Happy New Year

 

               

Gerri & I wish all our friends and fellow bloggers a very Healthy, Happy New Year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  John 1:1

                        

And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. John 1:14 

 

Gerri & I would like to wish all our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy Happy New Year!

The Bug Got Me!

 

There is a “bug” going around and it found its way to me!   I have had it for over a week.  A wicked, mean “bug.”  A deep, down in my lungs, type cough.   I lost my voice and just felt really awful.  Now I’m having trouble eating.  This isn’t the flu or a cold it is probably some type of virus.  One of the meds the doctor prescribed contained codeine so I don’t remember much about last week.  I slept my way through most of it.  I have tons of blogs to catch up on.  Just wanted you to know why I haven’t commented.

Sunday, as I drifted in and out, I noticed a beautiful bird at our little bird bath by our sunroom door.  It took a minute or two for me to finally realize it was a Bluebird.  I love Bluebirds and have tried to lure them to our yard.  We had a few drop by this past spring/summer but they went on to better pastures.  That might be the problem.  We have a very woody back yard and blue birds like open areas.  But on this chilly Sunday afternoon there sat a beautiful Bluebird.  As luck would have it…I had NO camera.  I did call Mike to come and look because I didn’t want to be accused of hallucinating on my meds.  I wasn’t sure any stayed around in this area during the winter but apparently one did.

Same day but a little later……I was once again waking up from my codeine induced slumber when I noticed this larger bird sitting on top of one of our bird houses.  I looked at him for a minute or two and then realized he was some sort of hawk. 

            

I called Mike to come take a look and he also thought it was a hawk.  We got out our binoculars and quickly noticed why he was perched on the bird house.  He was having lunch.  Obviously he had killed his prey and was dining on top of the bird house. 

         

 

                                  

Mike got his camera and we began to snap a few pics.  We think he was a juvenile Red Tailed Hawk but we are not certain so if any veteran birders out there have a different identification please let us know.  We are still in the learning stage!

            

So the excitement for the week has been, to sleep rest and begin to feel better which is just what is happening.  Today is Wednesday and it has been my best day so far. 

Now I need to get my Christmas shopping done….quickly!!

Reflections on Change

                

                              

I received my monthly bulletin from Wild Birds Unlimited today and as I was reading the article titled “Reflections on Change” I started thinking about the concept of change.  In the past year and half “change” could have taken on our middle name.  We have certainly experienced some during this time.  However, I started thinking about change in relationship to Christmas.  The message of Christmas is timeless.  It has not changed in thousands of years.  In all the “change” that has occurred in our lives and in the world around us this message remains a constant.  God remains the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  He does not change and isn’t that a comforting thought in this world of constant change?? 

            

            

               

                

So this is our first Christmas in our new home.  It has been fun to unpack many of the cherished items of Christmas’ past.  I have enjoyed finding just the right spot for items we have bought through the past 29 years.  Then there are the ornaments given to me by students that I have taught through the years.  What a joy to remember each child!!   I can’t forget to mention the little handmade items Stephen made as he journeyed through grade school.  All special, and all part of our lives.  It has been fun but the thing that makes it special is the love felt by this family.  It is the same love we felt last year and the year before and so on.  It is a love that binds us through life’s rough times as well as the smooth times.  Even though it has been fun seeing all my cherished “things” this is not what has made it special.  The family and friends make it special.  This is a beautiful lesson I learned while full-timing.  It is all about the heart, the people, The Love!

As we enter this Christmas season I am reminded of the blessings of Christmas.  These blessings are constant.  They were with us when we decorated our motor home for Christmas, they are with us now in our new home.  It is certainly not the size of the “home” that determines the blessings.  It is the love!

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

               

Gerri and I would like to wish all our friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving. 

I am thankful for my wife, Gerri and our son Stephen.  We are thankful that we live in America, still a land of freedom.  We have so many  freedoms and many of which we take for granted.  We are thankful to be able to freely worship God at church and in our daily lives and that God created us with remarkable bodies that modern medical science still doesn’t fully understand.  For our minds, emotions and our conscience that no computer will ever match. We are thankful for the Lord who gave His life that we may have life and life everlasting in and through Him.

