You know who these two people are so you know what this is. Yup, Another Photo Safari Report! I'm calling this one the Combo Platter Hike(s) for several reasons. First of all, Joy and I are a combo! And then, the photos are of a combination of things. Thirdly, we go out on these photo safaris for a combination of different reasons (exercise, photography, being in nature and just spending time together) and lastly, it is a combination of two different hikes. One with Joy of course, the other one I did with Tim! The hike with Tim was much shorter. I will still easily fatigued and getting over being sick but I desperately wanted (Needed!!!) to be out of the house for a bit. So to be on the safe and courteous side, Tim took me for a Very Short hike where there was NOBODY else. Not another living human soul. Just Tim and I and nature. Nice! One of the first things I took a picture of was a bird I couldn't identify. That's always fun. He was just sitting there in the tippity top of a tree and he patiently waited until I took a couple of photos before taking off again. I had to send Joy the photo later for identification. Turns out this guy is called a Shrike. I was thinking more....Zorro. The only other bird picture I got on that hike (again it was a Very Short Hike) was this one which turned out to be one of my all time favourites: That was a bit of good luck eh? Can never go wrong with Mama's and Babies :) All of the rest of the pictures I took on that day were perfectly fine, mostly botanicals, but not as special: Oh and three other birds. Perfectly nice birds, but just ordinary: And then, about a week later, the hike with Joy. We went to Curry Creek which is a small local preserve that we've been to a zillion other times and we've never been disappointed there. As small as it is, and even smaller than usual that day because the water was too high to cross the creek to the other side, we always get at least a few really decent shots. The highlight of this hike was another new to me bird: The Carolina Wren who, since she was in Florida, must have been on vacation. She had the most beautiful and unusual song too. I wish there was a way to attach an audio file because I would love for you to hear her sing. We stood on the trail for the longest time trying to figure out who was making that unusual music. Most local bird song is so familiar too us that we know who the artist is, but not this time. Finally, after a lot of very quiet lurking and searching we found the source: That was exciting. We always feel a little bit like detectives when we hear a bird but cannot immediately see it and then we go on the hunt until we find it! We saw other more familiar birds too: It was a pretty day, the air was a little crisp which is fine, we know how to dress in layers and, for a change it was a sunny day. Nice! I snapped a few botanicals. Not as many as usual but a few here and there: So I guess that's that. The Combo Platter Hike(s). They were both a lot of fun and it was a wonderful surprise to see something brand new to me on both hikes! Now that I'm back to my old self I'm ready to hit the real longer trails and get out there in the thick of things, probably getting lost (or at least temporarily misplaced) and have some more photos for you next time!
Hope everyone is doing GREAT! Hugs all ' round.
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..Let's see a show of hands. How many of you hate being sick? Looks like all of you. Yeah. Me too. I'm just, very slowly, getting over being sick myself and I'm telling you, it just doesn't suit me.
