December Things

In December I bid farewell to my spot in McIntosh and will be away for almost a year. Farewell to morning sunrises,

To all the birds: my buddy the red-tailed shouldered (thanks, Birdie, I knew that) hawk who greeted me daily,

the stately wood storks,

 the new to me hooded merganzers, male and

 female,

the sand hill cranes, and others who entertained me there.

Farewell to my red-hatter friends from church. May the God bless you in the coming year.

Farewell to my favorite kayaking river too. I will miss it all, but will soon be off on a new adventure.

But first to Georgia to spend Christmas with my family. I found good kayaking at my campground here.

And other birds to watch. Coots on a foggy morn,

A gaggle of geese,

 and a lonely loon in his winter plumage.

My daughter and I got some face time on our iPads, lol.

 I enjoyed my granddaughter's performance in her Christmas Pageant.

 Ashley played one of the Wise Men, with a gift of Frankincense.

 Where she had a speaking and singing part.

 Of course it was fun to watch the other children too, like the shepherds. Pay attention to the little one....the nose,

 the mouth,

 the hand!

I had fun playing with friend Kaitlyn's Christmas puppy. Much as my children wanted me to, I did not adopt one yet.

 WE took the grandkids to Harlem. (Georgia, that is)

Made famous as the birthplace of Oliver Hardy.

Of course the grandkids never heard of Laurel and Hardy, so a trip to the museum was in order.

 Where we watched one of their short comedy films. The kids laughed, but if you ask them, it wasn't funny.

 The museum is filled with Laurel & Hardy memorabilia.

 Next we checked out the murals on Main Street.

The original mural on the old theater building.

 This time of year it's not the ordinary deer you have to watch out for at night.

One night we all visited the "Lights of the South".

 Acres of light displays. Everything from the Christmas nativity to fairy tales.

 One section was a tribute to the military.

 Spider Man

 Reflected flamingos,

 Lots of color...

 The swan was my favorite.

 Afterwards, a cold ice cream treat. Left to right, daughter Jennifer, son-in-law Rich, married to daughter Heather. Christmas is also their anniversary.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. From Bandit and me.