Seasons Fleeting, Season’s Greeting

… Ten-nis balls bouncing,

Nine running bunnies,

Eight treats for tasting,

Seven plates need licking

Six naps a-waiting,

Fi-i-i-ive belly rubs! …

Oh! Hi Everybody! Daisy Jones-Klein here. I didn’t hear you come in. Guess I was, um, focused on other things. Yeah, let’s go with that.

But I’m glad y’all are here! There’s lots to share!

Can you believe we’re near the end of another year? Me neither; time seems to fly by. It sure doesn’t seem like a whole 'nuther year (or seven dog-years) since my last year-end message, and yet, here we are, one more trip around the seasons.

For those of you not familiar with northern New Mexico, you might think that it’s all desert-y, with broiling sun, lots of tall cactuses, sand dunes, and bleached cow skulls lying around everywhere. T’aint so! In the high desert country – it’s 7300 feet altitude here at my Forever Home – we get four full and glorious seasons.

Autumn’s maybe my favorite time of year here in Santa Fe. The summer crowds have eased up, and just about perfect weather and changing colors make it ideal for walks and conducting my “business,” and I think you know what I mean here.

But this Fall was even more special, ‘cause my Big Sis Lindsay came to visit, all the way from North Carolina! It’d been a couple of years since I’d last seen her. So there were lots of hugs, and bellyrubs, and extra plates to lick. Really, what’s not to love?

And being the Fall, there’s lots of stuff to do outdoors. Walking around the neighborhood, we see how the chamisas are beginning to lose their golden glow, and slide into their silvery autumn colors.

And behind us, further up in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the aspens were turning all yellow and gold, soon to drop their leaves and settle in the colder weather to come.

And it wouldn’t be October without the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, the biggest hot air balloon festival in the whole world. For over a week more than 500 balloons from around the world gather for their big party. The cool morning temperatures and the “Albuquerque Box” provide ideal wind conditions for the pilots. Being so early in the morning, I chose to slept in; but the Peeps had a great time there.

     

They even got into the Star Wars mania a little early. Yoda they like; True it is!

And as Autumn eases into Winter, the aspen forests completed their change from green to gold to brown, making the mountains look bare before the winter snows arrive. And along Tesuque Creek, the cottonwoods lining the river banks lose their leaves as well, snaking a long gray trail through the landscape between the green junipers and piñon trees. 

After Thanksgiving, Santa Fe starts to dress itself up for the winter. On the Plaza – the heart of The City Different – lights and garlands go up everywhere. Farolitos line the sidewalks and parapets along the building roofs.

And Winter begins to settle in for a while. El Niño, which is making a big mess across much of the country, has actually been pretty kind to the Southwest, bringing extra needed rain after too many dry years. But in the winter, it comes as snow, and in some places it was up to my neck!

 

And in the low Winter sun, the light seems to take on a special glow.

Happy Holidays to you all! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, or Festivus for the Rest of Us, may it be a good one for you and yours. May you nap in the sunshine, let your Inner Puppy play, have very few visits to the vet, avoid being tricked into taking a bath, not get eaten by a coyote, get lots of bellyrubs, wag more and bark less. Good luck with catching your bunnies, in whatever form they may take, but always remember to enjoy the chase. And give someone you love a lick on the nose today.

“And now let us welcome the New Year—full of things that have never been.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

And ... that's a wrap. It's Par-tay Time, and I'm outta here! Mmmmm ... eggnog!

Daisy Jones-Klein

Santa Fe, NM

December 2015