Last Tuesday I woke up after a very restless night of not much sleep to find that I had a terrible headache, which I suppose could be attributed to the lack of sleep, and an awful sore throat which was unusual. Every time I swallowed, I winced. Who knew that saliva had such sharp edges? I lay there in bed taking personal inventory for a moment and trying to justify anything that was not quite right. Finally I hauled my carcass out of bed and shuffled into the shower. I'm not a shuffler. I don't shuffle. But I did that morning. It seemed to be all that I could manage. The shower revived me a bit, I felt more awake at least, but the sore throat wasn't improved, nor was the headache and then the cough began. Oh man. I already had a sore throat. The coughing didn't help at all, so I tried to suppress it as much as possible. While the effort wasn't entirely successful, at least I was trying. I decided that what I needed was some nice hot tea. It was while I was reaching up into the cabinet to get a mug that I realized how much my back hurt too. And I was so dang tired I just wanted to lay down on the kitchen floor and sleep. I gave up then because when I added it all up, I knew that I was genuinely sick. Dang. Because I knew I was scheduled to work that day, ironically covering for someone else who was out sick, I had to make a decision very quickly about whether or not I should go to work. I know, I know, it ought to be an easy decision. But I came from a generation where how you felt didn't matter. If something needed to be done, you did it anyway. Work Ethic was Everything! Unless you were in the hospital or deceased, there was no excuse for not showing up and doing your job whether it was a job outside the home or inside of it. You took an aspirin, grabbed some tissues and a few cough drops and you went in anyway. It was what we did. The obvious fact that all of us who were showing up to work sick were probably infecting everyone else in the workplace apparently never dawned on management. It was what it was, and we did what we did. Eventually, the light dawned on Most people during a particularly hideous flu season that we were infecting each other. The response to that where I worked at the time, and other places too I'm sure, was that flu shots became mandatory. Nobody was missing work!! But I believe that that's where it began be start being a little more "normal" to not be at work or school if you were contagious in anyway. This was a huge step forward but not every work place adhered to this policy AND all of us oldsters who were used to working sick were taking a little longer to get on board with it. And then Covid happened. February 2020 was when everything changed. Anything less that perfect healthy was suddenly terrifying. If you had seasonal allergies, people avoided you. If you swallowed 'wrong' and coughed as a result people would give you dirty looks. And the rule of thumb was, if you are sick stay home, stay away. Everyone was terrified by germs. With good reason, no question. But it was a big pendulum swing in a different direction than most of us had ever experienced. When I was a kid, if another child in the neighborhood had chicken pox or measles, parents would deliberately send their kids to play with the sick kid! The prevailing thought was that the non sick child would contract the "childhood disease" and be done with it. Oh my! Childhood diseases were like a rite of passage I suppose. What a bizarre thought process! Now of course, there are vaccines for all of those things and they are (mostly) a thing of the past. And good riddance to it! Things are different now and it's for the better. Still, I kept thinking of my responsibilities at work. If I call out sick, and I'm covering for someone else who is sick, who is going to cover for me? How inconvenient! How inconsiderate! I felt guilty. And then Tim reminded me that most of the people I covered for through November and December called out sick with Covid (because that doggone beast is still out there). I Hmmmm'd to myself and got on my trusty computer to research the symptoms for the current strain of Covid. Sore Thoat, Cough, Congestion, Body aches, headache, fatigue.......check check check check check check check....... damnit. Tim remembered that we had a Covid home test in the linen closet so I got that out, read the directions a dozen times because I was having trouble focusing and tracking, did the test and the dang thing popped positive. Geez! After managing to avoid Covid for just shy of 4 years, it finally caught me. Ratz! So now I absolutely could not go to work. I emailed the boss who made it Very Clear that I should stay home. And I KNOW it was the right thing to do, but now I felt guilty for being sick. Man, I guilt so well. Too bad it's not a paying gig. But I couldn't think about it, or anything else too much, I felt too crummy and I felt worse as they day went by. For the next four days mostly I napped. Tim would wake me to see if what I wanted to eat. By then my voice was almost completely gone, I croaked out, "anything with no edges". He brought me mac'n'cheese and ice cream. I lived on that for 4 days. Gradually I began to not be quite as tired, though I wore out quickly. Still. it felt good to be vertical. Eventually the headache faded and over time the sore throat diminished, the congestion is beginning to clear a little bit but the cough of course lingers. It always does. I retested and