Fountain Valley News - Your Hometown Community Newspaper

We made it!! We survived the rush of Christmas and are now onto the new year...

What will 2022 have in store for us? It's always a surprise isn't it. Do you think we will get snow before then? I haven't seen one flittering flake. We really could use the moisture. With all of the wind that has been blowing, my allergies are incredible. This time of year, we always get "Colorado sinus" without a windblown drought but Holy Cow this is incredible right now. Dryness overload!

Our house is still hungover from the Christmas festivities. Trees are still twinkling and we still have a few gifts under the tree for my son and his partner and their baby coming in January, (I am so bleating excited!) but we also have a few gifts for friends that we have not seen yet... Honestly the "Season" is from Christmas to New Year's Eve, isn't it? It's still legal to wear your Christmas sweaters, though it has been too warm to wear my festive Christmas garb... who wants to sweat through the season?

We still have tape stuck to the carpet and glitter everywhere, I buy that annoying glittery paper and ribbons, every year I regret it when it's time to clean up, you would think I would learn. We still have tons of leftovers in the fridge and the dogs still have yet to process all the non-food items they may have eaten. Last night they were gifted a wonderful treat. The fridge is so full that stuff is stacked on top of each other and some one did not balance the plate of smoked salmon after they nibbled on it... For the record, it was not me. I love salmon but this salmon, smoked by The Old Man, is the one thing he cooks and it's a family favorite, brown sugar and salts coat the fish and then he smokes it in alder wood... It's good, I just am not into the sweet salty coating but everyone loves it...and now so do the dogs; it came crashing down onto the floor and the last hunk and crumbs were a wonderful tasty, dog growling at one another time. Never a dull moment. Good news is my plate did not break and I did not have to wash the floor.

We have boxes stacked and waiting for trash day, our bins are chuck full. We have our open gifts still awaiting a new storing place... I got a Circuit machine and a mug press... Crafters know what that is... I just need someplace to set it up and get it figured out. The Old Man got a big old fancy telescope to gaze upon the constellations. Our daughter is threatening him with her need to share it with him. We have such a sky out here and our view of the heavens has very little light pollution so it should work out very well for him. Don't worry the daughter made out pretty well, too; lots of fashionable clothing and plenty of frivolous things that Santa always promises.

On New Year's Day the decorations will come down and the humdrum of our existence here on the plains will return to normal. We will need something to look forward to again... Oh yeah, a grand baby is due on Jan. 20 or thereabouts; babies have their own sense of due dates. We will look forward to our trip to Washington to do the grandparent meet and greet thing.

Until then I need moisture... steaming hot moisture slowly poured over beans that have been roasted and ground up, then collected in a mug to be enjoyed ... by me! Happy New Year to you all!

You can contact Alice at [email protected]