The Inter-Holiday Period

For us, there were things to do indoors and out, with much of the fun conducted at tables around town.

An Evening at Doc's Watering Hole

When Cherie's sister Kathy and brother-in-law Tim (let's make this easy and call them TimKat) came to town in December to buy a house, the celebration began. TimKat turned the house into an Airbnb, called the Huachuca Hacienda, and after days of moving, cleaning, and setting it up, they chilled out at a new country dance hall in town called Doc's Watering Hole.

When we got there, Karoke Night was in full swing, and we were surprised to find one of our neighbors, Larry, in the spotlight singing a Willie Nelson song. He was good. How good was he? A few days later when the real Willie came on the radio singing a Christmas tune, I checked to see if our front door was open and Larry was outside caroling.

As the night wore on, the club transitioned from karoke to pub quiz night. The old folks filed out, and a younger, hipper, crowd replaced them. (We stayed put, with one foot in each camp.) One of the karoke singers, Janine, bought our table a round and joined us. Despite all this brain power, we came in third. I know ... hard to believe.

Aw, c'mon, whadya mean he wasn't "Tickled to Death"?

From left: Cherie, Kathy, Janine, Tim, and Jamie.

No, that's not a gang sign Jamie's flashing, it's just him drunkenly giving the finger. (Yep, wrong middle finger there, buddy.) *see footnote at bottom

Woo-hoo! Get a few drinks in Kathy and Tim and they're ready to dance —
or is that just them holding each other up?

While one of the karoke singers belted out the Garth Brooks song "The Dance," TimKat swayed to what was their wedding song a few years back.

Click on the image to the left to open up a 30-second video of the couple dancing

An Afternoon of Wine and Beer Tasting

Matt and Molly joined us for an afternoon of wine and beer tasting in the Sonoita area. I've heard from a reliable source (a Napa Valley winemaker) that "it takes a lot of beer to make a great wine." And so after visiting a couple of wineries we hit up a brew pub to round out our wine-tasting experience experience.

From left: Tim, Molly, Matt, Cherie, Jamie, and Kathy

A new winery in the Sonoita area, Los Milics, offers a nice variety of award-winning white and red wines, displayed on one of their wine barrels.

This growing concern (okay, maybe the pun is intended) currently has a tasting area in their winery production quonset hut, with a nice view of the grape fields and mountains in the background. Their new, avant-garde design tasting room is scheduled to open early in 2023, when we'll return to check out the upscale digs.

The architectural monoliths bordering the new tasting room almost seem to channel the border wall 27 miles to the south along the Mexican border. They are a lot classier, however, than either the actual wall, or "Ducey's Folly," the $200M line of double high shipping containers stacked along the border that our former governor erected, then had to dismantle, at taxpayer expense.

The next stop for wine tasting was at Deep Sky Vineyards, where we sipped wine, noshed, and played games of bocci ball and corn hole at our favorite stop along the Sonoita Wine Trail. Sorry, no photos here, too busy drinking and playing.

Our last tasting was at the Copper Brothel Brewery, for some pub grub and beers on the outdoor patio.

Matt and Molly pose in front of the Copper Brothel, while Cherie and Kathy wend their way to the door. "Last one in pays!"

A Taste of Winter

Just in time for the holidays, Mother Nature decorated the Huachuca Mountains with a dusting of white frosting, making Sierra Vista picture perfect for the upcoming winter festivities.

The family had fun ice skating at the city park, wobbling around the rink with grace and humor.

Unfortunately, desert rats are not natural-born skaters, and a few hard landings spoiled some of the fun.

The family stops for a selfie. From left: Zach, Alex, Mike, Matt, and Molly

Après-skate

After a cold afternoon of ice skating, we adjourned to Vinny's New York Pizza for some hot pizzas and cold beer.

The line for ordering, left, was long on a Friday night.

Molly feels right at home in the Buffalo-themed restaurant, as she grew up in the Buffalo, New York, area.

Seated at the table, below, from left: Cherie, Anna (holding her fractured elbow), Sarah (Anna's friend), Justin (Mike's friend), Mike, Matt, and Molly. The children are seated at the table beyond.

Cherie is determined to break things up, with a skeptical Molly watching. After the shot, I can almost see Cherie's "I told you so" expression.

Click on the video at right to play.

Christmas Preparations

In Santa's workshop, the elves were busy wrapping gifts for Christmas morning

In Mrs. Claus's kitchen, a bottle of bubbly helps to keep spirits high while cookies are baked and lovingly placed into tins.

In Cherie's house, lights and decorations materialize like magic under her practised hands.

In Molly's house ... well let's just say that things didn't go as smoothly.

* Actually, I can't voluntarily bend the top joint on my left ring finger. I inherited this from my mother, would couldn't bend that joint on either of her ring fingers. The ancient Egyptians believed that there was a vena amoris, Latin for "vein of love," in the left hand's fourth finger with a direct route to the heart. (Thus began the custom of wearing a wedding ring on that finger.)

I've always thought of my left side as being my mother's side (aka my feminine side), and my mother gave me the gene to prove it. And maybe the Egyptians were right, there is a vein that runs directly from that finger to where my mother lives in my heart.

And now, of course, the ring on that finger represents my love for Cherie.