There were rainbows over San Diego and snow fell on the Laguna Mountains, but the Anza-Borrego desert night sky was filled with stars the night before Bert and Janie drove down from their winter camping spot at Pegleg Smith Monument to visit us at Agua Caliente County Park in Southern California.  Writer/photographer/Airstreamer Bert Gildart and his wife Janie are from Montana and have produced a number of guide and nature books such as Bighorn Sheep: Mountain Monarchs. His beautiful articles are seen in most issues of Airstream Life magazine.  Our last hike together was New Year’s Day 2010 for an evening photo shoot of Marshal South’s home, Yaquitepec, on Ghost Mountain.

The nights were chilly but our Safari Airstream trailer was warm and cozy inside and festively decorated for the holidays.  Before we left San Diego, Larry had made a Christmas tree (in the style of ones seen in Pennsylvanian German settlements in 1747) for Bert and Janie using materials from our garden, including Juniper, Rose hips, and Bromeliad bloom spikes.

It was a glorious sunny morning when Bert and Janie arrived with good cheer, smiles, and a large bottle of California Chardonnay wine.

We happily chatted as Larry served hot cider, homemade panettone and carrot-raisin oatmeal cookies.  This is Bert and Janie’s first time here, so I had fun introducing them to the park, the Marshal South connection and its beautiful hiking trails.  They joined me on a late morning hike on Moonlight Canyon Trail, where I photographed Peninsular Bighorn sheep last January.  A third of the way into the hike, Bert pointed up and smiled.

We spent the next 30 minutes at this spot photographing 5 Bighorn sheep that were grazing on the nearby ridge.

Bert was in his element. See his photo of the above scene in his posting, “Christmas at Bill & Larry’s.”

Seeing these mountain monarchs this close is like finding gold.  Perhaps Janie helped our fortune by recently adding 10 rocks to the Pegleg Smith Monument, honoring the legend of Pegleg Smith’s lost gold.  Bert turned to me with an expression of true joy.

After a two-hour hike, we returned to camp and enjoyed Larry’s homemade Cajun pork stew while conversing over myriad subjects of interest.  At a certain point, Bert got up to stretch and whispered to me with a boyish smile, “Do you think we could go back out on that trail… I could bring my bigger lenses and strobe light equipment and photograph the California Fuchsia we saw… and maybe the Bighorn sheep might still be there!”  So Bert and I took off like a couple of school kids on vacation.  I saw and photographed more of Bert’s photographic artistry, which will be seen in an upcoming post.  We returned just as the sun went down behind our nearby mountain ridge, quickly bringing cooler temperatures.

We thanked Bert and Janie for their good cheer, insight, company, genuine warmth and understanding… especially as we approached the shortest and darkest day of the year, winter solstice… and for helping us drive the cold winter away.

We may have been dreaming, but last week our Airstream Safari landed in fair weather in the Anza-Borrego Desert just a day after San Diego got more rain in one day than it usually does for the whole month of November, and for the next five days we enjoyed sunny days with temperatures in the 70′s and cool, clear starry nights.

Just after dinner, a beautiful moon rose over a mountain to the east of our campsite.

Our favorite campsite at Agua Caliente County Park has panoramic views.  We enjoy camping there on weekdays to avoid weekend crowds.  Although the campground was nearly empty during our latest stay, we did have an adjacent neighbor with a large fifth wheel RV.

Our neighbors enjoyed evening campfires.  Unfortunately, due to the proximity of their fire ring and the direction of the wind, smoke and sparks flew over and around our trailer, requiring the closure of all vents, windows and awnings.

We enjoyed reading, relaxing, and hiking the Moonlight Canyon Trail, while keeping on eye out for Bighorn sheep that I had photographed there last January.

Larry enjoyed reviewing and highlighting recipes in a new cookbook, The Airstreamer’s Cookbook, a collection of recipes submitted by members of the Four Corners Unit of New Mexico, of the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI).  The dishes included have been prepared in members’ Airstreams for happy hours and potlucks at Four Corners Unit Rallies.  The design, illustration and layout were done by Terry Rich and Greg Schmuker/TBRich Design.  Terry says, “This cookbook was designed, printed and produced completely 100% gratis by members of the Four Corners Unit of the WBCCI.”  This cookbook can be purchased by contacting www.fourcorners.wbcci.net.

