Ho Ho Ho – the Christmas Season is Here

You can tell the Christmas season has arrived. Though it may be difficult to identify because the Montrose Christmas Parade was canceled this year, I know – simply by the number of invitations and various events being held – that the Christmas season is here.

Things kicked off on Friday evening when the Glendale Kiwanis Club (of which I am a member) held its holiday party. Named for our new club president Mike Swan, the “Swanderland” Holiday Gala was held at the Oakmont Country Club, which was decked out in holiday finery. Everyone there looked wonderful, including our board of directors and attending members that included Glendale City Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian and his wife Courtney. (As an aside, this was the first time I had a chance to visit with Courtney and she is great.) Steve, who wasn’t able to attend the gala, had spoken to the club earlier in the day on aviation archeology and missed out on a lot of compliments about his knowledge of the subject and his speaking ability.

On Saturday morning, I headed over to the parking lot adjacent to the high school where I picked up my pre-ordered Christmas tree and wreaths. Selling the trees and wreaths was a fundraiser for the high school baseball team and it was a real treat when CV High School alum Zack Torres helped tie the tree onto my car, assisted by freshman baseball players. For longtime CV Weekly readers, I’m sure the name Zack Torres is familiar as he was a star runner for the CVHS team. I asked him why he was lending a hand and he said he is the coach’s son. Duh! Baseball coach Phil Torres is Zack’s dad!

On Sunday night, Steve and I boarded a plane at LAX and headed to Las Vegas where our son and his girlfriend were visiting from North Carolina. (How can you resist an invitation like, “You’re coming here to visit with us, right? After all, we’re so near you guys.”) We ate at new places, visited many Vegas “touristy” places and totally enjoyed the face of his girlfriend, who had never been to La Vegas before, as she took in the bright lights and new sights. Our trip included tickets to the Cirque du Soleil show KÀ at the MGM Grand.

This was the first Cirque du Soleil show I had ever been to and let me say that it was unbelievable! Truly an experience I will never forget. The physicality of the actors was awe-inspiring; they were climbing surfaces that seemed completely perpendicular. It is hard to describe except to say how phenomenal it was; I hope to return someday.

We flew home late morning on Tuesday then we both headed straight to work. After all – I had a newspaper to prepare!

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A reader brought up an interesting subject now that we’ve entered the “yellow tier” of water conservation when many of us are supposed to water only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He said that there may be a lot of soggy papers come Thursday mornings if folks are watering early in the day, after the paper has been delivered. (He was one.) He planned to change his watering times – and suggested others might also do so – including shutting off automatic watering when it rains.