With the Coming of the Holidays

[PatsyG]

An autumn or winter holiday, in Quartzsite, would include the awesome company of so many wonderful and like-minded people, glorious sunrises and sunsets, plenty of good food and so much more.


I have had so many disappointing and/or lonely holidays that I stopped observing them. Part of feeling that I don't really fit in anywhere. So now I avoid the commercial frenzy, and watch lots of good movies with fried chicken, pecan pie, and my cat by my side.
Thinking about visiting quartzite with a pecan pie, though.

 

[highdesertranger]

the desert has a beauty all it's own. with a panorama in every direction. it's so wide open it almost forces you to feel free. the sunrises and sunsets are incomparable. I really feel sorry for people who don't see the beauty in the desert. there are trees in the desert just a different type of tree, there are Joshua trees, Palo Verde. mesquite(not a real tree), Alamo's (cotton wood) around water, at higher elevations you get Juniper, and Pinion pine. oh we can't forget Saguaro cactus. highdesertranger

 

[gcal]

We had a couple nasty drunks in our family. They ruined every family gathering for 25 years. I mean every, single one. Not a single good memory. We moved across the continent. Holidays got better. One of the drunks followed us. Holidays suffered. Now, we are on the road, elsewhere, whenever we can be. The kids don't need or want expensive gifts. We are in pretty consta contact thru text andd Facebook and email. The grandkids prefer a check. Also, pretty constant contact. Shopping is not much of a problem.

 

[buckwilk]

PatsyG and gcal, I know how you feel based on your history with these holidays. I wish I had a wand, I don't but you do. Leave the past in the past. You can make a new holiday memory, one you will always enjoy. It's never too late. That's why they come every
year! Don't let anyone dictate your happiness. Grab your life by the butt and and share you with like minded people. I truly hope you both have a wonderful season.

 

[GotSmart]

the desert has a beauty all it's own.  with a panorama in every direction.  it's so wide open it almost forces you to feel free.  the sunrises and sunsets are incomparable.  I really feel sorry for people who don't see the beauty in the desert.  there are trees in the desert just a different type of tree,  there are Joshua trees,  Palo Verde.  mesquite(not a real tree),  Alamo's (cotton wood) around water, at higher elevations you get  Juniper,  and  Pinion pine.  oh we can't forget Saguaro cactus.   highdesertranger

 

[gcal]

the desert has a beauty all it's own.  with a panorama in every direction.  it's so wide open it almost forces you to feel free.  the sunrises and sunsets are incomparable.  I really feel sorry for people who don't see the beauty in the desert.  there are trees in the desert just a different type of tree,  there are Joshua trees,  Palo Verde.  mesquite(not a real tree),  Alamo's (cotton wood) around water, at higher elevations you get  Juniper,  and  Pinion pine.  oh we can't forget Saguaro cactus.   highdesertranger

I love the desert. I didn't like it at first, but as I stayed there long enough to really see it, it grew on me. I do not love it in the heat of summer, but that is what Sturgeon Bay is for.

 

[buckwilk]

The desert is not for everyone. It can be foreboding, overwhelming. Nothing can prepare you for the impact it will make on your psyche. It is like all the superfluous parts of your life are stripped away and the important is all that's left. You've heard the saying
"can't see the forest for the trees." not a problem in the desert. You've never seen a sunset until you witness a desert sunset.

 

[B and C]

You've never seen a sunset until you witness a desert sunset.

Pictures are pretty but they don't do the sunsets justice.

 

[USExplorer]

I'll be spending Thanksgiving with my family here in North Carolina. Christmas is anyone's guess.

 

[Phantom Blooper]

I don't like the commercialism of the "Holiday Season"

But......

Every day is a holiday....every meal is a feast!
 
Sometimes you scorch the gravy
 
Sometime the spuds are lumpy
 
Sometimes the bird is dry
 
Sometimes the ham is burnt
 
The bowl of chocolate is sometimes empty
 
Sometimes you eat too much

Sometimes not at all
 
Sometimes you may have little to offer
 
You may not have much money
 
But you are rich in many ways
 
You have the pennies from heaven at your feet
 
If you have your health
 
Be thankful for that.
 
You have rainbows
 
You have sunrises
 
You have sunsets
 
You have mountains
 
You have trees
 
You have your cacti and desert rose
 
You have  wildflowers
 
You have rain and snow
 
You have friends
 
You have laughter
 
You have a smile
 
You have freedom
 
The hardest math to learn is easiest form of counting ones own blessings
 
Because every day is a holiday
 
And every  meal is a feast

 

[buckwilk]

Nicely put. Happy Thanksgiving

 

[cyndi]

"It's a dry heat". "It's a dry cold"... yep heard that one. Bull. I loathe NM.

I quite agree with you, when the dry heat is 112. However, 60 - 90 is quite different, as long as there is shade.

I love visiting NM. I swore many years ago I would never LIVE in the desert, again. Somehow in 2007 I ended up living in the desert. And hated it. Now, I am fortunate that I can just visit. And I do love visiting NM, AZ and NV. But, only when the northeast is a frozen wasteland. I look forward to returning to the northeast, every year, in the late spring or early summer.

 

[Roadtramp]

I am relieved to be free of the attendant crap of the holidays, except for putting up with all the commercialism and everyone outdoing themselves to be the envy of the neighborhood wih their house decorations and buying lots of stuff no one needs in honor of a man who was a middle eastern new and never asked anyone to celebrate his birthday....and many of those celebrating aren't "Christian"....to be honest, I feel confused when someone says merry Christmas....are they Christian?...do they think I'm a Christian?...do they do Christmas and aren't Christian?...I reall have confusion over what they mean....

And besides, why all the hoopla over one day?....spread love and good cheer all year and I might start to think there's something to this "Christianity"...

 

[buckwilk]

" And besides, why all the hoopla over one day?....spread love and good cheer all year and I might start to think there's something to this "Christianity"

That is what practicing Christians attempt to do in an ever increasing secular world. Probably like politics, not a discussion for this venue. Take care Rt.

 

[GotSmart]

Thanksgiving and Christmas have turned into theme parties.  

Just go with the flow, and enjoy the pretty lights if it is not something you agree with.

I once did a plumbing job for a Jewish family, and saw a Christmas tree in their livingroom.  I asked, and was told that there was two reasons for it.  

1.  His children's friends were always so enthusiastic about Christmas that he did not want to make them uncomfortable.

2.  It is the whole country celebrating the birth of the most famous Rabbi in the world. Using symbols from many cultures including the Druids.  Why not enjoy the party?

It is much better to let people be happy, then to cause a major scene.  

AS I would tell my Buddhist friend, Happy Happy! 

 

[LeeRevell]

I enjoy family getting together and having a good meal.  I try to avoid the commercial aspects of it.  The TV shows are hit and miss.  I avoid highway driving during holidays too.