Now We Are 12 --- Days 11/362-365! AND 12/1

Walks: Hood

Distances: 4 average, some yoga

Oh, my goodness, Ciwt got so busy ignoring the holiday season, she almost forgot CIWT'S 12th birthday!! 

A Sacred Holiday --- Days 11/361 & 362

Walks: Hood

Distances: 3 mile

The Pilgrimage Church of Weis, Steingaden, Germany

Las Lajas Sanctuary, Narino, Columbia

Notre Dame Basilica, Montreal, Canada

Goldilocks Spirit --- Days 11/355-360

Walks:  Out of sick bed and Back on the hood/Presidio trails

Distances: Not far, but back up to 4.5 mi today

Christmas?  Is it really almost Christmas, and are all those other holidays happening too?  Ciwt is having trouble connecting with those facts.  Like Goldilocks, she's not too hot, not too cold about the whole holiday idea right now.  

A friend wrote this morning: 

I am not altogether sure what Christmas is supposed to seem like…but I will say that it does not seem like Christmas this year…

Just the same, hope you catch the spirit and may it inspire you…who knows, it just might !  

That sound 'just right' to Ciwt and she wishes all her readers whatever holidays feel best to them this year.   

Now, Merry Christmas from the U.S. --- Days 11/351-54

Walks: No, felled by flue or something😕 but on the mend😁

Distances 0

Tommy Liberto, a.k.a. Mr. Christmas Tree, visiting from Bel Air, Maryland, walks near Radio City Music Hall on December 14, 2022, in New York City.

Christmas lights and ornaments are seen outside a home in Brooklyn on December 6, 2022

Decorated boats line up on the Potomac River for the annual Boat Parade of Lights on December 3, 2022, in Alexandria, Virginia.

С Рождеством, Feliz Navidad, Maligayang Pasko sa Iyo! --- Days 11/343-348

Walks:  Hood and Presidio

Distance Average: 3.5 day

As is usually the case in Ciwt's hood at Christmas, her neighbors don't tend to decorate their homes with the same exuberance they put into their Halloween and Thanksgiving decorating.  So, Ciwt thought she'd see what people in other countries do.  And WOW.

A pedestrian walks past Christmas decorations near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, in central Moscow, on December 13, 2022

Christmas illuminations light up Málaga's city center, in Andalusia, southern Spain, on November 27, 2022

People visit a Christmas light show in Makati, a city in Metro Manila, Philippines, on December 13, 2022. 

Days 11/338-342

Walks: Neighborhoods and Presidio

Distance (average): 5.5 miles

So the other morning early one of Ciwt's new neighbors called with an SOS.  She had given a memorial tree to the park on the corner, but wasn't told when the Park Department gardeners would plant it.  Turned out it was that day, right now! and she wasn't able to attend.

It was such a meaningful gift to her - and to the park visitors - could I possibly go over and take a picture.  Sure, and not only did Ciwt go over, she stayed for the entire event: crane lifting the tree off the truck bed, driving it down the park path, lifting the tree into the hole. It was a delicate dance, and took nearly an hour. She'd never seen a tree put in the ground.  Have you?  If so, you already know it is a very moving sight.

Also one that reminded Ciwt of Joyce Kilmer's beloved poem about trees.

Joyce Kilmer was born on December 6, 1886, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The author of Main Street and Other Poems (George H. Doran Company, 1917), he was killed while fighting in World War I.

Come On In, Holidays --- Day 11/337

Walk: Presidio

Distance: 6.5 miles

Random Holiday Charm --- Days 11/325-336

Walks:  Hoods

Distances: Average 5.5 miles

Billionaires Row has gold skeletons