Courtney came to visit the week before Christmas. She got off the plane wearing a long, heavy coat, because the temperatures were in the teens in Chicago. Little did she know that Denver was experiencing record highs in the 70s. The skiers weren't happy, because most of the lifts were closed (even in Vail and Aspen). But we took advantage of the warm weather and did a lot of outdoor activities, including going on a bike ride down the Piney Creek Trail.
The next day, we went to the park to sketch. We were sitting in the grass when Santa rode up on a motorcycle. The park was packed with kids, who all ran over to tell Santa one last time what they wanted for Christmas.
We walked over to the library to sketch some of the Christmas trees on display. Each tree had a different theme based on a book. Normally, the trees are really cute, but this year a lot of the trees were somewhat dark and sinister. The tree on the left is based on a book about a flesh-eating virus that is out to destroy the human race - not your usual Hallmark Christmas moment. The one behind it is from Lord of the Flies where a group of schoolboys get stranded on a desert island and then start killing each other... ho, ho, ho. The Addams Family tree was clever, but I'm not sure I'd feel very festive with a black Christmas tree sporting an amputated hand.
We opened our presents on Christmas Eve-Eve, so that Courtney and I could have a little time to use our new art supplies. Charlie got a stuffed bear that I paid a fortune for, because it was supposed to be indestructible. It took him about 30 minutes to bite off the pompom on the end of the bear's hat. I should send him to the toy manufacturer as one of their testers; he could find the weak spots in their toys.
A few days after Courtney left, we finally got a "white" Christmas with a light dusting of snow. The temperature dropped down so far that Bruce was able to just broom it off. That's the weird thing about Colorado - the temperature can swing 50 or 60 degrees in just a few hours. Since the wind chill said it felt like 4°, Charlie had to watch from the window.
When the temperature got back up above 40° I went out for one last trip to sketch the library trees. I managed to find a nice one representing the Joy of Cooking - lots of pots and pans for decoration. I also stopped off at Black Rock Coffee for one of their holiday drinks - a Mexican mocha chilla. Yum!
