Celebrating the First Sunrise of 2018--Happy New Year !.......or Happy New From Frigid S. Texas...27 degree's and Droppimg

As I sit here and reflect on the past 12 months.... it may seem as one of little activity compared to past years....and in the way of adventures with the Casita, or Grandkids, or multiple trips up to Kansas City and Charleston, etc, it was kinda benign. Though I did take The Albino Armadillo(Ms Casita) on two short  trips...which I thoroughly enjoyed....and we did go to Kansas City and attend the wedding of one of our Daughters...which in itself made this a very memorable year.

(c)Horst Kelly Photographer..Sunrise Monument Valley, Sept  2015

More important is that it was a year that was good to us in terms of health, agility, mobility,  and so many more blessings..The Children and Grandkids are doing well  in all respects, our Friends are well. Yes we are doing better than "just fine".......sure there where speedbumps this year that slowed us down or caused us to change direction, but that seems to  continually occur, Its called ageing....and as long as I can put one foot in front of the other and can call it "walking", I'm happy... and the good news is, it hasn't yet changed our life or lifestyle...

(c)2017Horst Kelly Photographer, Moonrise...Blood Moon & Lunar Eclipse, Lake Powell, Page Az Sept 2015

Instead of  celebrating the last sunset of 2017...I am elated to be able to witness and celebrate the first sunrise and moonrise of 2018...with that I close and  share one of my favorite photo's of each.....To all of my Blogging Friends, I wish the Coming Year be Filled with Good Health, New and Exciting Adventures...and much Joy....Thanks for stopping By!  Horst sends



...........and one more "reminder" why it is that all of us love this Lifestyle!

(c)Horst Kelly Photographer....The Perfect Sunrise...You just know its going to be a GREAT Day

A Very Merry Christmas to Each of You and Your Famlies

Its getting late... I'm winding down and since I haven't had my eggnog for the evening , I thought I would write a little and sip a little and  wish all my Blogging Friends a Merry Christmas.  I will do my annual recap later on next week when things have settled down.

This evening as I sat staring at the Christmas Tree, my mind wondered back to my early years. The first several Christmas' of my life where spent in a German village called Garmisch- Partenkirchen. Its situated in the Bavaria region of Southern Germany.


It has the highest mountain peak in Germany and to me it holds some of my fondest memories as a small child....It is majestic in its painted murals  on houses, alpine lakes, ancient churches. Its where I took my first hikes with my Grandfather(Opi),  learned to ski, skate, swim and climb a mountain or two. Its memory is a place I always go to when I need to be grounded or want some mental solitude.

In the late 1990's  I went back there to visit.  The first time in 40 years since I had visited and was trying to show my Bride where I lived and the school I had attended, etc.  It   was an overcast day and foggy.  I could not find those landmarks...We went back several days later, a clear day and in a few minutes I was standing in front of the old home and the school...It hit me that the surrounding Mountains had always been my go to reference points( my internal GPS ) and once I saw where I was in relation to the mountains I could find my way to wherever I wanted to go.  It was a great visit that brought back some terrific memories.


OK...back to reality..Oh....thanks for listening.  Since it was suppose to turn cold for the next couple days and too supplement the Christmas feast, I thought I could make some good old Texas Chili... Something to snack on in-between the regular Christmas snacking...So we had some this evening..not bad and I'm sure it will taste even better tomorrow for lunch. Tomorrow hopefully will be relaxing as there isn't much to do...maybe a last minute run for some obscure item that we now need....Other than that its waiting for old St Nick to come visit....

So from our Home to Yours...we wish each of you a very Merry and Blessed Christmas or as we say in German, "fröhliche Weihnachten"...Horst sends




 A song we use to sing at Christmas time:

Santa's Helper aka the Fetch it Man

Thought I'd get a post out before Christmas...The recent "Big" event here was the Grand snow "storm" of 2017...though it was nowhere near what Jerry and Wanda of EggRolling experienced....It was the first time since 1985 that anyone saw snow flakes in this neck of the woods. Depending on where you live there was anywhere from 2 to 4 inches that stuck to the ground...well until about 10 am the  next day...I did have my snow shovel "on call"...I guess it will now go back in service as my leaf pick er upper. Unlike the Blizzard Jerry had, ours was more of a "Flizzard"...or something like that.

Impact of Storm of 2017...Back yard

We are in full swing in gearing up for the arrival of Santa....The mantel has stocking hung, the Christmas tree is getting the final touches, candle lights in the windows are almost all up.....wish lists have been updated, hints are being thrown out on a continuous basis, Christmas decorations are being placed on everything that doesn't move, the smell of sugar dough is bellowing from the kitchen, eggnog  is being made and tested(sampling takes a long time) and left over Halloween candy is being snacked on, I always buy 3 or 4 bags too many....go figure! ....and before you know it, the calendar will read 2 January 2018 and the scale will show  I've put on 10+ extra pounds....'tis the season. and the memories made....priceless!

(c)2017Horst Kelly...Back yard of my campsite

(c)Horst Kelly...and sunset from Campsite

(c)2017HorstKelly...By the Main Highway near CG

(c)2017HorstKelly...one more 

I suppose I better leave it at that...too busy to write a long Blog....I'm hearing "Horst, fetch me this...can you get me that...need you to make a run to Target and stop by HEB".....plus I'm thinking folks will be to busy to read a long post.....so I leave you with mostly sunset photo's from my recent trip...and the impact of the snow storm...Happy Trails...Horst sends

(c)2017HorstKelly...Close to Home