We've had a bit of a cold snap recently here in the Sonoran Desert, as you can see -

                               
When we moved down here from Park City, the Chamber of Commerce never mentioned the fact that our fountains would freeze in midair; there was nothing about sudden formation of ice crystals in any of the pamphlets.

It's been chilly at night (although this was an extreme example) - the 30s are extreme, and the 40s are normal. We've had days up into the 70s, but most days the highs are in the 60s. It's been a cold winter, for New River.

And for much of Arizona - Flagstaff and Pinetop have been getting hammered with snow. That's a good thing, for skiers and such, but a bad thing for Pucketts, because Ethel won't let us go anywhere now when it's snowing due to our brush with inconvenience (which I posted about way back here, and mentioned to you folks not long ago, but I'll be darned if I can find a recent reference) - ever since we got stuck on that freeway, Ethel won't leave the house if it's snowing. That is, if it's snowing anywhere.

So this winter has been just miserable. As further evidence of that fact, here's Ethel, at the helm of Soulstice on the 30th of December:

                                                                        
I was on the deck, with the camera  and no shirt - I got a slight sunburn, but nothing to be worried about. And, as the sun was dropping low in the sky, Ethel was getting cold, and beginning to wish that she had brought a sweater. But how was she to know that it was going to be cold at the lake, only nine days after the winter solstice?

(when we got to the lake, there was a couple actually floating around the cove, in swimsuits, on an inflatable raft, but I think that they were pretty well loaded up with anti-freeze - flavored with hops and barley).

We've suffered through this much of the winter, in hopes that it's going to get better. Stoic, we are.

To dispose of some discussions before they come up:

1. No, the TV didn't get fixed in time for the Sugar Bowl. The man who was supposed to come on Friday called to say that he wouldn't be there then, at which point Ethel and I decided to do the math, and realized that if he wasn't going to come fix it in time for the Sugar Bowl, then we might as well go ahead and cancel the extended warranty and do it ourselves.
2. Since we're doing the repair ourselves, I ordered the lamp, expecting it to ship Friday and be here today. In fact, the order still says "processing" at DLPLampExpress.com. I'll let you folks know when it's fixed. Looks like it won't be before football season is over, though. I may go ahead and order another lamp, for the next time that this happens.
   
3. The Sugar Bowl - yes, it wasn't any fun to watch. No fun at all. Utah just plain whupped us. And, no, I don't mind - we had a 12 win season, and that's 4 more than Ethel and I were expecting for the year. I don't expect that good a season next year, either.
4. Vacation - other than the one day of sailing, we didn't get out much, unless "in the yard, wearing overalls and toting a pick-ax" is your definition of "getting out". But the yard is actually starting to look like somerhing that we're going to FINSH, as opposed to looking like something that is having trouble getting started.

Today I'm back at the office, and feeling fairly rested and relaxed. Ethel is at home, sick with a cold - and I mean "sick", as in "laid around in bed during the last day of her vacation" sick. I suppose that it's a good thing that we didn't spend a hundred bucks apiece on Fiesta Bowl tickets, as right now she wouldn't be able to walk up all of the stairs that one would have to walk up to get to the hundred-dollar seats.

It was a nice vacation, and it's good to be back at work, where nobody is making me wear overalls or carry a pick-ax.