Mosaic Monday #61: Holiday Leftovers

Cheesecake made by the husband of my dear neighbor friend

The end of a year tends to bring out lists of all sorts – 15 Series Finales in 2019, Graded; Highest Paid CEOs in 2019; 15 Things that will Cost More in 2020; Notable Celebrity Deaths in 2019.
  
Make it the end of a decade and suddenly we are bombarded with additional inventories – Biggest Product Flops of the Decade; Things We Want to Leave in the 2010s; How our Phones became our Whole Lives in 10 Years.

Bloggers are not immune to this propensity – since New Year's Day I have seen all of the following in the blogosphere: A favorite photo for each month of 2019; The most popular posts from 2019; Favorite mosaics from 2019; a re-cap of key life events, complete with the posts that describe them.

But I find that I am not quite ready to let go of 2019, not yet.  You see, I have some unfinished business, some holiday leftovers, as it were.  So allow me to close this chapter, and then I will move on, with the rest of you!

#1 Son invested many an hour in band during his high school years, and with those fond memories in mind, we all looked forward to the Christmas Holiday Pops Concert performed by the Glacier Symphony.  Overall, it was an enjoyable mixture of popular tunes, classic orchestral works and new pieces. Unfortunately, we were seated near some young children who made enough noise to really detract from the concert, especially the quieter, introspective pieces.  And the kicking on the back of our seats didn’t help!  I am all for kids being exposed to the Symphony, but maybe they should be a little over two years old …

Upper right: Whitefish Lake

Our winter has been quite mild thus far, even alternating between snow and rain.  Fortunately, altitude on Big Mountain has permitted the ski season to continue, and two days of alpine frolic with #1 Daughter were joyful.  Also, we gave the kids a half-day snowmobile tour as a Christmas gift, and they thoroughly enjoyed it, despite some initial trepidation. 

A stop along the snowmobile trail

(Internet)

Movie nights were popular while our kids were here, and for the most part we have moved on from the Disney and Veggie Tales movies of their early years (although we did watch the live action version of Aladdin, as well as Paddington 2).  Other films included Late Night, Yesterday, and The Aeronauts.  I recommend all of them.  But by far and away the best movie was Klaus, a witty, charming movie that will warm your heart.  The plot is a clever depiction of how one selfless act can launch countless other selfless acts.  I know Christmas is over, but this is an uplifting story that I think is worthy at any time of year.  Just make sure you have a tissue box at hand!

In my last post, I mentioned Christmas crackers. I was intrigued to find that each of our crackers contained the history of Tom Smith, the inventor of this Christmas tradition, which seems to have spread from the UK to many other parts of the world.  

Joke from one of the crackers: What do you call an artist who sculpts with bicycle parts?  Cycle-Angelo

It just keeps getting better:  Why did the raisin go out with the prune?  Because he couldn’t find a date

Gifts from the crackers: Mouth freshener, Key Chain, Pen, Screwdriver

In that same post, I showed you one of my presents; now I can share the rest of my treasures.   

Left: Oriole Jelly Feeder (with Jelly)  

Upper right: Massage gift card, Gold earrings, Pill planner (am I THAT old?)

Lower right: Stroopwafels, Cedar and Balsam candle, Ferrero chocolates

Left: Moose scarf; slippers   Middle: Ballerina Giraffe - thanks, Mom!    Right:  Drawing pad/pencils

Early in December, the mail box yielded a catalog from Heifer International.  If you have never

heard of this, check it out!  You can give chickens, goats, water for life, heifers, and so on!

#1 Son purchased a flock of chickens in my name.  Inspiring!

During some holiday down time, I moved my trail cam a couple of times, but only captured more deer.  My favorite is the antler picture - imagine the size of the buck that goes with it!

As if to prepare a clean slate for the New Year, it began snowing on New Year’s Eve, not long after we had dropped #1 Daughter at the airport (de-icing almost caused her to miss her connection in Denver).  The snow continued to pile up, and I could not resist the opportunity for a walk in the white wonderland.  The only reason I returned home was the impending dark …

Can you see the snow flakes against the background of the house?

To add to the symbolism, New Year's Day brought blue skies and puffy clouds, and toward sunset, the clouds blushed pink.  A new beginning, a blank slate, the blush of youth, opening night, hitting the re-set button, a fresh start.  Yes, now I am ready for 2020.

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

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