Brrr ... winter is upon us now. It's not waiting until Dec. 21, the "official" starting date. Keep warm if you can. We're wondering why at some sane part in our lives that we didn't buy a vacation home down south (well, there was a question of time and money, but we don't remember that when the temp is well below freezing).
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If you're brave enough to go outside in the evening, don't miss the Silver and Snowflakes Holiday Tree Lighting on Dec. 2 at the Capitol at 5:30 p.m. Dress warmly and have a good time.
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We are feeling sorry for Janet Napolitano, secretary of Homeland Security. She instituted the body scans and pat downs at the airports to foil any terrorist activity, and has unleashed an uproar from passengers being "affronted" at the process. Think of the uproar if someone gets on a plane and detonates a bomb because he/she wasn't checked, and hundreds of people die. This is a classic case of "between a rock and a hard place." Frankly, we would rather be safe than sorry.
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Happy birthdays to Deb Greco and Jason "Mad Dog" Fuller (his auntie knows his nickname and says she's only nine years older than he is on his 40th ... yeah, right).
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If you want to "save" the museums in Nevada, be sure and sign a petition to do so soon. The petitions can be found at Grandma Hatties and the RR Museum, to name a couple of places. We'd hate to see Nevada's heritage go down the drain in this belt-tightening process.
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Hopefully, you did not OD on turkey on Thursday, but had a sensible, sane feast (did we just write that? and mean it?). Then, we hope you survived Black Friday (who came up with that "uplifting" name?) and bought us lots of gifts for Christmas (again, we dream).
This is where we put in some quotes C found on the Internet: "I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land." (Jon Stewart)
"Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often." (Johnny Carson) Remember that at Christmas.
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Be ready ... full moon eclipse from 9:27 p.m.-3:06 a.m. on the winter solstice (Dec. 21) Saturnalia, a winter pagan ceremony to celebrate the changing of the season. Be sure and wear your togas. Comma Coffee will hold a "Stocking Up" evening with the Mile High Jazz Band, featuring Sheryl Adams, at 8 p.m. Dec. 14; $5 admission. You also will get to hear poets Rita Geil, Terri Breeden, Krista Lukas, Susan Sara Priest, Tracy McQuay and Lee Warner. Getting culture can be fun.
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Terry Beauchamp sent this from his local paper: Government surveyors came to Ole's farm in the fall and asked if they could do some surveying. Ole agreed and Lena even served them a nice meal. The next spring, the two surveyors stopped by and told Ole, "Because you were so kind to us, we wanted to give you this bad news in person instead of by letter." Ole replied, "What's the bad news?" The surveyors stated, "Well, we discovered your farm is not in Minnesota; it's actually in North Dakota." Ole looked at Lena and said, "That's the best news I've heard in a long time. Why, I just told Lena this morning, I don't think I can take another winter in Minnesota." Stay warm, Ole.
• Carolyn Tate and Maizie Harris Jesse are longtime Carson City residents. They can be reached by e-mail at editor@nevada
appeal.com.