Several holidays are gathered together this time of year. Some of us celebrate holidays. Some do holidaze - going overboard in some way or another. We all make choices. I wish a happy season, and a prosperous year to you.
HOLIDAYS? Or, HOLIDAZE?
- Thread starter Kayak Jack
- Start date
Merry Christmas to all and to all a very safe and joy filled New Year.
By the way forget any diet you might be on , the 1st of the year was designed for starting or going back on a diet.
What a way to end the year.........Just finished mowing the lawn. The sun is shinning , a slight breeze is swaying the Spanish Moss with the sound of lawn mowers in the neighborhood.
By the way forget any diet you might be on , the 1st of the year was designed for starting or going back on a diet.
What a way to end the year.........Just finished mowing the lawn. The sun is shinning , a slight breeze is swaying the Spanish Moss with the sound of lawn mowers in the neighborhood.
In '73, I mowed the lawn on New Year's eve. I had to watch out for poisonous habu snakes, and trim around the 18' tall poinsettia (honest to god. I was on Okinawa). Now, I end the year relaxing, warching cardinals (the kind that fly), watching grandkids, and with sounds of the maid cleaning upstairs.
And, maybe sipping some egg nog.
And, maybe sipping some egg nog.
After the mower was put back in the workshop out on the back porch , in the shade , sipping a unsweetened Ice Tea. Perfect weather , what I call natural air conditioning , 45 in the morning with it climbing all the way to 65 this afternoon. No cardinals today but a few hawks and some robins.
"O" I have to tell you guys this...... We have a stray cat that we have been feeding for the last 5 or so years. We get him the good kibble ( Blue Buffalo )which is mostly salmon with some grains added in. Anyway he does not eat all of it and sometimes the neighborhood cats or anouhter stray stop by for a snack which gives me some fun running them off.
Well something has been stealing his chow for some time and I thought it was those cats. Watching his bowl just outside the back porch I noticed a blue jay swoop down and proceed to pig out on that cat food.
Thinking I finally found out who the thief was I got another surprise. On the peak of the workshop was this buzzard roosted there staring in the direction of the cats food.
Wings out and a nice glide right down to the ground a few feet from the bowl. He swaggered over to the bowl and started feeding. Holy Cow here comes another one. Two of them so I stepped out to the porch and away they flew , right to the top of the work shop and sat there looking at me.
All this time the cat is sleeping about 10 feet from the food bowl oblivious to everything. I think he might of opened one eye and looked at me but I will not swear to it.
Guess he's doing what cats do the best , sleep.
I had an experience about 12 years ago, when I'd pulled the canoe in to canp for the night. A squadron of 12-13 buzzards were circling overhead. I made it a point to keep moving and not sit still. Finally, they moved on.
In the Okefenokee Swamp for a five day trip we put in at Kingfisher landing and paddled to Maul hammock for the 1st night. The chickee at the north side of the lake is the highest item to be found. Because of that it became a roost for every buzzard in that area. Fortunately half of it was covered and fairly free of buzzard droppings but the rest is , the rest of the story.
No choice on where to spend the night unless you wanted to sleep in your canoe. Under that chickee's cover was the only dry place and only place above the water line for miles around. It was rainy , cold and the whole place had a sheet of ice over it in the morning. Inside a tent was the best choice. That sheet of ice did help to control the unusual aroma of the place a lot.
Tuesday evening, we had our Christmas party at our Masonic lodge here. It was pure Midwest-small-town-Americana. If Norman Rockwell were still alive, he would have been there painting. Santa (a good friend of mine whom I first met when he was an 11 year old Boy Scout) handed out presents from under the tree. As he called out the name on the gift tag, and a recipient in the crowd would raise a hand, one of the several kiddies would run the present over. Those kids are so darned cute. Twelve-fifteen years ago, my Granddaughter was one of those lottle runners.
Warms the cockles of your heart. (A cockle is a valve, I think)
Warms the cockles of your heart. (A cockle is a valve, I think)