I don’t know about you but this political situation we have where a President who was defeated in a free and fair election is refusing to stand down and is getting lots of help from some of our elected leaders has really got me down. Throw in this pandemic which is raging again and the slow stuttering pace of vaccinations and it is enough to drive me to the edge.

So what does all this have to about donkeys? Nothing really except I was going to have a post about the dirty dozen and one senators who are contesting the election and I was going to post photos of 13 donkeys. Problem is that donkeys are a democratic party symbol. Elephants are a GOP symbol but you know I think elephants are a symbol of wisdom to me, and besides I don’t have 13 photos of elephants but 95 of donkeys.

And besides donkeys are useful. Most of the ones here are guard donkeys that ranchers use to protect their livestock against coyotes and other predators. The dirty dozen plus one are not protecting anybody against anything. They are just scared of our sitting president.

And before you get too upset about this I need to let you know that I have been a Republican for 47 years.

Out looking for a geocache the other day in the woods and come across this long abandoned tractor out in the middle of nowhere. How does this happen? Does it matter? I love coming across stuff like this.

Check out Our World Tuesday for more things to ponder.

My computer decided to crater on me so I am posting via my IPad which is a wonderful matchine but not quite what I am used to so my posts are going to be a little brief until I get up and going with a new machine. I love what computers can do but hate the machines themselves. Don’t listen to me, I’m just being grumpy.

We are closing out 2020. I am not going to miss it. What an ordeal the world has been through.

There is still plenty to be thankful for. We have our health, my brother is slowly recovering from his illness.

Christmas will always be special to me. A time of hope and healing and remembering.

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Heather’s gingerbread men.

We miss our sweet doxie, Ginger.

I was born in northern New Mexico. Christmas has always been more of a quiet contemplative occasion than a raucous party. Oklahoma artist and journalist Terry Clark captures a New Mexican Christmas perfectly in his series of post cards he does every year. We treasure the ones he sends us. Check the link to his blog.

https://flic.kr/p/2jTjW2A

Merry Christmas to you and your family from our crew!!

Check out the gang at Skywatch Friday, link up if you can!

On Sunday, while participating in cleanup effort at Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness I found a Christmas tree in the park. I consider it a form of graffiti. Not that it is bad but that is kind of what it is. I kind of like it actually.

I also found a couple bird houses that look like they have been there for some time.

A couple week ago I found another Christmas on the mountain.

This is what the tree looked like last year. There is at least one other tree based on what I see on my instagram feed.

I also found a nandina shrub. Nandina is of course not native to Oklahoma. Turkey Mountain back in the day had farms, ranches, homes, lots of oil wells, illegal liquor stills and a bunch of outlaws. There are a few places where one can see remnants of its past.

The cleanup was successful. About 45 people showed and picked up a ton of trash, trimmed trails, and picked up the remnants of at least two abandoned homeless camps. One of which had been occupied off and on since the 1980’s. This was the first cleanup we had since February. We took pains to ensure a covid safe situation. A local news station came out and covered the event. I can’t embed their report but you can check the link here.

In other news, my brother Bob is continuing from his illness that started over a year ago. He is transitioning from Long Term Care to Assisted Living. I’m really proud of him. He has worked hard. This former marathon runner is starting to walk and insists he is going to race again one day.

At the house, our cats are really into the Christmas Spirit. LJ loves napping in the sun.

Lizzie loves the bed spread.

My wife has put here snowmen out.

And other things.

We have a lot to be grateful for. We had a little scare. One of our painters came down with Covid and so we had to go get tested and we are all clear. Pending getting a test and then the results, we quarantined probably for a total of sixty hours. Drove me flat crazy I have to say. We sure didn’t want to expose anybody else though.

I hope everybody is enjoying the Christmas season. In these darker times one has to look for the joy maybe a little harder.

I am linking with Our World Tuesday.