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Archive for December, 2022

Family, Holy Family, Santa and Charlie Brown

Posted in Mayor Jim on December 26, 2022| 1 Comment »

I love Christmas. I love Christmas lights. I love the spirit of Christmas … even a few Hallmark Holiday movies. I especially love togetherness of family and I love the true meaning of Christmas … the birth of Jesus. I love that we stop for a moment to share the spirit with friends. I love that we have a “flawed” country which I would not trade for any other. I love my city of Little Rock, I love Arkansas … our beautiful Natural State and I love our USA, a nation founded on principles of freedom, equality and love.

The above photo is our traditional Family Christmas … in our home … in front of a Santa Painting … Holy Family figure on the table in front of us.

We are truly blessed … in so many ways!

I also love Charlie Brown … mainly Charlie Brown Christmas! Those who know me at all, are most likely aware of my Charlie Brown Christmas Campout. In fact, my previous post has photos and text from this year’s campout. As in the past 10 or 12 years, we wear out Santa Hats, decorate a scraggly “a la Charlie Brown Christmas Tree” and soak in the wonders of friendship, nature and the seasonal spirit.

Each piece of art above represents something meaningful and personal … Aspen painting by a local artist, Santa by a local artist, candles a gift from a friend, Patti’s Baby Jesus and four children with our children’s names on each, and the latest addition from DJ and Joy, a perfect figure of Charlie Brown himself. Thank you to all who help keep this tradition alive. Remember the meaning, catch and keep the spirit, spend time with family, show love to your friends, reach out to someone sick or hurting … and finally, Pray for peace in Ukraine.

God Bless you … Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and “Add a little Charlie Brown Christmas to your life.”

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CHARLIE BROWN CAMPOUT 2022 … Laissez les bons temps rouler.

Posted in Mayor Jim, Trails, Tributes on December 11, 2022| 2 Comments »

CHARLIE BROWN ELVES … 2022

For more than a decade, a few of my family and friends have taken to the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas in search of Charlie Brown’s Christmas spirit. The first five years, we backpacked into remote wilderness areas, set up our tents, gathered firewood donned Santa Hats, selected a small lonely cedar tree and with much pomp and ceremony, decorated it with a few items from home plus edibles for birds and animals. This has become a tradition as seen in the above December 2022 photo. The only difference from earlier years is we now go to one of the beautiful camp grounds along the Buffalo National River near Jasper, Arkansas. Incidentally, the free flowing Buffalo was the first river to be declared a “National River” by Congress.

Above is one of the beautiful limestone bluff lines at Kyle’s Landing where we set up camp.

Krista and Bryan
Don and Jim AKA, Charlie Brown

Just in case you are wondering who would wear a jacket like the black and white one above, it is I. It’s truly perfect for camping in cold weather … down lined with a hood and it didn’t cost much at all. I found it in a discount store in Colorado and immediately declared it my camping jacket. Retail $300 … on sale $32. Enough said?? Also, how about the guy in the first photo with the Goldilocks Santa Hat?

Charlie Brown Campout 2022
The guys … Bryan, John, Daryl, CB, Renie. Showing up later … DJ and Don.

Above is a typical afternoon routine … tents erected, fire started, a little relaxation… happy hour not too far behind. Below, one can see what “roughing it” means to us … Renie preparing our main dish for the evening … pork tenderloin over an open charcoal and wood fire. WOW!! I can attest, his secret marinade made this meal as good or better than any 5 star restaurant!! BTW … Renie and his wife just returned from 9 months in France. Thus, “laissez les bon temps rouler”… “let the good times roll”

Renie
Dinner time

It was another unique and special weekend with friends and family. The older I get, the more I appreciate the freedoms and the blessings of living in the United States. In particular, I appreciate how so many before us have seen the value in preserving National Parks, National Monuments and State Parks, especially those here in Arkansas, The Natural State. We are truly blessed!!

Because Charlie Brown Christmas Campout has become a tradition, I am including a few photo memories from Christmases Past !!

JD/CB

UNTIL NEXT YEAR … MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR !!! ALSO, SAY A PRAYER FOR OUR LEADERS REGARDLESS OF YOUR PREFERENCE … AND… PRAY FOR UKRAINE !!!

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