Larry enjoys discovering and trying out new recipes, with the intention of preparing interesting and tasty dishes for our trips.  On this trip Larry prepared an “International Feast” menu, consisting of precooked entrées that included Cajun Pork Stew with Yukon Gold potatoes, Kalua Pork (Hawaiian pulled pork) tacos, Koresh Fesenjan (Persian chicken pomegranate stew), adas polow (Persian lentil-basmati rice pilaf), and Tortas ahogadas con guisado de pollo y costillas de cerdo en salsa de chille colorado (drowned Mexican sandwich filled and covered with a chicken and pork sparerib chili).

Evening meals were followed by watching a model plane enthusiast fly radio controlled planes (including a Discus Launch Glider), walking our dogs, and star gazing, followed by relaxing in the trailer as I continued reading out loud another chapter of the Harry Potter saga, this time from the 5th book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by author J. K. Rowling.

During afternoons, I continued reading Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson.  I am now halfway through this compelling 630-page biography.  I see interesting parallelisms of the Steve Jobs and Harry Potter characters as early as the first chapter, “Childhood – Abandoned and Chosen.”  According to Isaacson, one of Jobs’ personal heroes was Muppeteer Jim Henson, seen in the tone poem commercial, “Here’s to the Crazy Ones – Think Different.”  On Wednesday evening (November 16), we delighted in listening to the CBC Radio program Q, as Jian Ghomeshi chatted with Kermit the Frog, Henson’s most famous character.

Steve Jobs has been described as a creative entrepreneur, perfectionist, innovator, visionary, artist, and genius… he also was a dreamer.

Here’s to the Dreamers

We might have been crazy ones, spending a significant chunk of our retirement savings for a relatively expensive recreational vehicle, but upon seeing our custom-ordered 2007 Airstream Safari travel trailer shining in the sun as flags waved festively overhead at the dealership, I felt that ‘OH WOW’ experience.

For us, the Airstream trailer with its iconic shape, clean lines, beauty and functionality, made us feel good, and was well worth the investment.

Our decision to buy this was based on much research, and once it had been acquired, I began researching a replacement for our 9 year old PC.  For me, having a PC had been a love-hate relationship and I wanted our next computer to be enjoyable, functional, beautiful, intuitive, and relatively trouble-free.  I noticed that several people were fulltiming in their Airstream trailers (Rich L. and Rich C.) while happily blogging away on their Mac laptops.  The Mac vs PC research led me to buy an iMac and a MacBook Pro.

Needless to say, it was another ‘OH WOW’ experience and love at first sight and use, and continues to be so… the beauty of aluminum in form and function.

As I write this, I am using the MacBook Pro made by Apple. Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was its co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer.  For three hours on October 19, Apple closed all of its retail stores worldwide for “A celebration of Steve’s life.”  Earlier this week, PBS presented “Steve Jobs: One Last Thing – An inside look at the man and the major influences that helped shape his life and career.”

On October 24, 2011, Simon & Schuster released the authorized biography, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson, now the top-selling book in the country.  As I read this fascinating story, which includes his faults as well as his achievements, I found it interesting that he was influenced by some of the people that influenced me when I was in college, such as Bob Dylan (“It’s Alright Ma“), Timothy Leary (“Legend of a Mind ~ Moody Blues“, The Beatles (“Two of Us“), and Joan Baez (“Forever Young“).

Earlier this week, we celebrated Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, a day of celebrating and honoring those who have gone before us.  Larry made Pan de Muerto, a sugar-topped sweet egg bread traditionally shaped into skulls or round loaves.

On October 16, a memorial service was held for Steve Jobs at Standford University’s Memorial Church, where Steve’s biological sister, Mona Simpson, delivered a moving eulogy, and revealed his last words: ‘OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.’

Here’s To The Crazy Ones

Last Sunday we arrived at Agua Caliente as temperatures soared in the 90s, requiring air conditioning that first night, but by the next night I was wearing long johns as a rare early October storm from the Gulf of Alaska began moving into the area, bringing rain to the San Diego coast and high winds and unseasonably cool temperatures to the desert.

