Samoeng loop- Queen Sirikit Botanical Gardens

January 21, 2017

What week in Chiang Mai would be complete without a road trip out to the jungle and an opportunity to sing to honor the Late King of Thailand.  We travelled around the Samoeng Loop with a wonderful stop at the Queen Sirikit Botanical Gardens.  We finished the week singing at a “We Love the King” event that I will share in another post.

Samoeng loop

The Samoeng loop is a 100 km road trip that starts in Chiang Mai, then heads north towards the little town of Mae Sa.  The loop turns to the west into the mountains and loops through the Samoeng forest which is also fertile agricultural land.  At the town of Samoeng it turns back to the east and ends up back in Chiang Mai.  It’s the things to see and do along the way that turned a “short” drive into a full day.  We rented a car for the day and upgraded to a mid size Suzuki to easily take 3 of us for the trip.  Our new friend Jeanne (Leaving Eastern North Carolina) had taken a quick trip through this area and wanted to come along to see the Botanical Garden

Mae Sa Waterfall

We headed about 7:30 on a Monday morning and left Chiang Mai easily as most of the traffic was heading into the city.  We turned off the highway at Mae Sa and arrived at the waterfall around 8:15 am.  The man at the ticket booth didn’t have enough change for our entrance fee so he said just pay when we came out.  He had no change because we were the only people in the whole park!  There are 10 waterfalls along the Sa, (Mae is the word for river) that drains the mountain area and eventually flows into Mae Ping that flows through Chiang Mai.  If it had been later in the day and hot, we could have swum at level 5.  It was a large pool and had a nice sandy bottom.  Thank you to Theblondtravels.com for the parking suggestion.

The park was quite well-developed.  There were lots of picnic tables and cement paths.  A wooden bridge allowed you to cross over the water to explore both sides with a large gazebo along waterfall 6.  It was not what you would call accessible though because there were many large steps that would not accommodate strollers or wheelchairs, or even walkers.  We heard lots of birds and found a couple of large spiders in their webs.

The quietness after the energy of the city was a much appreciated change of pace.  It was cool and shady with just the sound of the water pouring over the falls.  We only saw the first 6 waterfalls as we wanted to stop at a few other places along the route.  There was another car entering the park as we left but we were able to put together our 330 baht fee ($13.00 for 3 of us) so we didn’t need change.

Mae Sa Waterfall
Peter and Jeanne
Spider hard at work
More spiders

Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden

We carried on down the twisty roads past several elephant camps and tourist resorts, snake farms, insect displays and an orchid farm.  The road itself was pretty quiet but the most tour vans were at the zip line place.  I have ridden a zip line once as part of a tour in Mexico, but I wouldn’t spend a day in Thailand doing that when there is so many other things to explore.  Each traveller has their own goals though.

Our destination was the Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden where it cost another 300 baht for the 3 of us as farangs, which was well worth it.  Jeanne is over 60 so she was free.  It was an unexpected treasure as it is a very large park with several sections to visit. The Botanical Garden opened in 1992 to protect and preserve natural Thai plants and named after Her Majesty the Queen Sirikit in 1994.   I copied from the website the purpose of the Gardens.

The aim of QSBG and its satellite gardens are:

  • to gather fundamental knowledge of Thai plants
  • to conserve their genetic diversity, and
  • to strengthen studies and research on Thai flora.

Canopy Walk and Greenhouses

We spent about 2 hours there but could easily have taken all day if I had been able to read every plant label as well as visit the Natural History Museum.   We did spend time on the Canopy Walk.  It is a walkway that’s built above the top of the trees for about 400 m through the forest and is an opportunity to look down on the trees and butterflies from above to get a sense of the canopy ecosystem.  There were a few sections with glass floors and walls and the rest was metal mesh.  It also provided for wonderful views of the mountains in the distance.

Our next stop were the greenhouses where I was very impressed by my restraint in not spending all day photographing every interesting plant.  I really enjoyed the carnivorous plants building where there were so many pitcher plants.  The orchid building had such vivid colors and the jungle plants were impressive.  Many had labels to help identify those we actually see growing here.  There were also buildings of arid plants and medicinal herbs with all the displays so tastefully done.  It surprises me when we find such world-class facilities in a developing country.

