The Royce Files

It not being Christmas at the writing of this entry-- let's write about Christmas! It seems every few years or so a new thing gets flung into the pantheon of Christmas.  A few years ago it was penguins. Nothing to do with the festive period except that for some that period happens during the beginning of the cold blustery period. Cute but hardly relate-able to the larger Christmas themes of peace, goodwill toward man, and Jesus. Penguins just happened to drop on the popular culture scene in a few movies and decided to settle in at the Christmas Inn next door to the reindeer, elves, Santa, gingerbread men, wise men, stars, poinsettias, and pickles. A nd yes, the pickle has official status as a Christmas symbol. Not sure why pickled herring is not. But lest you think I will gripe about this proverbial overcrowded Inn of Christmas, I will not. Instead I will introduce another symbol of Christmas that made its entrance this season. The robot discovered  While strolling ...

Winter had been dropping upon us like a a load of bricks since Thanksgiving. But now it is officially the winter. The snow lay on the ground, thick and cold. This the most snow I can recall on the ground before the calendar said winter began. And this winter attack on fall has kept me off the bike for more days than I recall from previous years. I got my winter bike ready the day before the major snow arrived but did not think the studded tire would be necessary. Oh it was necessary. I was slip slipping around the snow swamped intersections and side streets. Winter biking is a little crazy. The streets get less room and the sidewalks are dicey or inconsistently cleared. Plus it tough to gauge how many layers to put on since the physical exertion creates heat and sweat. I went running outside a few nights ago. It was a rather good evening to do it. The temperatures was high enough and the sidewalks were mostly clear. I brought my camera with and captured some lights in the neighbor...

Besides the traditional manger here I really like the tractor. That's something so artisically placed in the scene that I will never forget. The polar bear is going to see the infant via tractor to present him a candy cane