We came prepared to celebrate Oktoberfest.

Larry brought items prepared at home such as Jäger-Schnitzel (American version: Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup simmered with pork chops), Würzfleisch (East German chicken stew), and Kartoffelsalat (German potato salad).  We also brought leberwurst (liverwurst), bratwurst on skewers made of rosemary branches from our backyard, Beck’s Oktoberfest Lager, and German steins.  Additional items such as corn beef, corn on the cob, and pita bread provided meal flexibility depending on the weather and how we felt at the time.

By Tuesday, cool breezes made for a comfortable hike through Moonlight Canyon Trail, where I had a close encounter with Bighorn Sheep last January.  (The park rangers were impressed with my photo journal of this event made with iPhoto’s book-creation tool.)  I saw no sheep, but I was impressed with a large California Fuchsia, a.k.a. Firechalice, on the trail with a profuse display of scarlet flowers that we have not seen before because it blooms August to October, when we usually are not here.  A Rufous Hummingbird was seen nearby.  The flowers supply hummingbirds with food for the start of their southward migration.

I discovered a scorpion in the park restroom sink as I was about to take a shower.  I helped it out with some tissue paper and coaxed it out the door, but it quickly darted back under the door, so I chose another shower and now keep a closer eye out for creatures in restrooms (and those that like to take shelter in our trailer tire covers).

After the shower, I enjoyed Larry’s corn beef – Swiss cheese pita wrap served with chips, tomatoes, and Beck’s Beer.

This was usually followed by afternoon reading or napping.  At bedtime, I continued reading out loud Harry Potter.  We are currently reading Book 4, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Before the gusty winds arrived, we enjoyed mellow evenings under the moon and stars.

On Thursday, we listened with sadness to a BBC tribute to Steve Jobs, which included his words of wisdom spoken during his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life… Have the courage to follow your own heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

The rising full moon amid fluffy clouds in an otherwise clear night sky was an auspicious sign as we began planning our fall and winter camping season.  This occurred last Monday night as we celebrated the Chinese Moon Festival.  According to Wikipedia, this festival is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival and is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated especially by Chinese and Vietnamese people on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, always coinciding with a full moon.

This is a time when family and friends gather together outside under the full moon and share in festivities such as eating mooncakes, sipping wine, and hanging brightly lit lanterns.  Loved ones who can not be together on this night can still feel connected by looking up at the moon at the same time.

As is customary in Hong Kong, Larry suspended Chinese lanterns on bamboo poles from a high point, in this case, from the top of our pergola.

We feasted on Larry’s homemade pizza under the pergola and watched the festive lanterns dance in the cool night breeze as lights twinkled in Mexico and throughout the South Bay.

As mentioned in Wikipedia, this festival is strongly associated with the legend of Houyi, the Archer, and Chang’e, the Moon Goddess of Immortality.  This is illustrated in YouTube’s “Legend of Moon Festival“.

Much of the symbolism of this festival revolves around the shape of the full round moon, emphasizing unity, wholeness, completeness, togetherness, well-being and prosperity.  It is said that catching the reflection of the moon in one’s teacup, glass of wine, or bowl of water is a perfect moment.  More ways of celebrating the harvest moon are described by Eleanor here.

Another perfect moment occurred on this auspicious night with the blooming of our Nightblooming Cereus, Queen of the Night.

This festival is also called the Mooncake Festival because mooncakes are often prepared in the shape of the moon and are usually made from lotus seed paste and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs.  We celebrated with two types of Chinese bean paste pastries, winter melon and mung bean.

We continued to share this special night by my ongoing daily bedtime readings out loud of Harry Potter, currently Book 3, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

After five days of seaside camping (“Catfish by the sea“), it was time to take our Airstream Safari home and thoroughly wash off the sea salt. It was also time to relax and think about a little summer reading and cooking something fun.  Last summer I made the Sonoran hot dog.  This season I’ve been inspired by Dr. C’s Insight out article, “Schmoozing Rhubarb,” a slice of Americana à la Charles Kuralt and Garrison Keillor, written after Dr. C and his family visited Lanesboro, the Rhubarb Capital of Minnesota, during the Rhubarb Festival held on the first Saturday of every June.

