moon, like coyotes.  Normally (if you can call any of this normal) people stay for several hours, have picnics, and listen to local bands who might come out to the desert for the occasion.  Perhaps, because it was Christmas, the “howlers” were fewer in numbers and didn’t stay as long.  When we got home well after dark the desert had calmed down!  Yes, Yuma is different!