T’was the Night Before Christmas

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the park

Adults were at play and out on a lark.

What to our listening ears should we hear?

But laughter and greetings and shouts of good cheer.

 

                                        

Our neighbors outdid themselves last night and it was awesome.  There was no such thing as a “stranger” among us.  We wandered from one ‘open house’ to another to say hello to friends and meet any newcomers.  What a delightful evening of fellowship.

Hundreds of candlelight luminaries adorned the streets for blocks and blocks in all directions.  Fire pits were aglow to keep us warm with good cheer and FOOD was bountiful on every table.  The saga of living in Disneyland for Seniors goes on and on.  What a wonderful park full of friendly people!

Sisters Zella and Harriett (hope that’s spelled correctly) host their annual Christmas Eve Open House.  Come one come all, meet new friends and spread good cheer. 

When it got late before heading to bed, I walked out into the now quiet night and just gazed down the streets full of candle lights still all aglow.  What a wonderful feeling!

Merry Christmas to ALL of you!!!

        

               

How often do you see this????

Jacques Avery (site 1632) happened to be at the right place at the right time.  How often do you get to see a site like this?  He was at the stop light at the corner of Florence Blvd waiting to turn left onto Henness.  Talk about a traffic jam!!

Thank you, Jacques and Pat for sharing your video!

Heading south down Henness Road past Palm Creek entrance

Wednesday Tidbits

Every Wednesday morning the Computer Club meets up at the San Tan room at 9:30. Today’s meeting was presented by President Mike Salter who gave us an updated tour of Google Earth. He showed us a time line of pictures of Palm Creek from 2002 to June of 2011. WOW!! That’s progress.

Here is the most current image taken in June of 2011:

And here is the image taken in 2002.  No buildings north of the north pool.  Not very many park models north of the tennis courts.

Google Earth never ceases to amaze me.  It is really fun to type in the address of where I grew up as a child and then click to see what it looks like today.  Wow. 

Thank you, Mike, for a very interesting and informative meeting. Mike also spent time explaining how our modems and routers worked here in the park and the need for security and passwords. PLUS….we were treated to fresh yummy donuts as our Christmas celebration.

 

After the meeting, it was time for my daily bike ride around the park looking for a news story.  Progress continues on the spec model of the Casita.  RV folks are really anxious to see the completed project. 

One of the greatest joys of living in Palm Creek is the multitude of friendly people.  I stopped by to walk around one of our few remaining house watch homes and found a friendly group at the site next door.  They were just soaking up the sunshine and some friendly chatter.  When I said “howdy” and explained that I was just inspecting, they jumped from their chairs and hurried over to my customer’s home to have their picture taken on the porch.  What a fun picture to send to Vic and Carol when they see their friends anxiously awaiting their return.

Another strong asset of Palm Creek is how nice people keep up their homes and RV sites.  It’s not just Christmas decorations that make the place so attractive but all the little finishing touches.  Here are just a few pictures I took along my ride.

 

This snowman family picture was taken by Marlene Thurlow from the Photo Club.  I believe the theme was “lights”.

This “Happy Hour” group located near Cole Circle and Starry Night Lane were building their annual luminaries that will be put out in front of their sites on Christmas Eve.  Be sure to drive by that night to see the pretty display.

---

OH NO!!!!!

Eddie from the maintenance department just stopped by with some extremely upsetting news!  He found our great horned owl laying out on the golf course this morning!  I actually cried when I saw this magnificent bird.  How SAD!!!

We don’t know what happened to him as there’s not a damaging mark on him anywhere.  What a beautiful and remarkable raptor.

Out of respect for such a wonder of nature, Eddie assured me he would bury the bird rather than just throw it in a dumpster.  I’m sure all you avid readers will be saddened by its demise.  So many of you were awed by the original photo that was posted here.  (Original photo was taken by Bill and Maureen).  So sorry to end today’s post with sad news.

More News

I spotted these news signs yesterday and thought they were perfect to post on the blog as they’re good advertising for our ACTIVE senior Disneyland. 