We are also very thankful for our friends, though some we have never met. 

There are just so many things to be thankful for, we sometimes forget or take them fro granted.

To all, Happy Thanksgiving!

A Fall Morning and God’s Glory…All in Our Backyard

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.  ~Stanley Horowitz

        

             

          

         

         

         

         Just wanted to share the beauty of God’s painting from our backyard and patio. 

       We hope each of you have a grand day!

Good Food and New Friends

                

This morning Gerri & I decided to drive to the Country Store at Callaway Gardens for lunch. They make a mean Brunswick Stew with cornbread and biscuits with homemade Muscadine Preserves. We were able to sit in the area overlooking the nature of Callaway.

            

            

At a distance, we could see where they were getting things set up for the 27^th running of The Steeplechase.

           

As we left the Country Store, we walked across the street to the overlook area and enjoyed spending a few moments viewing the sites there.

           

Right across from the Country Store is the entrance to FDR State Park. While you are making that drive in the park, The Pine Mountain Hiking Trail crosses this road in several locations.

          

         

         

         

It is a very popular trail and Gerri & I have hiked several portions of it. Being that it is the fall season and the trees are beautiful, we wanted to drive through parts of the state park to meet Susan and Sam who are presently hosting at FDR campground. They contacted us when they arrived at FDR and we have wanted to meet them since. We have been reading each other’s blog for some time now and were anxious to meet them. We recognized each other right away and after the “formal introductions”, we sat out and visited for about 2 hours as if we had been friends for a long time. We had wanted to meet them for several weeks and glad were able to make that connection. They volunteer a good bit at state parks and do a great job for them. You can read about them on their blog Beach Bummz. We really enjoyed meeting Sam & Susan and had so much fun just sitting out in the campground enjoying the fellowship and the beauty of the day. When it was time for us to head home, we decided to get together later this month and visit some more over a meal…sounds like a lot of fun!

We took some pictures of the trees in the campground and wanted to share them with you.

              

              

             

            

           

It was a refreshing drive and visit with Susan and Sam. Life is good and God is great!

Fun Food and Fellowship

                     

Friday Gerri and I got an early start by going to the pier in Fairhope on a bright and sunny day.  Not only is there a pier, but also a little park and beautiful roses. 

         

         

        

We walked around the park and then onto the pier, it was so relaxing and peaceful.

While we were there, we met a really nice older man, Mr. Simms.  He came up to us and started sharing information about Fairhope as well as himself.  He is a retired pilot and his wife has Alzheimer’s disease.  He enjoys his daily trip to the pier and visiting with people while there.  To him it is his way of sharing with folks as well as a time for himself.  Before he left, he took a picture of Gerri & me and we told him our next time down, we would look for him on the pier.

             

           

When we left the pier, we spent some time in town going through many of the very unique shops in Fairhope.  It really is a very unique town and we really enjoy our times there.

      

We called and talked with Darrell and Judy and decided to meet at Big Daddy’s Grill for lunch and fellowship.  So a little after 11:30, we got together and had a great meal and even greater conversation and fellowship time. 

              

Isn’t it really neat that you can be apart for about 2 years, yet when you get together again, you just pick up where you left off like you had just seen each other the day before.  Darrell and Judy had to go to Pensacola to pick up his glasses and Gerri & I wanted to go to the beach at Gulf Shores.  So we went our separate ways and had a very relaxing and peaceful time at the beach.

     

    

Later in the day we got back together with Darrell and Judy at the pier to take some pics of the sunset over the bay.  Unfortunately it was cloudy and very windy and the waves choppy. 

     

Since there was no sunset to be had, we decided to go to Ruby Tuesdays for a dessert and coffee.  After about an hour and half of visiting over our dessert, we did our hugs and “see you down the road “, we headed back to the hotel.

             

It was a great day and we had a grand time.  Life is good and God is great!