now I am negative. Huzzah! Thankfully, Tim is still healthy, no symptoms at all and for that I am truly grateful. I had to cancel working two days, hiking one day, a party, a get together with old friends and attending a City Council Meeting in the meantime. I feel truly awful about all of that. But I remind myself the advice my old College Philosphy Professor once gave me, "A hundred years from now, who'll know the difference?" And I also have to tell myself, on a regular basis, that just because something is the way we used to do it, doesn't mean it was the only way. And it certainly doesn't mean it was the right way. See, I am still capable of learning. I'll never stop feeling guilty about Every freakin' thing, but I am learning how to see things differently. Change can be good. Hey, it's the Kittyboys, Brysco and Wyatt! I think it's time for an update. On Saturday we will have had them for 3 months! Which means they are almost 9 months old. Time flies. Boy oh boy have they changed our lives in that time. And all for the better :) The first thing you may notice here, other than how much they've grown, is that neither of them is wearing a collar. (sigh) Wyatt always hated his collar with a passion and a good portion of his day, every day, was dedicated to finding out how to remove it. Once that puzzle was solved, his collar was off more than it was on. Initially it was a once in a while thing. Then maybe a once a week happening. And suddenly it was about every 30 minutes. Dang. Eventually we gave up. The sole reason we put collars on them to begin with was to tell them apart! We decided that as long as Brysco still had his collar on, we would know which cat was which. Cat with collar - Brysco! Cat without collar - Wyatt! Easy peasy. I did feel a little guilty that Brysco was stuck still wearing his - simply for our convenience of telling them apart . Never fear. In short order, Wyatt taught Brysco how to take his off and then...bam. Neither cat was wearing a collar. DoubleDang. Then Tim and I realized how lazy we were being. I mean parents of identical human twins always figure it out, right? So we have made a concentrated effort to find the subtle differences between them and now I believe that 90% of the time we are correct. In any case, they answer to their names and we can rely on that if necessary. This post is kind of a day in the life thing. How do the kittyboys spend their days? (just in case you wondered) Being cats of course, much of their days is dedicated to sleep. Usually brief little aptly named catnaps. They snooze in their actual cute little beds of course, sometimes together, sometimes separately, but they also nap in the kitty trees, on the sofa, our bed and in any sunny spot they find on the floor: But when they are awake, it's all about playplayplay! They play with each other naturally and that often looks more like a wrestling match and it's impossible to get a good picture! But another favourite game of theirs is the jumpscare where one of them hides behind something and they wait for either their brother, or some unsuspecting human to come along and then they pounce! They favour a butterfly toy, mousies, anything with catnip in it, one particular wool ball that they are slowly shredding, anything with feathers which very soon has no feathers at all and little toy springs which get batted all over the house and under things. Once every week the kittyboys and I, armed with a flashlight and my monopod fully extended, go around the house, fishing errant toys out from under things. They also have a toy we call the CrazyBall. It's a computerized (I suppose) ball that get's charged like a phone. Once it's turned on and put on the floor, it takes off in crazy directions all over the house with both cats in hot pursuit. It occupies them for a Very Long Time. The bad part is that they do not put their toys away when they are done and then we have to find Crazyball. Sometimes we don't discover it's whereabouts until the next day whereupon it gets recharged and ready for the next go 'round. But their absolute favourite game now is what Tim has dubbed the GooberUber. Tim was innocently moving one of their playtubes one day and Brysco jumped in! So, very gently, Tim dragged the tube across the room. Brysco Loved it! Wyatt follows behind and it's like a little parade through the house now. When they see Tim coming, Brysco jumps into the tube in the hopes for a ride! Silly kitty! Most cats are curious by nature and these boys are no different in that respect. Brysco in particular wants to help and check out whatever we are doing. He recently has become fascinated by running water. I find him in the bathtub, the kitchen sink or watching the rain out a window. Wyatt is currently captivated by the ceiling fans and at least part of his day is dedicated to starring at the rotating blades and meowing at them. It's a conversational sort of series of various mews and meows and chirps. I would love to know what he is saying. They insist upon laying on the ironing piles which is why I have it covered with a towel until I get around to actually doing the ironing And anything new remains suspicious whether it is a package that has arrived, a new toy or me wearing a new pair of socks. Their policy is Approach with Caution! So I guess that is pretty much how they spend their days. Ah, the life of a cat! That may be the plan for my next life should reincarnation turn out to be a real thing.
