Christmas Greetings To All Who Visit Here

Highlighting some photos here that show bits of Christmas across parts of the Southwest.

Christmas in our circle brings abundant luminaria, as well as a stunning view of neighbor Ronnie's beautiful tree (looking from the street through her open gate). Decorations can be simple, since so many things stay green, as per second image below.

Christmas in Tucson brings out chili pepper wreaths, as well as ear-warmers for Padre Kino's horse (just above). A few blocks away from here, the owner of an ancient tow truck (named Tow Mater) decorates his vehicle for Christmas, as well as dressing it up to resemble the tow truck in the movie Cars. Tamales are a Christmas tradition (second below) in Tucson and many favor the green corn version from Lerua's - some of which will be on our table at dinner tomorrow.

One of our favorite spots in Arizona is the historic La Posada Hotel in Winslow. Shown here are two interior shots from our visit just after Thanksgiving last month.

Finally, Christmas in Santa Fe (where Katie's sister and family live). Above shows a building decorated with farolitos. Folks in northern New Mexico insist that this is the historically correct name for the little lanterns, and that they are misnamed when called luminaria. Below is a view of the famous Cathedral (an important aspect of Willa Cather's novel Death Comes for the Archbishop), dressed in snow. We visit fairly often up there, but rarely this time of year.