Canopy walk
Orchid house
Orchids grow wild here.
Water lilies
Pitcher plant
Sun through the mist
Outdoor grounds

Finding Lunch

It was about 11:30 when we left.  Instead of continuing on the main loop, we decided to extend our trip by heading north after the gardens.  The road was slightly narrower but paved and in good condition. There were less resorts and more agriculture. We saw coffee and tea growing as well a hydroponic lettuce growing without a greenhouse.  Terraced fields were on every hillside filled with a large variety of vegetables and some corn.  We didn’t see much rice growing as we moved higher up into the hills.

The first place we tried for lunch had a killer view, but was not open. It had tables and hot sauce bottles but when we found someone who knew a little English, it seemed there was no coffee or food.

It was located next to a campground.  We saw several other places with small dome tents set up on a flat space as well as small raised platforms and small camping cabins.  The trouble with car trips is the difficulty in snapping everything that captures your attention like you can when you are walking.

Lunch with a View

We drove on about 5 more minutes and found more views in a little eating place on the side of the road.  The food was delicious, the people were kind and the menu descriptions were in English and Thai.  They served the soup from the kitchen where we were, but the other meals were prepared in a bigger building about 200 m away and carried over to us.

Jeanne had pork and noodle soup where you had a choice of 6 different kinds of noodles.  I had pork and shittake mushrooms with thai basil served with rice.  Peter had fried rice with chicken.  We shared spring rolls and 2 large beer (620 ml).  Everything was delicious and we paid 300 baht which is less than $12.

Most Thai restaurants have a container of condiments on the table.  There is sugar for sweet, chili infused vinegar for sour, fish sauce for salty and chili powder or flakes for spicy.  This place had chili that was almost like a chipotle with a nice smokiness to it. You are given a fork and spoon but almost never a knife.  You use the fork to push the food onto the spoon so I spill so much less on myself here.  Chopsticks are only used for noodle dishes like Khao Soi, noodle soup, or Pad Thai.

Our $12 lunch for 3
Lunch views
Thai countryside

Views on the way home

It was a direct ride home back through Sareong.  The amount of food grown here in small-scale farming is impressive especially as farmers do most of the work by hand without machinery.  Farm houses are small and on stilts for the rainy season.  We saw some small pickups for hauling produce but the roads were very quiet on this day.

We took advantage of the rental car to pick up a few groceries on our way home. Since our comfy plastic lawn chair needed replacing, it was much easier to bring it back in a car than a songtaew.

The sing for the king event was an amazing honour and will be the topic of a post of its own.

 

 

Travel Documents for Thailand-Lots of Options

January 15, 2017

Wat Chedi Lueng, Chiang Mai

Travel Document Requirements

This post is not so much of a story as a lesson on how to obtain travel documents. My examples are specifically for Thailand, although you would probably have to follow most of the same steps to travel to another country for an extended time.  I’ve included a few pictures for those of you who are not needing all this information at this time.

Ebb and flow of traffic in Chiang Mai

For those of us who travel to the United States, Mexico or even Europe, a passport is all you need to enter the country as a tourist, even if you are planning to stay for an extended time.  If you plan to stay as a student or to work in another country, then you are no longer a tourist and will usually need some kind of visa.  Our children had student visas when they attended university in Pennsylvania and Mississippi.  Melissa has a special kind of work visa now to enable her to stay in California to teach, but only at the school that hired her.  Owen married an American so he has a “green card”. This is a visa that allows him to live in and work at any job in the United States.

The purpose of the visa is a way to keep track of who is visiting and to ensure that tourists are not taking jobs away from the residents. Immigration also wants to make sure that visitors have enough money or a ticket to leave the country. Hotels have to register our passport/visa number with the police who come by several times a week to check on the location of the tourists. Although the economy here is dependent on traveller’s dollars, they also don’t want their culture disappearing by being overrun by outsiders.  Northern Thailand was never captured and they don’t want to start now.

Visa Waiver Stamp

If we were visiting Thailand for less than a month, we would only need our passport and an ongoing ticket showing that we were not going to remain in the country for more than 30 days.  We would receive a visa waiver stamp.  Everyone entering Thailand also completes an arrival/departure card.  The departure card is stapled into your passport until you leave so they can check that you haven’t over stayed. The same is true for citizens of 51 other countries.  Some countries can stay 15 days or 90 days and others need a visa to enter for any length of time.