I will try very hard to restrain myself and not write about them again - at least for a little while Have a great weekend. You know that the kittyboys will! Welcome to Florida, the Sunshine State!!! I imagine the conversation went a little something like this: Cold Place Person (CPP): "I've had it with the snow and cold already this winter! Let's go somewhere warm and thaw out" Friend/Partner (F/P): "That sounds wonderful. Let's go somewhere with a beach. Sun and sand and margaritas!!" CPP: "Excellent! What beach tho?" F/P: "Let's go to Florida. Winter there is supposed to be paradise" Later: CPP: "I did a little research and I found this little town called Venice. It's an island! Beautiful beaches, an adorable downtown, a lot of history and, according to what I read, there always seems to be some sort of outside entertainment, music, festivals, outside dining" F/P "Wonderful! Book it" And then they arrive and find: Disappointment R Us!
I somehow feel as if I must apologize to all of our tourists right now. I see them huddled under umbrellas, shivering in their beachware as they wander our downtown (which is indeed adorable). We see them at the jetty sitting in their cars looking at the ocean and the beach wistfully from inside their cars. A few diehards go ahead and walk the beach regardless of the rainfall and the temperature. I suppose if you were planning to swim you would be getting wet anyway, right? At the museum this year, we are seeing record numbers of visitors from all over the world. All of them remarking/complaining about the rain and the chill. Sometimes it is in a jovial sort of way, "Hey where are you hiding the sunshine?" . Other times in a grumpier sort of fashion, "I spent a lot of money for a beach vacation and now here I am in a boring, dusty old museum" (By the way, our museum is neither dusty nor boring) A lot of guests ask us on the way out what else there is to do in the area that in Inside since all of the outside is wet which means some of our usual events have been cancelled. I had to put my thinking cap on the first few times that question came my way but I managed to cobble together a small list. A few of us docents and the boss have since come up with a couple of other thoughts which we happily share. I would just like to take this opportunity to remind Florida Visitors that us Floridians have no control over the weather. We aren't making it rainy and chilly just to spite you or keep you away. And frankly we are as surprised and disappointed right now as you are. The best part of Florida Living has always been October through June. Those of us who are full-timers here manage to survive July- September by staying in the Air Conditioning as much as possible, drinking gallons of water and remembering how beautiful our state is the rest of the year. This year, not so much. I suppose I should just be grateful that we have no snow, the temperature has only once ever dipped below zero (it was Tallahassee in 1899 and the temp was minus 2), and the only ice is in a glass. It probably has happened to everyone at one time or another that a vacation didn't turn out to be exactly what you anticipated. And now it has happened to you here. I am officially apologizing, even though it's not my fault. I'm sorry that you are disappointed. I'm sorry that you ended up doing a Walmart run for warmer clothes. I'm sorry that instead of dining al fresco, you are inside the restaurant looking through rain swept windows at the grey and drizzly outside. I'm sorry that instead of playing volley ball on the beach, you are in your hotel room playing Crazy Eights with a complimentary deck of cards. I'm seeing a lot of cranky folks who do not seem to know how to pivot. If you cannot be outside, get out your magical mini pocket computers that we all have on our person at all times anymore, and find inside things to do. They exist, I promise. It's not the beach, but it's not bad. Because Honestly, we have NO control over the weather. Sure, sure, this time of year, some full-timers grouse about the increased traffic and longer lines and occasionally questionable behaviour