by We were thwarted in our plans to travel to Garland on Christmas by the weather. For the second year in a row, it snowed on Christmas. Unlike last year’s gentle snowfall, this year the snow fell horizontally because of high winds. It started about 5 a.m. and continued most of the day. The flakes were small and it was hard to tell how much snow we got because the wind blew so hard it redistributed the snow unevenly. Maybe 2-4 inches. The wind made the 20 degree temperature hard to take, especially if one tried to walk into the wind. However, once we got to the neighbor’s house, we didn’t have to get out again until time to go home. We had breakfast, exchanged presents and played games in comfort. Pity those poor folks who had to contend with tornadoes on Christmas in some parts of the country. We will make our trip to Garland this weekend.
We also spent most of Christmas eve at 2005. Kari baked Grittibänz or grattiman, as they pronounce it (I think they are same thing) since we weren’t planning to be here on Christmas and the Grittibänz has become a tradition for us. We got to watch a falcon (as best I can tell, a merlin or pigeon hawk) chase a guinea around the arborvitae west of 2005. The falcon would sit up in the big pine and then swoop down after the guinea which would gallop out of site around the arborvitae with the falcon right on its tail. Then the falcon would go back up into the pine and after awhile, the guinea would come sauntering out from behind the arborvitae as though it didn’t have a care in the world. I don’t think the falcon really wanted to catch the guinea since the falcon wasn’t really big enough to handle one, but apparently it got a kick out of chasing the guinea and for all we know the guinea was enjoying the game as well.
It appears that Santa was good to the Zbinden and Wylie girls. It’s my understanding that Kaylee, Sophia and Vivian all got bicycles. It’s also my understanding they had a white Christmas in Garland as well, so it may be a few days before they get to try their luck at riding them.