For people staying longer than 30 days as a tourist, there are options.  I will share what I have learned, but the rules are changing quite frequently and I am definitely not an immigration lawyer.  I will put some links to websites in the blog that I used for information.  Blogs are useful on the “how to” part of the paperwork, as long as they are relatively current.  We have also gained information from talking with other people who have visas that are different from ours.

Single Entry Visa

Most visas are applied for from your country of residence.  You can either visit a consulate office in person, or send your documents and forms to a consulate and have them sent back to you with your visa.  Fortunately for us there is a Royal Thai Consulate in Edmonton, Alberta.  It has limited hours, but was able to process our visa the same day.  We needed our passport to have at least 6 months before expiration.  There also have to be enough blank pages remaining for the visa and the stamps when you arrive.  The new Canadian 10 year passport made that part easy. We needed to complete an application form found on-line and provide 2 pictures that are 4X6 cm. This is different from Canadian passport pictures (5X7 cm).  You also have to pay cash for the fee.

We chose a single entry visa.  This means that we entered Thailand and stayed as a tourist for 60 days.  At the end of that time, we visited the immigration office in Chiang Mai and extended it for 30 more days.  It cost us $40 CAD for the visa and about $70 to extend it.  If we had left Thailand before the 60 days were up, we could have paid for a re-entry permit at the immigration office, or at the airport the day of the flight.  They cost about $40 and are necessary if you will still be covered by your original visa days when you return.   I only just found this existed while doing some research for this post. The answer was on a blog, not an official government page.

How it works for us

This visa works just fine for us as we want to get to know Thailand first anyways. Once our 90 days are up, then we can leave the country and come back in as new tourists with the 30 day visa waiver stamp.  It can also be extended for 30 days and $70 if needed.  We are travelling to Laos on January 22 for 5 days.  We leave for Cambodia on February 16 before the 30 days are up.  After a trip to Krabi in the south with Melissa in March, we will travel to Nepal for 10 days before returning to Chiang Mai to fly home on April 1.  This will ensure that we are not in Thailand more than 30 days at a time after our visa runs out.  The number of times you can come and go is officially unlimited. Those who are in and out the country more often are likely to be scrutinized more carefully at immigration and can be denied entry.  They really want you to apply for a proper visa from outside the country.

Visas for other countries nearby

The countries that we are visiting require visas but these are purchased at the border/airport when you arrive.  They also require forms, cash and a different size picture.  We paid about $15 each at home for the wrong size pictures.  A local photo place here did 6 pictures each for about $4 and they are correct.  Laos charges $35 USD for Americans and $42USD for Canadians.  They also expect you to pay in USD. The Thai bhat price converts to a much higher amount. It can be very confusing, even with the advantage of Internet searches.

Multi Entry Visa

Canadians, and many others can also enter Thailand on a multi-entry visa.  It costs $200 and requires a copy of your bank statement to show that you can afford to stay in the country for up to 6 months. ($7500 in the bank for 6 months prior to applying) This visa allows you to come and go from the country without a re-entry permit.  When re-entering the country it gives you 60 more days to remain in Thailand, instead of the 30 days for the single entry.  It can also be extended at the end for another 30 days at the immigration office.

I have learned most of this from people who have this type of visa. It has been in effect for about a year yet it was difficult to find anything official on this visa, except that it exists and how much it costs.   Blogs and in person seem to be the best way to understand how these work.  I think it is a better choice for those that want to use Thailand as a home base and travel to other countries throughout their visit here.

Retirement Visa

People who choose to live her full-time or longer than 6 months can apply for a retirement visa.  You have to be 50 years old, have a pension and/or savings in the bank, a medical check, a criminal record check, and a lease agreement.  This visa also requires you to check in with immigration every 90 days.  It is a more complicated process as you need re-entry permits each time you leave the country and have lots of paperwork to complete in the beginning.  There are some changes that may require you to have Thai health insurance which you can only obtain if you are under the age of 70.  Many retirees here have international health coverage or their own emergency account.  The advantage, though, once you have this visa is that you can just apply to have it renewed each year.  I have met many people who are on this visa, but I don’t know as much about it yet.

I was intending to share our experience with getting our extension at the Immigration office in Chiang Mai, but I didn’t realize how much I had learned about visas.  That discussion will continue in another post.

Student monks

Elephant Parade

There are no exciting pictures for this topic, but being in Thailand wouldn’t be possible without a visa so I will share a few of my favorites.  I have also added some pictures from the Parade of Elephants art exhibit in the city.  It raises awareness for elephant care after a young elephant stepped on a land mine and received a prosthetic leg.  These can be found in the menu under travel.

