Christmas Day: People of the Park

Dec. 25,
   We talked with the Gordon Family this morning and it was great fun to hear Sophie list off all of her presents.  Alexander was especially happy with his LEGO Boat that really floats.  They were having a snow storm which looked absolutely magical in the photos.  Truly a white Christmas in Maine. I loved watching Alexander ice-skate on their backyard pond that Gabe had cleared off for them
   I do miss being with them during the winter season.  It was always a special time for us to celebrate Christmas and the winter season at Sunday River.  I loved being out on the slopes early Christmas morning to ski first tracks.  There was a time when the Gordon’s, Cohens and Al and Maggie all skied together every weekend.  That was a magical time for us, watching our kids grow up skiing in a pack, shredding the Black Diamond trails.
  This year we are in Camp Verde, AZ and will be here until Dec. 30.  We will then move to an RV park a little farther north and closer to Sedona.  We have a time-share exchange that we will use in Sedona from January 6-13.  So we will be in Arizona for another couple of weeks.  Arizona is a beautiful state and we are happy to be here for awhile. Today is a warm 60 degrees and full sunshine. The dry air is pleasant but our skin is drying out.  Even Jack is itchy!
   This afternoon the RV park hosted a pot-luck and Yankee swap for the residents.  It started at 1:00 and finished around 3:00. There was an incredible variety of foods that were prepared in the very large RV’s that are here. Since I do not have an oven, we bought a cheese cake from the local grocery store as our contribution.
   Having participated in many Saturday night suppers and pot-lucks at the island, I was interested to see how this one compared.  It was well organized.  Several of the men in blue-jeans and cowboy hats set up the tables and kept the fire pit going.  The women dressed in red Christmas sweaters set up the serving table.  I could hear  several familiar voices in this crowd.  “Please put your casseroles here.”  “Desserts over there.”    “The line is formed over there. Use both sides of the table,”  We are not that far from home!
  The people in this park are long time residents.  Some have been coming here for 10 years or more.  A California woman was  asked when she got here she replied, “In May” then added “ Twelve years ago”
    Several others are from the mid-west who come for the winters and stay here until springtime.  There is a communal feeling here among the residents.  People are polite and cordial but not particularly interested in meeting new people, namely us.  We are clearly the transient ones.  We are simply passing through.  We are also younger than many of the RVer’s here..  It would not be my choice to live in one RV park for a long time. Travel is the lure for me.  It is a way to move around and see the variety in landscapes, ancient cultures, monuments, foods and not be confined to a time table. It is a way to see things we want to see in slow motion.  There  is no rush in our travel plans.  It is relaxing and purposeful.
  Christmas is a special time and I do miss our family very much.  It was a very different day having a pot-luck in an RV park in Arizona but all in all our day was pleasant.