of our visitors. Here abouts if you listen closely, you might hear the word 'snowbird' or 'tourist' occasionally spat out as if it were a swear word. (gasp!) But honestly, most of us love our visitors, guests, tourists and seasonal folks! We do! And none of us are happy about the miserable weather. And we are Sorry that you are unhappy, disappointed, bored, frustrated or angry. We are sorry. But it's not our fault. Seriously, if we could do anything to control the weather, would there EVER be another hurricane? Think about it. That's Joy pointing out something to me that I either didn't notice or just cannot seem to see! But to be fair, when you are out in the forest, it's hard to give verbal directions. "It's on that branch? " Which branch? "The one on the tree" Which tree? "The tall one?" LOLOL She is so patient with me for which I am truly grateful. Yesterday, for the first time in a bit, Joy and I were able to hit the trails once more which means this is a Photo Safari Report! I had several choices about what to call this one but I'm landing on the "Lotsa Birds Hike" because, wow, there were a LOT of Birds! So hunker down and be prepared for Birdie Photos' Galore! We waited until the night before to decide if we were going to hike or not because the weather has been so, un-Florida-Winter-like lately. Which is to say, wet. We always get at least a few days that register with us as being chilly (Not to anyone else on the planet understand, just us Floridians), but it's this uncharacteristic winter rainfall that is unsettling our tourists and occasionally our own plans. But Wednesdays nights weather report said cloudy, cool and NO rain until afternoon. Thursday mornings report echoed the same so we headed over to Carlton. We were the ONLY car in the parking lot when we arrived, which is absolutely fine with us. We set out, loaded for photos, and discovered several things straight away. First, that the trails were a bit mucky so we would be picking and choosing our trails carefully. Second, that the sky looking alarming (but beautiful). And Thirdly, there were birds EVERYWHERE! Holy Cats! We didn't have to go far to get loads of shots and that's a good thing because within the first hour, the sky opened up and the rain arrived ahead of schedule. Dang. We tucked our cameras under our jackets, pulled up our hoodies and booked it back to the parking lot. Still, we were pleased with what we managed to get in that brief period of time. Here's the trail and sky. Ominous for sure: But honestly, we were there for the birds. Ready? Here's a sampling: So there we were, sitting in the car in an empty parking lot at the preserve listening to the rainfall debating if we should just call it a day and go out to breakfast? Or try again elsewhere and hope that the rain stops. You guessed correctly, we weren't ready to stop yet. So we moved on to Myakka State Park which has a road going all the way through it. In most parks and preserves you arrive, park and either hike it or bike it the rest of the way. But Myakka, while it has hiking trails a plenty, also has a road to drive all the way through. It's a wonderful meandering road where the forest comes right up to the edge of civilization which also means, wildlife is often, right there out the window. Our thought was that if it was Still raining when we arrived we could, literally shoot out the car windows. Or, if the rain held off, perhaps we could risk a few short hikes. It's a beautiful drive down a canopied road, surrounded by various land and water - scapes: We had no idea what, if anything, we would see along the way, As we chatted about what we hoped we might find, almost every thing we listed, showed up! It's like they were listening to our wish list. Including a bird that someone recently told me cannot be found locally anymore. HAH! We found it. And lest you think that there is no four-legged wildlife at Myakka, we also saw this: And this: I know I'm pushing the definition of "wildlife" with the squirrel but I think when they live in the forest and not in a neighborhood park or somebody's back yard, they still qualify.