According to Wikipedia, rhubarb is a plant that has been grown in China for at least 5,000 years and used there as a laxative.  It was imported to Europe during the 14th century via the Silk Road and first came to the United States in the 1820s.  Its leaves are poisonous, but its fleshy rose-red petioles (stalks) are cooked and used in pies.

My search for rhubarb began with a visit to our favorite local farmers’ market in Hillcrest, San Diego.  I only found small plants for planting.  It seems the rhubarb season in Southern California is relatively short.

Earlier this week I did find rhubarb in a larger food store and while checking out, the cash register clerk asked me, “What’s rhubarb?“.  As I searched for the right words, I said, “Well its a plant… and its stalks are used in pies if you have the right recipe.” (I wasn’t going to get into the is-it-a-vegetable-or-fruit debate.)

So I brought 10 stalks home, along with a pint of strawberries and a frozen bag of mixed berries to ensure I had an adequate amount of filling.  I then got ideas on how to make rhubarb-berry cobbler filling by watching YouTube videos such as this one and this one.  First I washed the rhubarb and strawberries and assembled the ingredients.  (I did not use the mangos.)

I sliced each rhubarb lengthwise making three strips that I diced into 1/2″ pieces.  Then I sliced the strawberries, which were combined with the rhubarb in a large mixing bowl and I stirred in a mixture of 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup tapioca, 1 tsp. lemon zest, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 tsp. grated nutmeg, a dash of salt and a dash of triple sec.  This was allowed to rest for 15 minutes while I preheated the oven to 425°.

The mixture was then placed in a 10″x15″ baking pan.

I then added the puff pastry, which was brushed with egg (for a golden crust) and I added the letter “C” in honor of Dr. C, the writer of “Schmoozing Rhubarb”, which inspired this project.

This was then placed in the oven and cooked for 15 minutes at 425° and for another 45 minutes at 350°.

It was taken out of the oven and allowed to cool for about 30 minutes and then sliced and served with French vanilla ice cream… Delicious!

Yes, this would be a great time for a piece of rhubarb pie… and to listen to “The Rhubarb Tart Song“!

The Easter tulips were still opening their purple blossoms as we made our way to the sea to spend 5 nights camping at South Carlsbad State Beach Park while a heat wave was peaking in sunny San Diego.  Cool sights, sounds of the surf, and delicious food and drinks made for a relaxing and enjoyable time.

Our Safari trailer was parked on a bluff 50 feet above the beach within 15 feet of a sheer drop-off.  The nearby chain-link fence does not look pretty, but it is a safety feature that keeps tipsy people and dogs and other objects from tumbling over and reduces the incidence of costly beach rescues.  Some people place chairs on the picnic tables when viewing the sunsets.  The fence also plays a role as a makeshift tripod, keeping the Nikon camera steady while capturing squirrels gazing at the Pacific Ocean.

Long lines of pelicans, sometimes in a V formation, were seen gliding by our campsite throughout the day.  Once considered an endangered species by the federal government, the brown pelican population is now on the rise in California.

Pelicans were also seen gliding along breaking waves for the opportunity to scoop up fish for a tasty meal.  (In the morning we also observed pods of dolphins doing their herding maneuver of squeezing schools of fish into bait balls for a fish-eating frenzy.)

As the sunset approached with cooling late afternoon breezes, Larry was in his element as he prepared to deep-fry catfish nuggets, steam corn, and reheat sabzi polow (pilaf, a herb rice dish) that he made ahead of time at home.

In making Mediterranean-style Deep-fried Catfish Nuggets, Larry used one cup of flour mixed with 1/2 tsp. turmeric (provides a beautiful golden crust), 1 tsp. crushed dried fenugreek leaf, salt and pepper, and coated the catfish nuggets while the pilaf and corn were steaming in the Chinese stacked steamer on the Volcano stove.  When the pilaf and corn were done, Larry deep-fried the nuggets for 1-2 minutes (until golden), which were served with pilaf, corn on the cob, chilled champagne and a golden sunset.

