Sweet spot

Black vulture in photo.

Along highway 41 in south Florida, species list from a 30-minute stop:
Great blue heron, snowy egret, great egret, white ibis, tri-colored heron, double-crested cormorant, green heron, wood stork, black vulture, turkey vulture, northern mockingbird, anhinga, gators, little blue heron, kingfisher, turtles.

One identified bittern-ish heron and perhaps a great white heron.

Excellent!
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Merry Christmas, 2008

Greetings from Key West, where Christmas Day has been balmy and beautiful. We spent the day beaching and biking, and Jacob learned to sail. Weather permitting, the Q will do the same tomorrow.

Best to all for a great holiday season.
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Spring House in snow.

On Limestone Road, Hockessin, Delaware.

Visiting the parents for the weekend, and this morning is cold. A little snow last night has left about an inch on the ground but the snow was polite enough to melt off the road, at least mostly.

UPDATE: Visited Bombay Hook, a wildlife refuge in Delaware. The drive down Route 9 was excellent, and the tide was going out so the road was not under water. Many snow geese (primarily off-refuge) and assorted water fowl. Also 2 foxes and a raccoon. Thanks, Dad and Kent, for a nice day.

But it is cold here and the wind is evil. New Mexico's warmth will be welcome on Monday.

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Sunday wrap-up

Good weekend, but not without complications.

An excellent Thanksgiving dinner, as usual, with the Silvas. We were down a few people, but up some new ones. The politics talk was more mellow (thanks, P-E Obama) and it was good to be there.

Friday, Stu, Jacob, and Mel made it to the top of the Organs for our second ascent. Socked in by fog, so no view, but beautiful crystalline frost at the top on the east side. Clouds were roiling through the small gap we cross into the Tularosa Basin, and the wind was fierce.

Saturday Quincy played with the Band at LCHS's semi-final football game against Mayfield in a rematch of the big rivalry. Only 20K fans at this one, so smaller crowd than usual. Jake and I went shopping during the game (fewer people in stores). Oh, and LCHS will play next weekend in Albuquerque against Eldorado for state championship. Woot!

We toook Jake to El Paso this morning for his flight back to Willamette. And tomorrow Stu will go to the doc to see if he just has a kicker of a cold or something to be more concerned about.

Will post pix later...

Holiday

Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday of the year.

Good friends gather a nearby house for good food, music, conversation. Each year we all have more gray hair, more wrinkles, but more stories to tell about how we got them. We started doing this when kids could still be carried to the car at the end of the day, and now we send them out for errands (but not yet to re-stock the wine stores).

And Jacob is about to start on his way home, so this year he will add stories about his travels and time away.

Peace.

Moment of morning Zen

A good morning ride gets me started with exercise, a chance for reflection, and on auspicious rides, a moment of Zen. In warm months, the moment comes when I ride under the interstate bridge and am greeted, on some days, by swallows catching the early bugs. Nesting season is sweet!

Then the swallows migrate away, and my Zen moments move to the duck pond. Although the pond is usually filled with hybrid waterfowl, I catch an occasional white-fronted goose, mallard, egret, or heron (a coot or two arrive in time for the afternoon ride).

But there are other moments, like the brief tunnel of trees that lead off the International Mall toward Milton Hall on the northwest side of Corbett Center. The picture above does not do justice to the brilliant colors: yellow on the bottom grades to orange in the middle and to flaming red on the top, with the occasional green holdout near the trunk. The colors glow under the vibrant New Mexico sky.

And on days when the moments of Zen elude, there is always the Daily Show!

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Saturday news

Farmer's market regains much of its charm after missing a couple weeks. And I found locally made cheeses for Thanksgiving.

Saw the LCHS prodeuction of Beauty and the Beast -- the orchestra sounded great, kids on stage acted theis hearts out, and Stu's set looked great. But light cues were off (main light operator was out) and some sound problems gave the kids more hassles than they shoudl have had to deal with. Nonetheless, the audience loved it and lots of little girls dressed in Belle costumes adored the experience.

Big week next week. Jake will be home Wednesday. I expect he will eat and sleep and eat some more. Thanksgiving day will be celebrated once again at the Silva Leonardi's with long-standing friends.

And the day after Thanksgiving, BIG HIKE! The usual suspects are hiking again to the top of the Organs and I plan to be there.

Saturday will be another LCHS football game. The team is doing well, so the band keeps going until the football team loses. Can't get enough of afternoons and evenings selling concessions...