We timed our visit perfectly because shortly after Joy dropped me back off at home, suddenly out of nowhere, the rain was pouring down once more. Awesome!~ We were both very chilly and very wet by the time we were done but I regret none of it! Hope you also enjoyed the Lotsa Birds Hike! I wonder what we will see the next time? Have a great weekend everybody~ ![]() Good Mornin' ! Happy Monday to ya! How are things with you today? How was your weekend? It was not your usual bright and sunny Florida here this weekend, there was some rain and some gloom, some dreary and dark a wee little bit of sun and it was perfectly perfect for a walk or two. Tim and I spent a little time watching a paddle boarder. The beach was nearly deserted which is very unusual this time of year. Normally it's packed with beach minded folks. But instead we saw things like the paddle boarder. I am very impressed by surfers and paddle boarders and wind surfers. It's so pretty to watch. At one point it looked like he casually walking along, sweeping the ocean: Other times you could really see the skill of staying on that board and upright! The beach, as I said, was not crowded but there were a few folks on and near the pier, flying kites and fishing (not at the same time you understand) We also took a little walk at a tiny park called Venice Myakka River Park. It's shorter than it's name :) But adorable. The path follows the Myakka River which was surprisingly low considering how much rain we've had lately. But on the other hand, during our actual rainy season, not this strange wet winter (dry season) we are experiencing, there was remarkably little rain. I think I read that we are something like 20 inches short of our usual rainfall right now? Despite that, the walk along the river was delightful. Every turn, each curve, the wide spots and slim, the high banks and low is different from the one before. I so wish the trail were longer so that we could have continued to see what was around the next bend. As it was, despite multiple signs warning us of the resident alligator(s), we saw none. Tim was on Alligator spotting duty while I took photos because we agree with Joy and her policy to always know where your alligators are. Actually Tim did borrow my camera to take one picture and it's a doozy: It's kind of a "fool the eye" sort of shot of a tree sunk into the river and then the reflection of the living trees on the surface of the water. Very Cool! I did my own version of a "fool the eye" shot too. Simply by taking the photo and then turning it on it's side: We saw a few flowers, not many, but there were plenty of other green growing things to be seen: And of course, there was the star of the show, the river itself. The Myakka River is 72 miles long and has always given me Mark Twain Vibes. I could see someone cobbling together a raft, Tom Saywer-wise, and spending quality time floating it's length, seeing what you can see and enjoying every minute of it. All in all, a perfect way to while away a weekend day. I highly recommend it.
Way back about seven years ago, on December 15, 2016 (yes I actually looked it up to be sure) I did a blogpost that started with the following sentence: "It's hard to decorate a palm tree". Now here it is, a bit more than 7 years down the road and a lot of things have changed. Still one thing remains the same, it's still had to decorate a palm tree. But that hasn't stopped people from trying! After a two year break, finally, this year the Arboretum was decked out for Christmas again! YAYAYAYAYAY! One year they didn't go it because of that whole pesky pandemic thing and not wanting to encourage people to "congregate" and thereby sharing the contagion. The next year was after our biggest ever hurricane, Ian, and our city arborist (we have a city arborist??) declared that the green growing stuff was far too fragile following the storm to risk decorating. Bummer. While we understood, of course we did, we couldn't not help but be disappointed. Walking through the absolute chaos of Christmas Decorations in that park every year has become one of our favourite Florida Christmas Traditions. Naturally, after that long two year sabbatical, it was so exciting to see the decorations finally go up again! YAYAYAYAYAY! We did what we always do and walked through twice, once in the day time and once at night. And something we noticed this time was that while some displays were familiar, others were brand new. I don't know if it was new people decorating this year or the same good folks with new ideas. I suppose the reason doesn't matter, it was great fun. Somehow, as much as we were looking forward to the walk through the park, with one thing or another, we didn't get around to actually getting our fannies there until just a couple of days before Christmas. The daytime walk was grey and windy and our night walk through got cut short when it unexpectedly began to rain. Still we went, we enjoyed the heck out of it and I got a few photos. The two pictures at the top of the page are of the same tree, one in light the other, obviously at night. The decorators, cleverly wrapped the trunk of the very tall palm in coloured water proof wrapping before winding the lights around. Very Effective! Here is another example of how different the displays look, day to night. I offer you the traditional Christmas Flamingos (what? You don't have flamingos? Awwww I'm sorry) In the first one of course the large lit up flamingo is the star. In the second one the flamingo with lights is practically invisible and it's those little plastic lawn ornament flamingos that take center stage. It's all very fun and creative and artsy and traditional and old fashioned and new fashioned and I just can't seem to get enough of it. Here's a few of my favourites from this year: Hopefully nothing will prevent the Christmas Lights from going up next year and maybe, just maybe, next year I will do what I keep promising myself I'm going to do. Maybe next year I will sign up to be a decorator and be assigned my own tree! Gosh I hope it's Not a Palm Tree! Those things are buggers to decorate!