After dinner, we settled back in our folding chairs and gazed at the glowing, peaceful horizon.  After the myriad sights, sounds, activities and strollers that flowed by our campsite each day, we welcomed the lulling and ever-constant rhythmic sound of the surf.

Addendum: This article first appeared one week ago, but vanished in thin air while our blogging software (WordPress) was being updated.  It took a few days to work out the bugs, but now it seems to be working, and it feels nice to spread my wings again and relearn how to fly… and feel the good vibrations!

Desert blooms are not as profuse in some places of the Anza-Borrego Desert this spring due to three straight nights of freezing temperatures in February, but magnificent points of color can still be treasured.  Avoiding nails, I carefully backed our Airstream Safari into our Agua Caliente County Park campsite, right up to two spectacular ocotillo plants lush with small green leaves and profuse crimson flowers.

Every morning we opened our door to wonderful displays of color.

Nearby our two ocotillo plants is a creosote bush in full bloom.

The Creosote bush, Larrea tridentata, is an evergreen shrub with dark green leaves and yellow flowers.  According to Wikipedia, this plant was used by Native Americans in the Southwest as a treatment for a variety of illnesses and it is still used as a medicine in Mexico (the species is named after J.A. Hernandez de Larrea, a Spanish clergyman).

Another medicinal, the ocotillo, Fouquieria splendens, has bright crimson flowers that often appear after a rainfall.  According to Wikipedia, the fresh flowers are used in salads and the dried flowers are used for herbal tea.

Marshal South and family’s spirits rose when spring came to their desert home, Yaquitepec, on Ghost Mountain.  He wrote in his Desert Diary 4 (May 1940) April at Yaquitepec article:

 All the desert is awake and rejoicing in Spring. Fountains of wax-like white flowers tower above the green, bristling bayonets of the yuccas and the emerald wands of the newly-leafed ocotillos are tipped with points of flame. Color! Sharp, vivid color! That is the keynote of the wasteland’s awakening. And the knowledge that the vanished Children of the Desert found in many of these gorgeous blossoms a source of nourishing food takes nothing from their charm. Both the flowers of the yucca and the ocotillo are good to eat.

(All 102 articles and poems written by Marshal South for Desert Magazine from 1939 to 1948 can be read in Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles: An Experiment in Primitive Living, 2005, Edited and with a Foreword by Diana Lindsay and Introduction by Rider and Lucile South, Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA.)

After a cold, rainy winter, my spirits rose while hiking the Moonlight Canyon Trail in full sunlight and rising temperatures.  I spotted a lizard basking on granite surrounded by a sea of Bigelow Monkeyflowers, Mimulus bigelovii.

Barbed cholla spines pierced my lower pant leg and shoes as I maneuvered to take the photo of the barrel cactus below.

I returned to camp, removed the cholla spines, and enjoyed my daily noontime shower followed by savoring a cotto salami sandwich made by Larry.  Slices of cotto salami are placed in a toasted bun with finely shredded cabbage, horseradish mustard, mayonnaise, cream cheese, and onion with a side of chips and pepperoncini, Asian pickled garlic & ginger, olives and Deglet Noor dates.  This was complimented by a cold bottle of Heineken.

Then came afternoon reading, writing, walking the dogs and dining and photographing under the stars… and listening to a French song.

Snow had fallen on all of San Diego’s mountain ranges just the day before we departed on our spring wildflower trip and I was tempted to engage the trailer’s flux capacitor once again to facilitate passage over the mountains, but I thought it would be more scenic to carefully weave our way around the mountains to our destination, Palm Canyon Campground in the Southern California desert. This amount of winter snow does not happen often here and when it does, people pour out of the city in bumper-to-bumper traffic just to romp in the snow and throw snowballs.  Indeed, traffic slowed enough for Larry to take this snowy winter scene as we slowly approached Santa Ysabel.

(This is as close as our trailer ever gets to snow.)

Sun, warmth and colorful wildflowers greeted us at our campsite in the Anza-Borrego Desert.  See the current wildflower report for this area here.

(Wild Heliotrope is seen in foreground.)

