Xmas in Texas

My last Christmas away from friends and family was back in 1989 when I was living and working at the Kay-Bee toy store in El Centro. El Centro had just one book store, and that was second hand only. There was no Amazon.com or even an Internet back then (insert your own Al Gore joke here). The two main choices were text books from the community college, or books sold at VONS... bleak. As I recall, I got two days off between Thanksgiving and Christmas that year. What an amazingly depressing Christmas that was. I was reminded of that when I saw on the news that Kay-Bee is bankrupt. I tried to tell them it was a mistake to fire me, but they wouldn't listen.
This picture is the big tree at Dallas' Galleria Mall. Rumor is that it's the biggest indoor tree in the country... or the state... probably the country. It's the biggest in the mall for sure. Made sure to stop by "Galleria Drugs" to see if the drugs were displayed aesthetically. It sounds funny when you say it... like Gallery of drugs. You get it.
Dallas is a much better place to live than El Centro. Really nice sunny day today. I stepped outside at lunch; lured by the cloudless sky and beautiful weather, but HOLY CRUD!! It was 40 degrees outside with a 30 mph wind to make sure you noticed. Maybe I'll just stay inside till spring.