It's 2024! A brand New Year! I don't know about you, but even after all these years, I still get excited at the prospect of a New Year. I have no idea what the next 365 days will bring. Nobody does. You might have a fair guess at some of it, but not all. There's always some surprise that comes with a new calendar and I do love that! So far, the New Year is looking pretty good. Since it's now January 2024, that means that Christmas 2023 is officially over. I haven't managed to remove the outside lights yet but Tim and I took down what was left of the tree already. Usually I leave it up for awhile but this year, it was just looking kind of beat up, bedraggled and more than a little sad. I packed up the few ornaments we had on the tree but Tim bagged the tree remains and most of it is, right now, in the garbage can awaiting pick up. It'll take two separate garbage days to get it gone. Brysco and Wyatt watched the tree come down and same way they watched it go up. With great curiosity and fascination! I even took down the cards. I had them taped to the big old cased opening between the living and family rooms this year. High enough that those frisky kittyboys couldn't reach no matter how hard they tried. And believe you me, they tried. I love Christmas cards! We don't receive as many as we used to but it's enough to make me look forward to mail delivery every day during the Holiday Season. And they look so festive hung up. We ended up with 24 actual real life paper cards this year and I loved each and every one. They were all so very pretty. The breakdown went a little something like this: 2 cards - had only words on the front 5 cards - had foliage of some sort - one was a mix of pine branches and holly the rest were Pine trees, some decorated, some not 2 cards - had snoopy characters! And yes I know the cartoon is called Peanuts but let's face it, Snoopy is the star of that show 2 cards - had birds on the front 6 cards - had animals on the front. Broken down further it was: 1 fox, 1 horse, 1 long horned bull, 2 cats and one cat&dog. Nice! Amusingly, most of the cats were wearing sweaters and Christmas themed glasses - heh 1 card - was beautifully hand painted (wow!) 6 cards - photos of the people who sent the card. I enjoy those so much! And of course, other than the wreath and outside lights, which as I already mentioned, I haven't managed to work my way up to taking down, all indicators of Christmas 2023 have been removed. Now we are concentrating on 2024. I'm sure it will take me my usual few weeks to stop writing the wrong date on things. But otherwise, so far, it feels a whole lot like last year. It's much cool out, windows are open, I'm wearing long pants and sometimes a sweater. Tim of course, is still wearing shorts. As is normal for our town in winter, there has been a big uptick in people hereabouts, between tourists, snowbirds, visitors and those of us who live here full time, the restaurants and shops are a lot busier, the parker lots are fuller, the roads are busier and the lines are longer. But that is what happens when you live in a tourist destination town. Tim and I walked out the old year literally but going for a hike. It was a gorgeous afternoon and a great way to end the year. I didn't take a lot of photos, but here's a few: It was a perfect way to end a year, peaceful, beautiful and in nature. Later on of course, we could hear the fireworks that were crackling all around us. I guess that represent ed more of the excitement and fun of things!
We mostly relaxed and enjoyed the first day of the new year just hanging out together at home, running a few errands and eventually taking first, a drive and then a walk, and holding on to every last minute of a precious Monday off (for Tim) Today, the on the 2nd day of 2024, we are once again celebrating. Me by doing laundry and then going to a dental appointment and Tim by being back in his office, hard at work. We have a few things to learn about celebrating eh? Or perhaps we just make it a point to low -key celebrate and enjoy every day. Yeah, I think that's it. We did not however, make any resolutions. I learned a long time ago to not set myself up to fail. No good can come of that! Hope all of you had a Wonderful New Year Celebration, however you did it! Happy 2024 everybody. May it bring us all Good Health, Great Happiness and Load of fun! |
AuthorYup, this is me. Some people said, "Sam, you should write a Blog". "Well, there's a thought", I thought to myself. And so here it is. Archives
February 2025
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