Wat Muen San-made of silver

 

 

New Year’s in Chiang Mai-Lanterns and Champagne

January 6, 2017

New Year’s in Chiang Mai was a great experience.  Now the celebrations are over and many of the local businesses that closed for the New Year’s Festival are open again. They don’t close much over Christmas, but many closed from Dec. 30-Jan 5.

New Year’s Festival

We found out about the closures when we went to the Air Asia office to pay for our flight home from Cambodia in Feb.  We could pay cash, but if we wanted to use our credit card, then that wasn’t available from the 30th to the 3rd.  The office was open though. This seems so different to us who can use our cards 24/7, anywhere we want.  We could have booked online with our card, but there was a fee of almost $25 to use it. In the office, there is no fee, but it’s not always available.  I’m so glad we are not trying to do these bookings during the old work week with a few minutes here and there for errands.  We ended up having a good walk to the office then found a wonderful jungle restaurant for dinner that night.

Supper at the Residence

Dr. Smith owns Smith Suites, the newer building where we live, and Smith Residence, the older hotel a block from here. He invited all the guests from both buildings to a dinner in the lobby of the Residence.  It is the same place we had the pot luck at Christmas.  The entire meal was provided by Dr. Smith this time and included spicy noodles, potato salad, a delicious meat stew that tasted like home and strips of meat on a stick cooked over the grill outside.  It was a chance to meet some new people.  There was even some dancing after dinner.

Peter and I with an English couple.

Group picture on the steps. Dr. Smith is in the front right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left about 8:30 and walked into the old city.  The wats held merit making ceremonies (a Buddhist belief in earning merit for this or the next life) and candles were lit in tribute to the late King Bhumibol Aduyladej and to the new King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun.  We saw the lights on the outside of the temples and many people sitting under the lights in the courtyard were quiet and reflective.

3 Kings Monument

The statues of 3 long ago kings are in a large open space in the center of the old city of Chiang Mai.  Many special events are held in this area.  This space is next to the Sunday Walking Market.  Every week, several blocks south and east of the 3 Kings close to traffic and a market takes place.  There are many crafts available, as well as food items and is usually so crowded you can hardly make your way down the street. Even though it was a Saturday, the road closed for the lantern lighting and so a market appeared.

Google Maps timeline 3.5 km

We were able to make our way to the monument and heard a wonderful orchestra from a university from Bangkok.  They had a small choir with them and accompanied several soloists singing traditional Thai songs.  I really enjoyed it.  It was filmed and shared on several large screens, although there weren’t as many people there as I expected.

Lantern release

We could see lanterns being released into the sky at Tha Phae Gate, which is several blocks east of where we were…through the market.  It took us quite a long time to make our way there.  We would just find a clear spot to take a few quick steps and a busker would appear in the middle of the crowd and everyone would have to try to pass them. Some of the buskers were blind or disabled in some way and just trying to earn a living.  As people here drive on the left, it is hard in a crowd to know if you should move to the left or naturally to the right to pass those coming towards you.  It all depends on what country the opposing person has come from.

We saw lanterns being released in November at Loy Krathong.  It was much busier for New Year’s.  There were less locations for this event than in November so everyone was crowded into the gathering area around the gate over the moat.  It was also cooler at this time of year, so the lanterns rose more quickly and were carried away by the wind.  It was serene and exciting at the same time.

Even though the gate area was packed with people, the crowds were not rowdy or drunk.  The police had a small presence but we didn’t see anyone causing problems.  People were sharing lighters and helping hold the lanterns as they filled with warm air.

Crowds…
Crowds…

Midnight

We arrived back to our apartment around 11:30.  We took our bottle of champagne downstairs along with some disposable plastic wine glasses that we found in the market in Chinatown.  At midnight we popped the cork and shared a glass with the night security man, Mr. Dang.  There were a few fireworks so we went up to the 7th floor landing for the best view of the city.  We found 3 other people with the same idea so we shared champagne with them as well. The views were impressive as we could see the midnight lanterns being released from a couple of km away. The fireworks are usually a much bigger event at New Year’s but were not appropriate because of the mourning period for the King.

View to Tha Phae Gate

View down our soi.

