I envy you that you still get to experience Seasons 2 thru 4 for the first time. It’s all fabulous – plan to lose a lot of sleep staying up to watch episode after episode because it’s impossible to turn it off!

The large influx of German settlers into the central Texas area made it natural to continue the German tradition of the Christmas tree. Lacking fir trees, people quickly adopted native pine or cedar, or even cactus for the purpose. In the Texas Panhandle, where I grew up, trees of any sort are downright scarce. Before the days when trucks would import loads of cut trees for the purpose, many people hauled tumbleweeds out of the fields to use. Yes, the round, stickery-looking weeds you see rolling across dusty streets in western movies. Stacked up snowman-style and adorned with tiny lights and ornaments, their western flavor morphs into something more ethereal, especially when spray painted white or silver or gold. Lots of old-timers, my grandpa included, ignored the imported firs and pines even after they became available and continued to use tumbleweeds as their Christmas trees. To this day, those tumbleweed trees are some of my fondest childhood memories, and they still appear in that part of Texas, even as giant versions with hundreds of tumbleweeds stacked on town squares.

Another childhood delight was the windmills that ranchers strung with Christmas lights. I’ve even seen an oil rig or two decorated. In recent years, chili pepper lights have enjoyed big popularity down here. And for meals, tamales and enchiladas are as likely as turkey and dressing to be incorporated into a Texas Christmas feast.

Sometimes the Panhandle gets quite a lot of snow, a fact that many people are surprised by. We used to go sleigh riding—only the sleigh consisted of an upside-down junked car hood pulled by my dad’s tractor, since there are no hills to be had in that region. There are few physical barriers of any kind in that part of the world, only wide-open fields and wider skies, so we were able to ride for miles and miles across flat, unbroken snow, sometimes even standing up to ride in water-ski fashion.

Oh, yes, we have our own traditions.

I have a whole list of shows I like to watch to varying degrees – Criminal Minds, Bones, CSI, Heroes, Fringe, Lost, Numbers, Dollhouse, Eureka (another big favorite), misc. decorating and cooking shows. I only added a couple from last season – Lie To Me, and Castle. This season, I haven’t added anything yet. I’ve been quite disappointed despite really looking forward to some shows, just seemed boring and didn’t really ring my bells. So I watch if I’m there, but don’t bother taping. I’ve been saving Sanctuary but haven’t watched yet because my daughter wants to watch with me. Has anyone been watching it and if so, what did you think?