Polar express

NORTHERN NEWS
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that maybe we’ve seen the last of Indian Summer for 2010.
As with the rest of the state, southeast Utah and Sierra La Sal experienced the zipping through of the polar express T-Day eve. Ours came actually in the wee hours of the a.m. Brrr.
But, nonetheless, we hope your Thanksgiving Holiday was a great one. You probably skipped the after dinner touch football game, unless you really like below freezing outdoor sports.
Now, on to the countdown for Christmas. A growing (and much exploited) new tradition is “Black Friday” the first shopping day of the holiday season which use to come the day after Thanksgiving. It has now crept into the waning hours of T-Day with mid-night madness. Yes, even in our little village, some have succumbed to the lure of the lights and bargains of the big city and baited low prices.
They no more than excuse themselves from the dinner table when they head off to the city. Can’t even declare them legally insane! My goal is to have all my Christmas shopping done by Black Friday. Crazed crowds do not for me a happy Christmas experience make.
This next event is hard to for me to report, as it happens in the time warp (after column filing, before column reading). The new local La Sal Library will/did feature a “Chocolate Lovers” family night last Monday. I know the librarian stocked up on lots of “chocolate” books (my favorite being “Death by Chocolate” – what a way to go!) and lots of chocolate. Hope we all had a good time! A more detailed report will be forthcoming next week.
A favorite author who did write a book titled “Death by Chocolate” also wrote a book about death by “shoes on sale” avalanche. I can’t even think which might be the best way to go: death by chocolate or death by sales shoes. I just know a good time in the city includes both chocolate and shoes!
Did you stop by La Sal Central and have the ladies there whisper the All Ladies of La Sal Christmas project for this year? Well, if not, you should. It all comes together a week from today. Without letting the cat out of the bag, I can tell you that there will be friends, food and fun – and singing – Christmas Caroling. Yea, I love Christmas caroling! So, there is an event to mark on your December calendar.
Here is another date to mark on the calendar: December 17. That is the annual - this year with a twist – community Christmas dinner at the LDS Church. It all gets underway at 6 p.m. (make that Mountain Time, not La Sal Standard).
The evening will commence with a special program featuring guest speaker, our very own editor Boyle, who will talk of the Holy Land. Dress is nice casual.
The program will be followed by a pot luck dinner. Hopefully more details will be forthcoming on that next week. So far it is just “what they eat in the Holy Land” food. A clue or two would be nice.
Maybe a little Google search will render some helpful information. Okay, dates, raisins, nuts, olives – and no pork. That’s about all I know. Pita bread? Do you think that qualifies. Let’s hope for more hints next week.
We’ve gotten a little snow since Thanksgiving. Just enough to get you in the mood though not quite enough to be pretty yet.
Out and about the other morning, we encountered the familiar drag marks in the snow indicating that some family had already procured this year’s Christmas tree. It is one of the delights of living where we do – many folks still like the challenge of finding just the right tree out in the pinyon-juniper forest or up on The Mountain.
Despite the few temporarily insane who are lured in momentarily by the lights (and prices) of the big city, in Sierra La Sal mostly enjoys a good, old fashioned Christmas.