New Year’s Day

New Year’s Day was a rainy day, which is very unusual in January in Chiang Mai.  It was only 23 degrees which is the coldest day we have had so far.  I put a sweater on when I was outside, but the Thais wear light down coats.  It seems hard to believe that you can really adapt that much to the heat so that 30 seems normal and 20 seems really cold.  The rain meant we had to have mimosas in the lobby.  There were 12 of us from the building who shared guava juice and champagne to toast the new year.

Happy New Year to everyone and may you have an opportunity to travel and experience life in a new place in 2017.

Christmas in Thailand…our first on our own

December 29, 2016

 

I’ve shared a few pictures on Facebook of some of our Christmas activities, but I wanted to share more of my thoughts on Christmas in Thailand.  It is the first Christmas without the crazy excitement of school and also the first Christmas without at least one of our kids home for the holidays.  Add to that the fact that we are far from winter in a tropical country and it complicates the discussion even more.  This is more a reflection on all the changes that retirement and independent grown up children bring to your life, than just a travel blog post.

Christmas traditions

I have enjoyed the opportunity of being away from home and reflecting on what is really important about those things I have done every year to celebrate the Christmas season.  What are the things I do that are just because I always did them, or my mother did them, or my grandmother did them and what are the things that if I don’t make them happen, Christmas won’t feel like it happened?

Celebrating a Christian holiday in a Buddhist country meant we had to look a little more carefully for what we wanted.  It also reminded us to question the value of our traditions.  Spending time this season with some Australians was another reminder that the North American version of this holiday is not what everyone in the world is used to.  Having Christmas in the middle of summer every year puts a different twist on to things.

What we did and didn’t do.

Gifts

Gifts were not a very big part of our Christmas this year.  Living small has put us off of stuff.  We bought a subscription to Google Play Music to have access to any music we want, especially while we are away.  We also bought some toys for the kids who are here every day while their parents work at the building.

I made some photo cards for the people we’ve met and spend time with.  Having my external drive along with all my pictures made that pretty easy.  Pete had a Thai woman in the building write out the names of the staff in Thai and he made up cards with a message and their names in Thai.  We found some chocolates at the store and a couple of bottles of Quebec maple syrup that we gave away.

Choir

Singing in a choir in December has been part of our lives since we moved to Rocky Mountain House.  We sang with Northern Crossing for about 20 years and shared the gift of music with the community.   I directed the Northern Crossing Children’s Choir for 11 years and accompanied them for another year.  We had several performances in the community and at the Festival of Trees in Red Deer.  That event always got me inspired to get a tree up and decorated.

I had a choir at the school for 29 years and we had performances at school. For the last 8 years Peter and I have sung with Soliloquy in Red Deer and had concerts of winter and Christmas music in formal and less formal settings.  In addition, we have sung in the church choir for many years and I have directed this wonderful group of musicians for a long time as well. Christmas without music at church would be unheard of in our life.

Lannacapella

So what we did do was join a choir here in Chiang Mai, called Lannacapella.  This group of about 15 is composed of singers from Japan, England, Australia, United States and now Canada.  We didn’t know they existed until the end of November so we had 2 weeks to prepare for the first performances at the local Anglican church as part of their lessons and carols services.  The director was helping with accompanying on the church organ, an opportunity that is not available at most of their venues, hence the a cappella emphasis.  I offered to help conduct at rehearsal.  Before I knew it I was the conductor of the group.  Peter is a big help to the bass section.  They were as happy to have us appear, as we were to find them. One of the members picks us up a couple of km walk from here and takes us to all the rehearsals and performances.  Pete is off golfing today with one of the men.  Another woman shared her home for a rehearsal.

Choir Performances

We had another chance to sing at a beautiful resort, the Ratilanna Riverside Resort for a group in town called the Swiss Lanna Society.  We did 6 carols-3 on our own and 3 as singalongs.  Silent Night was sung first in English, then in German and then in authentic Japanese with our native speakers doing the words and the choir humming along.  The audience joined in with us as we all sang the first verse again. Pete played guitar with us on that one.  It sounded really nice.

On Christmas Eve we had lunch at the Le Meridien Hotel for of the Ex-Pats club Christmas meeting.  The meal was fantastic and could have been served any place in the world.   The Christmas pudding and Pecan Pie were highlights but the Jamaican Fish in curry and the leg of lamb were pretty spectacular too.

