On Groundhog eve

It is the eve of groundhog day . . . it appears that (in California) tomorrow will be sunny, which will be nice to experience but which will cause any groundhogs to see their shadows, giving us 6 more weeks of winter. That is not a pleasant thought (and even less so for those of you in the east).

We returned from our tour of Northern California and Oregon and had a marvelous time! The weather was perfect (no snow or rain, until the last day, coming home from Sacramento). We met up with family and friends throughout the entire trip. My programs in Napa, CA and Medford, OR both went well, as did our experience at the folk festival in Florence, OR. We had a great visit with old friend Tom Paxton and enjoyed some marvelous music.

Now back in Southern Calif., we are preparing for my annual gathering of friends from all over the world (furthest traveler this year: from Guam) to view videos, eat, visit and tell stories, and do some singing. This occurs every year at about groundhog day, but won't happen until the weekend of Feb 6th. I have also been busy writing our annual groundhog letter (akin to most people's Christmas or holiday letter, telling what has happened with the family over the past year). To read this letter, go to Groundhog Letter.

5 days and counting

Hard to believe: we are only 5 days from Christmas. It is only 3 pm here on the West Coast on the Sat. before Christmas and it has been a busy day. No last minute Christmas shopping for us, no. I do my Christmas shopping throughout the year (most on the day after Christmas of the previous year) so everything is wrapped and ready, as far as that goes. This year daughter Sandi & family are coming out from Atlanta,GA, towing a 5th wheel loaded with Sandi, hubby, and 4 kids, ages 9 to 21. So it is a packed truck that is heading west! We are so excited to be able to share this holiday with them and have plenty of "camping" space for their rig on our property. They plan to arrive on Tues. I already received a text message that they are well on their way.

Tonight is the annual holiday meeting of the Riverside Folk Song Society, so we are hosting it here for the 2nd year in a row. I enjoy it, as I don't have a long drive home ahead of me and it inspires me to get the house cleaned and decorated. We even cooked a turkey yesterday (for Sandi, et al. on Christmas) and today we have a huge vat of turkey soup cooking for tonight's gathering. It smells wonderful. And, another good thing, I won't have to deal with turkey carcass after dinner on the 25th.

So we are ready for the holidays in the Hibben household. Hope you are, too.