all is calm

 H and I don't really celebrate Christmas (I do put up some decorations because I like them but we don't exchange gifts) but we used to have the "tradition" of watching A Christmas Story and Elf.  We haven't done that in recent years, however, because we've learned that Christmas is a great time - for us - to go to Moab.  It can be cold, sure, but it is definitely the off season which means it is quiet.  Trails are sparsely populated and there is very little traffic.  It is wonderful.  You do have to time it right weather-wise to get over the Soldier Summit pass and this year, as we drove down Thursday afternoon, it was fine: cold, partially cloudy skies and dry roads.

Moody

H was tangled up with work on Friday so Milton and I just did a hike along the Pipedream trail, from the Jackson Street entrance to the Hidden Valley trailhead and back again.  That's around five-ish miles, I think, enough to give me credit for exercise and a good opportunity for the dog to get his fidgets out.  He ran and ran and ran, back and forth along the trail, charging up and down the hillsides.  There weren't any lizards to chase, of course, but he found some songbirds to flush out of the shrubbery.

Pipedream lichen (a series)

There wasn't any snow in the Moab valley itself although the benches had a dusting; higher up on the plateaus surrounding the mountains there was definite accumulation.  The trail were on was nicely frozen so it wasn't muddy.  Temperatures were in the mid- to high 30s (F) - perfectly fine for light exertion, although I didn't take my gloves off whilst in the shade.  

Lichen the winter desert a lot

We encountered only one MTBer and his dog who didn't care for Milton all that much - she set her boundaries pretty clearly but there wasn't any real kerfuffle - so for that afternoon's social interaction, H and I wandered over to Woody's (hooray for keeping their liquor license).  Our regular bartender was there so we were able to give her a Christmas card, and our buddy Chris managed to squeeze in a beer with us in between his family commitments.

I have no pun for this one

Tangentially-related:  this article explains why we like dive bars (Woody's) so much.