There was a drama group that did 2 reader’s theatre.  One was a story of how John Pierpont was such a failure…except for his penning of Jingle Bells.  The second one was the story of the Germans and Allied Soldiers that held the Silent Night truce during the war.  They were very believable in their rendition.

Our choir sang in between their performances and were very well received.  We did the same program as the night before, but we had more people singing along.  It was fun to be part of the event in such a glamorous location.

Christmas Eve

We walked home from the concert with my camera backpack and Pete carrying his guitar on his back.  We went into a grocery store on the way home and bought a freshly cooked deli chicken for our Christmas dinner.  They are all pre-cut into sections and then put back together to look like a chicken.  We bought some croissants for Christmas morning but unfortunately they ended up in the bag with the hot chicken and were not so recognizable by the time we walked home a couple of km.

The sister hotel to this one held an open house in the evening.  They provided some food but people brought pot luck items too.  There was kiwi fruit arranged like a tree, decorated with strawberries.  Someone found a roasted, smoked ham from a vendor.  Others brought pizza or cake.  The bakeries here do fantastic pastries.  We took a plate of mixed raw vegetables and a dip I made from Greek yogurt and Montreal Steak spice.  It was all I had but it was pretty good.

They had a tree set up and you could buy wine or beer.  Many of the staff who work here  came to the party as well.  It was a nice gathering with many of the people we’ve met since we arrived.

We wanted to go to church in the evening, but the services weren’t until 11 pm and were too far away to walk.  It would have been very difficult to get a ride back home at that time so we decided we would have to put that on the “didn’t do” list.

Christmas Morning

I woke up early to catch up on the pictures and conversations from my family in the western world.  They shared their stories from Christmas Eve.  Peter and I had coffee and mandarin oranges together in the room.

We met with some neighbors to have our traditional mimosas out under the pergola.  Sparkling wine with mango and passion fruit juice is special in any country.  Pete and I finished our tradition with the squashed croissants with butter and jam.

We ordered an uber (which is even cheaper than a songtaew, especially for 2-3 people) and went to church Christmas morning.  Jeanne from North Carolina came along with us.  It was a community church in English, and the message and last carol were great.  It was lucky we were early enough for that much, since I had the wrong start time in my head.  The service started at 10, not 11 as I thought.  Oops!

Christmas Day

After church we came back to the apartment.  Pete had a nap and I spent the afternoon riding the bike in the gym and sitting by the pool.  It was so quiet and peaceful.

I came back and put our dinner together.  We heated up the chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots/cauliflower/broccoli, and peas.  I found a box of stovetop stuffing in a store here too so the meal was delicious. Instead of cranberry sauce I had Thai chili meat sauce for my chicken, but that was still good.  A couple of chocolates and a glass of red wine in a coffee mug finished off the meal.

“Not another picture. I want to eat.”

The evening was spent taking with family at home now that it was Christmas there.  We talked with Tim, Suzan and Joyce in Calgary on Facebook messenger video.  We connected with Owen and Megan in Houston on What’s App.  Melissa was off grid in Peru, but talked with us on What’s App video before she left.  My Mom was too late getting up for us to stay awake any longer, but we talked with her on Google Hangouts on Boxing Day morning, which was Christmas night in Canmore.  The technology makes staying in touch with family anywhere in the world so much easier.  I missed the kids. Pete missed them even more.  If we had been at home, we probably would have been alone unless we went south to spend it with Owen and Megan.  The annual Boxing Day at Tim’s might have made up for some of that feeling of being away from family.

We shared pictures on What’s App and Facebook so people knew what we were doing as well.  It wasn’t that long ago the only way we communicated with family was with long distance telephone.  It was much better to talk on video if we couldn’t be in the same room, or even the same continent.

Christmas Did and Didn’ts

Did

  • sing in a choir
  • spend time with people
  • eat traditional favorite foods
  • go to church
  • buy gifts for kids
  • give cards to friends
  • spend time reading Facebook posts to keep up with family and friends
  • hang out at the pool
  • wear our flip flops all day

Didn’t

  • feel stressed
  • spend hours shopping
  • overeat cookies and chocolate
  • put up a tree or decorate
  • sit by the fire enjoying the warmth against a cold and snowy night
  • go out into the forest and get a tree
  • sing in the Soliloquy Choir at Christmas celebrations
  • share boxing day adventure stories
  • set ski trails at the golf course

It was an interesting Christmas Season.  I’ll see how I feel about it next year with time to ponder between now and then.