December 24, 2020

Thursday December 24, 2020

Blog time 1300 sitting in office.

Christmas Eve 2020.  We woke up with snow on the ground.  The temperature was 24, nearly 30 degrees colder than yesterday.  Winds near 20mph had dropped to wind chill to 6.

After some at home calisthenics I drove to Panera.  First time I have driven the Fusion in snow.  No problem.  AWD is great.

At Panera I got our coffees, and just for me oatmeal and a croissant.  Quick breakfast before heading downstairs to office.

About 1000 Nancy and headed out for a short walk.  We found it was very slippery so we returned home.  

Back at home I did some more calisthenics and rowed for 1,000 meters. First time I have used the rowing machine in months.  Great cardio. 

Shaved and showered before settling down for more office work.  

As a boy I would always have a list of presents I wanted Santa to bring. Each year I always had one favorite.

Some favorite items included on my lists were:

High top boots with a small pouch for a jackknife.  The knife was included.

Daisy Red Ryder BB gun

Small radio for my bedroom.

I am happy to announce that I got each of the  favorites listed above.  My all time favorite was the radio.  Set it up on the night stand next to my bed.  Ran a thin wire from the radio to bedroom window.  The wire served as an antenna for better reception.

After sunset the Feds allowed several stations nationwide to boost up their power.  These stations were called clear channel stations.   They purpose of these stations was to broadcast defense or early alert messages over a large area.  The range of the clear channel stations was huge.  In Alpena we got WBZ Boston clear as a bell.  I am told that the popularity of the Grand Old Opry was because the Nashville Radio station was a clear channel station that broadcast the show all over the south and Midwest.

After lunch I set up the iPad in the living room.  About 1600 we turned on YouTube and watched the Christmas Eve service from Trinity Lutheran.  It was a good service but really miss sitting in a packed church with all the parishioners being in a festive spirit.

After church we got in the Fusion and made a Christmas Eve tour of local neighborhoods looking at all the Christmas lights.  You could tell folks had more time this year for decorating.  The effort folks put in lighting their homes was great.

We especially liked several neighborhoods in East Grand Rapids.  Every home on a block had extensive lighting.

The new owners of our old home on Mackinaw did a great job.  They even put their tall Christmas tree in the big bay window overlooking Mackinaw just like we did.  Great memories.

At home we had a late dinner.  Nancy fixed me French Onion soup, with a salad and croissant.  It was very tasty.

For viewing tonight we watched an episode of Republic of Doyle.  This show is filmed in St Johns, Newfoundland.  Good show about a father/son detective team.  Loved the shots of St Johns.

After Nancy headed to bed and I stayed up and watched another Netflix show, Virgin River, episode 1.  I liked the show and think Nancy would like it also.  

Nancy was very proud that she was able to FaceTime Akerke.  She showed her the snow in GR.

Later Debbie and Alessandra jointly FaceTimed Nancy.  They had a nice long 3 way conversation.

We also had FaceTime conversations with Debbie and Missy.  We gave a positive update.

It was cold, 19, when checked the front yard at 2200. Later about midnight I looked out our living room slider and saw three deer eating corn I had set out earlier.  The white snow on the ground greatly improves visibility.