Did I mention that I love living in a wonderful small town, in the heart of America? I feel like I traveled back in time, to a simpler era when family and church still mattered; to a time when life was lived at a slower pace and people cared for their neighbors; to a time when kids grew up slowly and  connected to their ancestry.

And no traffic! We don’t have any frantic Christmas shopping because we have don’t have malls or strips of big box stores. The most traffic I experienced this season was driving to the school Christmas Program (attended by about 1/2 the town, or more).

For the program, the kids were dressed in age-appropriate clothing and looked beautiful. Girls wore girly–not vampy– dresses/leggings and some of the boys wore ties. The program was creative, funny and energetic. Twice, the kids sang in German–Silent Night and O Tannenbaum. Several in the photos below attend our church!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kids who look like kids! Love all the bows.

Another example of living in a simpler time: I went to one of the two local gas stations to fill up the van. An employee came out to fill it up for me! I asked if they do that for everyone–yes they do.

And: I use my PO Box for post office deliveries and the street address for UPS and FED EX (Post Office does not do home deliveries here).  Last week I bought something online and called the company to verify what delivery service they use. Since it was Fed EX, I used the street address. However, FED EX, I learned, often uses Smart Post, where, the FED EX package transfers over to the Post Office system and is delivered by them. I figured all this out when I tracked the package online and then panicked because I figured that the package would be sent back since I did not use the PO Box. I stopped by the Post Office to see if they had any advice. Ha-ha-ha. I should never worry. They had the package set aside and waiting for me. They said that they figured out I was the new minister in town and just held the package

So that is a bit about the people. Now the setting. This morning I arose early, fed Tango, made coffee, and we headed out to find snowy owls. I drove in the dark to a place where others recently spotted two owls, just north of town.  The world slowly lighted up while I scanned for birds, and Tango snoozed next to me in the van. No owls, but I did see several deer and a beautiful southeastern sky—it was that light pink, and the trees were frosty from frozen fog. Even the air had a frosty feel. Of course, I forgot to put the camera card back in before I ran out, so no photos.

The pink during sunrise is unique. I want to call it light cotton candy pink, or pale pink or pastel pink. It is none of those cliches; rather, the pink has a vibrancy to it…pastel saturated, glittery. I researched shades of pink in hopes of finding a better description of what I see. At the Wikipedia link the only thing close is simply “pink”: But it is too dull. Needs some light saturation and frosty-ness.  Next, I Googled frosty pink sky and, among the photos of frosty pink nail polish (Cover Gilr Siren is close) and lipstick, I found these two photos:

But wait! Oddly, in the group of images on Google, there was one of my photos of the camper and Tango (pink interior, pink banners, Tango on the bed). So very interesting.

How did this come up when I Googled “frosty pink”? Anyway, this was Guernsey State Park, in Wyoming, last spring

I hope to post more in the upcoming week. I have four services before Christmas Day: two at the nursing home and two at our church. I Wishek you a Merry Christmas.