LIKE NOTHING YOU'VE SEEN

  We start with a warning. Some of this may give you the creeps, but that is probably the intent.

       Spread over 4 acres of an estate near the "movie colony" section of Palm Springs-the homes of the stars who put Palm Springs on the map-is RoboChristmas 2017.

        All of this is the work of artist Kenny Irwin-who lives amidst it. He began this creation in 1986 when he was 12. It is considered a futuristic Christmas is a parallel universe.

I think Irwin must dream in a Tim Burton framework.

       Warning 2-aside from giving you those kind of dreams,

there are a lot of images here. View carefully. Enjoy.

   As you can see, Kenny Irwin is an inventive recycler as well.

    I barely scratched the surface, there is a lot to take in. Do you have a favorite scene?

   See you down the trail.

WHAT ABOUT THEM?

photo by Kristin

   Children are at the center of this season, the holy infant at its nexus and millions of dear ones in families. But there are places where the festive lights are dim or gone.

Photo by Meredith Kohut for the New York Times

      Children in Venezuela are dying because they can not get infant formula or food. In the scene above a mother mourns her three month old, who died for lack of food in a modern nation.

       Many of us will spend these days feasting, celebrating, enjoying home and family. Not everyone is so fortunate. I hope you will take a couple of minutes during the holidays to watch these very short videos. They will move and they will inspire you.

       This first short is heart warming. I call it Newborns in a Basket

       There is a beauty in the faces of children, a true gift this season. Listen to Liam Neesom as you watch. 

        Storms and fire have devastated the lives of US children this year. War and displacement is at historic levels and the greatest victims are the children. The baby who's birth Christians celebrate would later as a rabbi say one of the greatest offenses possible is to harm a child. Ignoring children in need does great harm.  The singer Pink takes up their case-What about Us?

       Children are indeed the center of this time, but that rabbi also reminded us about the downtrodden and heavy burdened.

Photo by Jae C. Hong, AP

          Share your joy. Even a word or a smile can be a gift.

          What about them? What about them all? Charles Dickens said it well when he had Tiny Tim close the Christmas Carol, "God bless us, everyone!"

          See you down the trail.

LIGHTS

  For the last few years thousands have flocked to Cambria's Christmas Market, a venture of a local hotel and garden center.

   Cambrians are of two minds, at least, about the display and the traffic and commotion. It is said two million lights are used. Count them if you'd like.

     The little ones and more than a few adults seem mesmerized by the displays. 

    I like the Surfin' Santa, complete with Hawaiian motif in the jacket. 

   Something for all, including a tribute to Aliens, here for the holidays. 

   A variation on a roasted artichoke. 

  This vendor was selling high flying spin activated and lit helicopters that continued to arc high above the millions of lights below.  

   The scene below is set off to the side, canted in such a way as to require a special effort to see it and read the warning sign.

     Krampus is the anti Santa Claus. Half goat-half demon, his thing is to punish or carry off bad children. The origin is unclear but it is a figure of the season in some northern and eastern European nations. Glad we skipped that in our childhood.

    This Christmas 2017 this creature could find plenty to carry off at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington D.C. and at the opposite end on Capitol Hill.  

     On further reflection, I think the beast has already been there, and probably had a large had in the writing of the new tax fraud bill.

      See you down the trail.