:: Scuff Productions ::

Only one fairly new forecaster (in Portland) said there “may” be 5-10 minutes of snowflakes at higher elevations before we began steady rain this afternoon….. Well we’ve had our first snow of the year (could be the last…) and no it hasn’t stuck much, but it was sure great to see huge wet flakes pouring down for about the last hour. MAC saw his first snow flakes and as soon as he did began a dizzying run trying to grab them all in his mouth.

So on this New Year’s Eve as we wait for a hopeful new year, we’re putting away all Christmas decorations, watching snow, watching a Bowl Game or two and waiting for our Rib Roast to be done in a couple hours. A PERFECT New Year’s Eve. As the afternoon lengthens, we’ll be starting a fire and hopefully be cozy and warm. We’re very very lucky……………….

No, the pic above was taken early February 2002 on building the snow man.

Hope a NEW YEAR for 2005 brings a change in heart of those who seem to be rushing us into an Armageddon. The world would evolve into a state of peace if wars stopped and a mere fraction of the money being spent on it was spent on charity, health care and education around the world.

FINALLY. Today the last of all the cards are dropped in an outbound mailbox. We tried to save some bucks last year and bought some cards on sale after Christmas. Yeh, we saved a few bucks. ALL those cards came back to us after being sent because they were an odd size and required $ .12 more postage! ! ! Live and learn. But don’t let THAT get you down, other things are well under way as we slip into Christmas week.

Despite being kicked out as tree topper, our California Ken Doll found himself a home trying to decorate the Curly Willow branches (Yes, the same ones left in the vase from last winter’s ice storm). What do you think:

Ken was always at the top of the tree in California, and brought a few laughs, but has lost out finally to a true old fashioned Santa figure.

Once again, friend Nancy, (friend Carol is our other……) Artist Extraordinaire, dropped by a gift that is absolutely beautiful in its simplicity. Far more than a cute way to just return a canning jar, this idea ends up a showpiece. Nancy took a quart canning jar (yes, Karen, a Kerr Jar), placed fresh cranberries in it (Crans are a bog plant after all), placed a Narcissus (the small paperwhites) bulb in the berries, put water in it, some trimwork around it, and voila, this is clever as it is Christmaslike:

Northwest Oregon is so dry ski resorts are laying staff off and the lawn is truly about dry. Temps are normal but we’re near the low records for moisture in November & December. Nonetheless, Christmas tree lights were all put up, tree up, presents wrapped and shipped and so we decided to have a few neighbors over for a sing-a-long Saturday night. Either it’s the electric piano that doesn’t inspire or we weren’t good at inspiring folks to sing. Despite the Smiths’ faithful attempt to get caroling going, no one was excited. We ALL had a great time, but music was not part of it. In fact, for the first time that we ever tried a gathering, most of the food was gone by party end. This year, we had two new neighborhood couples join us so things do change.

Dog Tucker has begun taking Metacam, the last gasp Arthritis medicine (the Deramax was losing it’s punch) so we’ll see how this goes. After this fails, he has one last gasp but that medicine is simple for pain management, so we’re just glad he’s playing this out still functioning with dignity so far. MAC on the other hand couldn’t care less about dignity. He’s over 6 months, 75 pounds, and with adult teeth can rip apart toys in moments. Like any teenager, the “listening” button goes on and off according to his choice, but he’s still endearing himself to his owners a little more each day:

How ‘bout them yellow eyes?

We TRULY HOPE ALL of our dear friends and family are having a fabulous week (except for working of course) and that we see or talk to you soon. We’d love company up here too, so think about visiting the arid Northwest while it’s still dry.

LOVE and MERRY CHRISTMAS to ALL………………

Mark & Rodger.

I have only heard the “El Nino” word in passing phrases on maybe an obscure weather discussion, but Oregon’s year is ending up extremely dry. S.E. Oregon farming reservoirs have been emptied before the ends of harvesting for the last two years, and it’s now on this side of the state. Our yard is actually dry on December 20 and I’m amazed. Ski resorts opened for a bit in November and are laying off staff again….. While cool, the temps are about our December average but rainfall for Nov and Dec totals are near record lows. We’ve both been saying …..hm…..the “drought” word should be appearing about any moment. Other parts of the West (UT for example) have been in a drought for 6-7 years now and are even being plagued by their famous Mormon Crickets further eroding their crop harvests. The U.S. Weather service is forecasting a dryer and warmer January than normal………..

I find interest in watching various groups explain it away but the only one I subscribe to is: 1) Global Warming is rapidly turning chunks of this planet into arid deserts, melting of polar ice caps will change life as we know it, and our “management” ignores the warning signs and still pulls out of established global agreements to limit Co2 gases. The other explanations? 2) There “ain’t” no global warming, it’s only a theory, and the changes are just a regular weather phase (based on religious “science”…hah hah, 3) Yes, this and the war in Arabic lands is simply Biblical prophecy being fulfilled so get on your knees and beg that angry God of ours for forgiveness before you and most of the Jews burn in hell for billions of years! ! ! ! 4) I don’t CARE if it’s warming up and poisoning things, I gotta get my Walmart, my G.E. stock prices up before the board meeting.

Oh well. I’ll be gone before the disasters change our lifestyles permanently and except for the one question about reincarnation…………will I have to come back and see it at it’s worst? Woops. Then I should be fighting now for more change.

Rather a heavy handed note this close the Christmas, eh?

I “think” I just finished one of the last “yard” tasks to be prepared for winter, i.e., fertilizing the lawn. Yesterday I ran the mower and bagged leaves, and for the first time in 9 years, the mower ran out of gas just as I had finished, put things away, and pulled up to the garage to park it. I still had quite a bit of raking to do where trees aren’t where the mower can run easily…. got that all done, ran the dog, retrieved more firewood, and am now waiting for lunch to heat up.

Another PAIR of Raccoons have found the feeders and are nightly dragging out the screens, etc., so I need to bring back Baird’s charged “surprise” or trap one or two of the fiends and put them in the secret “relocation” program.

A gray, foggy, quiet day…………….we’ve had ENOUGH fog ….. almost all of November. It should clear out tonight and forecasters even tease with a dusting of snow “possible” by Saturday night. I’ll be surprised to see that one work out.

Aaaah! To have lunch………..and finish putting lights on a beautiful Christmas Tree!

I was just remembering the post-Christmas ice storm last year as I saw this picture taken of the Christmas lights on the house last January 6:

Hm……..will we see this cold rugged beauty again in a few weeks? Hm……. are we ready?