We all need a steady reminder to SLOW DOWN when driving.  There are many walkers, runners, bike riders, dog walkers, golf carts, and even some on roller blades.  More and more guests are arriving daily so be sure to obey the speed limit and the stop signs.  (That’s our lecture for today.)

 

I saw some busy members of the “Deadheaders” group yesterday.  These volunteers spend some of their precious spare time busy at work on bended knee to help keep our flower beds in tip top condition.  A special “THANK YOU” goes to ALL of them.

It took some fancy talking to finally get them to pose and smile for the camera.

The new dog run was in active use too.  These canines were happy at play and got a good chance to stretch their legs as they raced back and forth for a good game of fetch.

Another thank you goes to Ann Lykens and Palm Creek management for purchasing and installing the new window blinds in the San Tan room.  Now when we watch the projector screen we can get a much better view.  All the shades are controlled by a remote which will be checked out to the group in charge of each meeting.

There weren’t many people at bingo last night………….I suppose because so many are traveling home for the holidays………..and also because the big jackpots were won the week previously.  We had a good time though and helped Flo celebrate her birthday!  Happy Birthday, Flo!  Flo has been in charge of Monday night bingo since its inception many many moons ago.

She and her hardy group of volunteers made sure we all received our Christmas treat of hot chocolate and cookies. 

Have a GREAT day everyone!

Daily Tour

Join me as we take our daily tour around the park.  The flowers are a little late this year, but here they come!  We had some cold snaps that aren’t healthy for young plants so here’s hoping the cold stays away. 

We could hear lots of laughter and cheers as we neared the lawn bowling court.  I’ve tried this game a couple times and it is NOT as easy and simple as it first appears.  Give it a try sometime.  Sit and watch or chat with the folks and they’ll be glad to get you involved.  It’s fun!

Next we had to stop up at the activities office to check on our bridge scores.  Say hello to the gals at the front reception desk.

The billiards room was quite busy when we peeked in the door.

There was a bit of commotion out behind the building so of course we bopped over to see what was happening.  The whole staff was busy helping with a delivery of new tables and chairs for the new sewing room. 

Wendell Johnson was touring the inside so we sneaked a peek too.

The new style of sky lights are amazing with how much sunlight they cast indoors. 

I guess we’re waiting for more city permits before further interior work can begin.  It’s hard to wait!!

It looks like the big dog park is ready to go.  The grass is green and the fence is up.  Can’t wait to watch the pups have fun in their new play area.

The gardens look GREAT!  Congratulations to the whole garden group.  Do you have a green thumb?  Join the group on Thursdays at 1:00 to learn more.

On the way back home we stopped by Lot 1396 where they’re building the model “Casita” site.   Nancy from the Sales Department explained that this will be a model site to give RVers & 5th Wheels some nice options for site improvements.  I’m betting it will be very popular.  I’ll be driving by to watch the progress and will keep you updated.

That concludes our tour for the day.  Hope you enjoyed the trip around the park.

By the way…………………..I have many people approach me for “beginner” computer classes so I’m going to try the first one up in the SanTan Room.  Wednesday, December 28, at 1:00-3:00 we’ll meet just for BEGINNERS and those who need a refresher of the bare basics of computer use.  Describe the desktop, files and folders, and a bit about navigating the web.  It’s basically to understand the computer in non-techie terms.  How we store our documents and photos and music.  Just the easy stuff.  Nothing hard or fancy.  If you know of anyone who may be interested, there is a sign up sheet in the Activities Office on a clip board that says “Computer Classes”. 

There is a second class for January 19 that is all about using Picasa for your photo management.  We’ll present a complete overview of the program and what it can do for us. 

My favorite class is, of course, the one-on-one sessions when folks bring their computer here to the house for a private lesson.  I think that’s the best way to learn when you actually get hands on experience.  Don and our son, Kevin, are both here to help with the techie problems too.

This coming Wednesday, December 21, our computer club will be learning about Google Earth and how to navigate the world!  Feel free to join us at 9:30 in the SanTan room.  Our club President, Mike Salter, will be presenting.

Have a great day!