Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Santa Sighting...

Well, it's true. He's here, at least in Michigan.

This made me smile when I heard it. My daughter and her husband were on their way to see a Warren Miller movie in Royal Oak, a town not far from here. In case you don't know of him, Warren Miller is famous for his ski movies, and watching one of his flicks really puts you in the mood to ski. I have to say I have a great fondness for his earlier movies, the ones that show beginner skiers getting into funny situations on skis. And I really love Warren Miller's voice. Just hearing it gives me a lift.

Anyway, back to Santa. My daughter Angie was in the passenger seat of their car, and when they slowed coming to the light, she saw a red van in front of them, and on the license it read, "Santa One." Curious, they pulled beside the van, and sure enough there was Santa in full costume. And what was he doing? Well, he had his list, of course, and was checking it out. My daughter was thrilled, as he really looked like Santa, extremely authentic.

We're thinking he reserves the sleigh for Christmas Eve, so he can give his reindeer a good rest before they head out. I'm hoping I get a chance to see Santa too, and I'll sure be watching for that red van. I'll also be watching the skies on Christmas Eve.

Talk to you soon.

Visit my website to read a FREE EXCERPT of my mystery-romantic suspense novel, Her Last Letter.

http://www.nancy-cjohnson.com/

Books are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and can be ordered through most bookstores.

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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Cross-country skiing

I can't believe the kind of winter we're having. It reminds me of winters I enjoyed as a kid, lots of snow, cold enough to ice skate or go sledding any time you want. I am actually feeling the Christmas spirit more than usual.

We went to a Christmas party Saturday night, one a friend of ours holds every year. Everyone must bring a dish to pass and a toy to give to charity. At least sixty people or more show up. I know a few of these people since a lot of the guests live in the neighborhood. One good friend I saw there likes to cross-country ski, as I do, and she invited me and a couple other people to go out on Sunday. We are fortunate to have a heavily wooded park not far away, with lots of trails, enough that you can easily get lost in the woods if you're not careful. It couldn't have been a nicer day out, sunny and not too cold. Once we got going I actually worked up a sweat. We saw a few other skiers on the trails, all smiling and mentioning what a great day it was to be outside. Some of the trails are really hilly, as the park is also used a lot by mountain bikers in the summer. We avoided most of those and stuck to the wider less radical trails. We had a little girl with us, three years old, but she rode in a back pack. Tom, her father, is very athletic, but still I worried (as he must have) that he might fall with her. We took some tricky little descents through narrow corners in a few places. Fortunately, he was very steady on his skis and handled it well. Nothing I'd like to see him do again though.

We were only out for about an hour, which was just enough as my daughter and her husband invited us over to watch a world cup ski race on t.v. , then join them for dinner. We arrived right on time.

Enjoy the holidays!

Visit my website to read a FREE EXCERPT of my mystery romantic-suspense novel, Her Last Letter.

http://www.nancy-cjohnson.com/

Books are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and can be ordered through most bookstores.

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