Winter

This is a good time of the year, for me, as we move through the "holiday season" and pass through the Winter Solstice, in the Northern Hemisphere. 

Here in the Southeastern U.S., we have 4 distinct seasons, to be sure, but winter isn't normally too difficult, unless you're high up in the mountains (Southern Appalachians).

Many of you, who might read this, are in MUCH farther northern areas than I am, so count me a wimpy winter person;  I'm mindful of that.

I spent an academic year in Germany several decades ago, and thought the winter was pretty darn difficult and dark. Light at 8 am, twilight at 3:30- 4 pm. I was not happy, although I loved the festive season around Christmas, and the holiday markets.

Holiday lights, the Solstice to come, and longer days all beckon. 

And I'm glad to have a dose of Southern hemisphere summer for a few weeks, too. When we return in early January, it's not so long until the early flowers of Asian species pop out, and our native woodland wildflowers are not long behind.

It was fun to read my older posts tagged winter!  Perhaps you'll enjoy them, too.

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More holiday thoughts

This is really another test Blogsy post.
Here's Woody on the trail. It's hard to leave him at home, when we're traveling, but he's always in good hands.

Posted with Blogsy

Geez, it actually worked!

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Christmas lights

I was reminded, thinking about Christmas, and traveling to come, and various places that we've been over the holidays - of the wonderful lights in Lecce, in Southern Italy some years back.

They were magical, above the streets of the old town's (now) pedestrian walkways.
 

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Traveling over winter break

Holidays are interesting times. We're heading off on Friday for three weeks of traveling, and I've been making sure everything is "battened down" here at home, etc. with house-sitters, mail and newspapers held, plant care instructions, and bills paid in advance, etc. etc.

It's a familiar dance, but is always a bit stressful (an understatement) to make sure everything is taken care of! I'm blessed to be able to travel, for sure.

We're headed to mountains, forests, and streams, with long summer days this time of the year (in Argentina). We'll be in Buenos Aires for a bit, but then mostly in the Argentinian Lake District (Northern Patagonia).

It's always interesting to see how Christmas and New Year's are celebrated in wherever we are; I expect a combination of restrained celebration with over-the-top commercial stuff, too. We'll see.

But most importantly, it'll be fascinating to explore the drier side of the Andes, too.  We visited the Chilean side (the wetter side) 12 years ago on a wonderful trip, which included a much farther south trek through Torres del Paine and Punta Arenas.

Lake Pehoe refugio at Torres del Paine National Park

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Woody's perch

I thought I had some better photos of Woody's perch.  He looks so delightful when we return from dinner or an outing without him (not frequent....)

A rescue boy, with an affinity for getting into trouble (think cat poop, decomposing debris, etc., with resulting MAJOR digestive issues, and expensive vet bills), he's become an indoor fellow, in spite of his size. 

He gets very long walks several times a day, so no need to feel sorry for him.

He snoozes most of the day, but when we're away from the house, he loves his perch!

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Connecting with nature through art

I've had a great time tip-toeing back into doing art that connects me with nature.  Nature has been a touchstone for me, although art (aside from photography) has been absent for a long time.

Doing watercolor classes has been great fun recently, and helping me get through some of the "art blocks" that I still have.

This exercise was one of the most recent, in a class with Elizabeth Ellison, and I liked how it turned out.

So I was delighted to see (via a good friend) that I could have the image printed, put on mugs, placed on a shower curtain, or duvet.  Wow, who knew!

I'll be ordering a mug for myself -- perfect for morning coffee.

It will be a reminder to be creative every day.

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Traveling

I'm fussing around this evening trying to make sure that I remember how Blogsy works, with its tricky interfaces with photos, Picasa, etc.

It's the best option for blog posting on an iPad, still, apparently. I first used it 2 years ago in Germany, then a bit in the Caribbean.

In Colombia last winter, Google refused to recognize that I might be traveling, without a smart phone to receive a text message to confirm that I actually was "me."

They actually did that again this evening, when I'm home, just because I accessed Picasa (which they own) from an unfamiliar device (iPad), and hadn't done so for quite awhile. Hhmrph.

Posting photos hardly seems like a high-security endeavour. And, of course, they'd like to have me switch my log-in to my Blogger account (also a Google group) to a gmail account, even though they don't allow using a gmail account as a secondary "security" email -- go figure.

In any case, a few weeks without posting anything is not the end of the world, but it's become a touchpoint and reflection for me. I may need to fall back on notebook and pencil, which isn't a bad thing.

Today, I'm thinking that the fall color is stretching on -- with the oak leaf hydrangea out my study window still vibrant and the blueberries in the front now a scarlet red.

Hmm, I'll have to add the photo for that from my desktop! I'm still blocked from logging into to Picasa, for some reason.

Posted with Blogsy

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