Wishing you the best Holiday Season and Happy Healthy New Year

First off, I want to take this time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy Prosperous New Year! Hope your holiday season is going well and all your dreams come true. Thank you for your views, shares and likes. Things have been crazy busy this time of year as always. Location and Studio portrait work, fine art gallery sales and personal craziness.

It is not very often that I share personal information but here you go…

As many of you know… I am not a writer just a photographer, as a matter of fact my writing sucks with typos and everything else that go along with it, I know and admit it. I try my best to catch everything but with such a busy schedule and shooting a lot of new images, I miss things and sometimes catch them later. This is due to an aging mind and skipping English class too many times. Please accept my apologies! It is always nice when you have an editor and someone writing for you. Miss those days. Happens every now and then. So you writers out there that are not photographers, let’s team up, bigger projects like books and digital content.

Sorry for the lack of postings the last couple weeks, it has been pretty crazy around here. First, we did our annual Thanksgiving road trip to spend the holiday with my mom in Scottsdale Arizona. She is 83 going on 84 and you really have to enjoy every moment as things can change very quickly.

Then after we got back to Colorado our 15 year old cat went down hill fast and died. Let me tell you a little bit about this cat. We had a love / hate relationship. After many many years, we came to an agreement, her place was in the garage. The reason for this was not to be mean, but because she started peeing and pooping in the house. She stopped using her litter box and started going on paper. She became the dog we never had. I would even open the garage door everyday for her, just a crack, so she could get out to the driveway and sun herself. One of the things she loved most.

She will me missed! R.I.P Mel Mel….

One thing about the holidays, it’s always been a very special time of year for me, you see… my Birthday is one week before on the17th my last post. Some people think that would be bad, but for me it has always been good and fun. Thanks to a loving family and parents that made it so. It has always been my kick off to the Holiday Season. Turns out, a lot of my good friends here in Colorado have birthdays around the same time, makes it even more fun and interesting.

This year was a birthday right out of the Movie the Big Chill. I attending a funeral of a friend, of Gary Kugel, the original owner of the Gondolier Italian Restaurant in Boulder Colorado. Originally from Oklahoma he moved to Longmont at a young age, his family were very successful wheat farmers. They also started the organization “The Flying Farmers”, and the airport here in Longmont. I worked at the Gondolier as a waiter, ( The first place a full blooded Italian goes to look for work ) started in 1979-85, puts me in my early 20’s. They were the best years of my life. Our crew was incredible and we were like a family. Thanksgivings were incredible, everyone was into wine so, we would have a nice-a tie party, nice-a shoe party, nice-a hat party… well always a good time. Friends when you really needed friends.

The next day there was a reception at the new restaurant, Nelson… Gary’s oldest son owns and runs the Gondolier now. An amazing job he is doing to keep this legacy of a restaurant going after 53 years. If you are ever visiting Boulder, I highly recommend it. Gondolier Italian Restaurant “Where Going Out Feels Like Coming Home”. Check it out.

As I was pulling into the parking lot “Sympathy For the Devil” was playing on KBCO radio. Just like in the movie the BIG Chill. It was an amazing day seeing people I have not seen in over 25 years. Incredible stories, some that I have heard… some that I have not.

It made for an interesting birthday. As the day proceeded on I got many facebook and twitter well wishes. A couple good friends show up at the door with a birthday cake and sang happy birthday to me, plus the phone calls from long time friends and family that meant so much. A great day and experience.

My older sister Kathy, always had a BIG Christmas eve party ( Scottsdale Arizona), and then after time, I took it over. This is when we lived in Arizona. She passed away suddenly Dec 15th, three years ago, two days before my birthday. This was always a very special time of year for her and she made it special for many others with family traditions of cooking, decorating and gifts. I celebrate her this time of year instead of bumming out.

Now it is just the three of us at Christmas ( wife , son and me) and it is not the same. But it is all good. Being in Colorado always makes for a great Christmas. If we do not get a white Christmas this year… still a chance…you can drive up the canyon and be in snow in 20 mins.

For us, it’s about hanging out at home with good wine, food and Christmas movies. Last night was honey Jack Daniels and hot roasted chestnuts. Tonight, Christmas eve, quiet night at home drinking great red wine and cooking prime rib roast, Alaskan King Crab Legs, steamed carrots, mash potatoes with gravy and home made cookies. And for starters, after I am done with this post, the fire gets started in the wood burner, Christmas music turned on, the the oven rolling with our Italian tradition of hot baked peperoni/ salami cheese bread. Then breaded eggplant. Next the Prime rib into the oven to slow roast and the rest will follow.

Tomorrow we are doing a repeat of Thanksgiving that turned out amazing. We have had a bird in the freezer that needs to be cooked… so… sausage bread stuffing, sweet potatoes with pineapples, mash potatoes and gravy, roasted brussel sprouts with a huge diet starting after this is all over!