We camped during part of the festive season of Mardi Gras.  Seen on our camp table are Mardi Gras beads in the three symbolic colors of Mardi Gras, purple (justice), gold (power), and green (faith).  Also seen on the table are freshly cut flowers from our home garden and Larry’s delicious, homemade Craisin oatmeal cookies (my favorite breakfast treat with coffee).

Larry turned them into Mardi Gras cookies by carefully topping them with crystallized sugar in the appropriate colors and adding silver dragées.  Also seen below is the Commedia dell’arte mask of Arlecchino.

Mardi Gras is also celebrated by wearing masks.

According to the Wikipedia article, “New Orleans Mardi Gras“, processions and wearing of masks in the streets took place in the 1700s.

Larry is seen here wearing the Commedia dell’arte mask of Il Capitano, a character that Larry once portrayed at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire.  Wearing this mask, he surprised the rangers at the Ranger Station as he delivered these cookies!

This year the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, Ca is open Sundays and Saturdays, April 9 – May 22, 2011.

The Annual Arizona Renaissance Festival & Artisan Marketplace is currently open every Saturday and Sunday through April 3, 2011.

Although it was sunny and springtime-warm during our five days of camping, it had recently been on the chilly side and the wildflowers had yet to peak.  But due to recent rains here, the vegetation was green and lush.

When we were there, there were more flowers near the campground and along the .6 mile cement sidewalk to the Visitors Center than on the Borrego Palm Canyon Nature Trail, including:

Sand Verbena (above) and Barrel Cactus (below).

For many, it has been a thorny winter.  But now that the snow is melting and the weather is warming and the trees are budding and the flowers are blooming and the bees are buzzing and the birds are singing and nesting we are grateful to be here and happy to be moving gently from winter into spring.

Last week we hopped back out to one of our favorite desert camping spots, Agua Caliente, where I previously photographed up-close Bighorn Sheep.  We docked our Airstream Safari at the foot of the Tierra Blanca Mountains and put out a red (auspicious Chinese color for life and prosperity) tablecloth as we made preparations to celebrate the Chinese New Year 2011, The Year of the Rabbit.

According to Wikipedia, Chinese New Year usually falls on the second new moon after winter solstice and in China it is known as “Spring Festival“.  This year Chinese New Year’s Eve fell on Groundhog Day and even Punxsutawney Phil gave his nod that spring is near!  Although we had chilly weather at night, we did have beautifully sunny days and saw beginnings of spring wildflowers, such as the Ghost Flower.

The Ghost Flower, Mohavea confertiflora, is a native annual with beautiful, delicate, translucent cream flowers.  This one wilted the following day after our lowest night temperature of 29°.

For our Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner, Larry pulled out our rolling dinette table from under the credenza and made Chinese dumplings.

Seen next to the tray of dumplings is a round tray of Chinese sweets.

Seen on the dumplings tray are chunky peanut butter dumplings (with a pleated edge) and pork-Shiitake mushroom dumplings (with a smooth, flat edge).  These were cooked on our Volcano stove.  First the peanut butter dumplings were deep-fried.

These dumplings look like small gold ingots and seen nearby are two rabbits holding a gold coin, symbol for wealth and prosperity.

The pork-Shiitake mushroom dumplings were browned on one side with a small amount of oil.  Then a quarter cup of broth or water is added and the dumplings are covered with a lid and steamed for 3 minutes.

This results in dumplings that are crispy and chewy.

The peanut butter dumplings were then sprinkled with powdered sugar.

As you can tell by Larry’s Russian rabbit fur hat and layers of clothing, the weather got chilly in the late afternoons, especially when the sun dipped behind the nearby mountain ridge.

Gusty winds increased the chill factor.

Our outside dog water bowl had an inch of ice the next morning.

Our friends in Tucson had temperatures dip to 17° that night and considered winterizing their trailers for the first time.

The Arizona Daily Star reported that Tucson’s freezing weather caused ‘astronomical’ frozen-water-pipe damage.

Larry served hot soup (made with asparagus, ham, onion, cilantro, and chicken broth along with the dumplings, which warmed us as we welcomed the Year of the Rabbit 2011 and Punxsutawney Phil’s indication that an early spring it will be!