December 1 - Happy Holidays! There is a beautiful blanket of fresh snow outside. The amount of snow here is around 12 inches. Schools have been closed for two days, and zenpond is a wonderland of pristine white. john has made sure that the birds and other small animals have food. A dove is currently drinking water at the edge of the ice in zenpond. Interstate 70 is closed between Sedalia and Columbia Missouri due to the heavy snow. joyce finished putting the decorations on the tree yesterday. They both are reading by the fire.

john will fix a new crockpot of Taco Soup today. He makes it with a jar of Salsa instead of a can of tomato paste, and with McCormick's new "Chessy Taco Seasoning". The other ingredients are pretty standard: ground beef, black beans, corn, slauted onions. A few crushed corn chips and some grated cheese usually go on top when served.

December 3 - For a couple of photos of zenpond in the winter: click here.

December 12 - The weather has been cold, and the ice formations have formed around the waterfalls. However, starting yesterday, the weather is warming for the next week. Today, it is 48 degrees. By Thursday, it is suppose to be in the upper 60's.

John and Joyce have decorated for Christmas, and have been sending out cards. Mainly John has been reading (about 6 novels in the last two weeks).

John just made a white chicken soup in the crockpot. Besides chicken, he threw in several kinds of white beans, a sauted onion, chicken broth, low-fat Ranch dressing, some white Westershire sauce, and a little lemon juice.

There just isn't much going on at zenpond at the moment. Maybe that is not such a bad thing!

December 13 - john called into the "Walt Bodine Show" today. That is a daily, local talk show on KCUR radio (89.3 FM). The show was about old theatres in our area. Since john grew up in projection booths (john's dad was a motion picture projectionist), john called in with a few memories. You can listen to the show by clicking here: Walt Bodine Show, and look for the "Cinemental Journeys" show. It shows a "Listen on Demand" button to click on. The show is one hour long, but "John from Overland Park" comes on in about 44 minutes into the program.

December 19 - Here is a picture showing john with a group of Greater Kansas City People to People who had volunteered to put together school packets for Iraqi children. One of the co-founders: Gary Sinese is in the picture also. Gary has been on television and in many movies including "Forest Gump". He is so nice, and unassuming. john was very pleased to meet him.