pinochle with the in-laws
Norma & I, seventy-two in the hole
one lousy day of cards
with cranberry chutney & brie
crostini, six darling bites
toasted to perfection
my mouth, still so happy…
thinking like a child (again)
fog envelops our neighbors
across the fairway
fun to imagine a dense forest
resides there instead…
beneath a gray sky
leaves still lingering
maple tree’s silhouetted boughs
shimmering confetti
December rain
rusticated
a scrappy frost
mounts a weathered deck railing
the clamor of crows
9:30 pm, Christmas Eve, we go for a drive
holiday lights without any snow
erratic swaths of darkness
a diminished magic
— but not entirely
waiting for Santa
penultimate of the twelve
frenzied little ones
tomorrow, a very early start
Judy’s Numbers Game #53: Today’s number is…174
uffda
late December
another difficult year
nearly spent
rocky mountain memory
mountain-trail vista
eye-level, roiling clouds
elevation 12,183 feet
A Sawyer's Daughter 
Chit Chat