Snow flurries began at sunset tonight all across Austin. I know it won’t stick but just seeing these little flakes falling turns me into a middle-aged kid. It’s not enough snow for snowballs but it is enough for hot cocoa!
Category: inspiration
Backyard visitor.
Nearly every day I see a Cooper’s Hawk in the backyard. I think there is a juvenile and an adult that visit. I watched this adult in the birdbath on Thanksgiving Day Eve. It may be a female, as they are larger than a male, and this bird is pretty big. Not a great quality photo because it was taken through a window, but what a beautiful bird.
Scenes from a boat parade.
Last night Mike and Lori joined us to watch the Lake Travis Christmas Boat Parade. We put a few lights on Nirvana and cruised along with the other boats. It was a beautiful, not-cold night; fun!
Red.
Pretty poinsettia. 
Stereotyping.
My sister and brother-in-law are visiting. This morning the guys are out in the shop making sawdust. The gals are in the kitchen listening to Christmas music making good things. 🙂
I’ve cooked a lot of cranberry sauce from the whole berries, but I have never seen a slice of cranberry before.
Humble.
I joined Laura and Ann downtown tonight to help serve an early Thanksgiving dinner tonight for homeless Austinites and others in need of some extra care. We dished up over 400 plates of food before our shift was over. There were many more that were served before the night was through.
The event was lovingly orchestrated by Mobile Loaves & Fishes.
It’s not much. Just a tiny drop in the sea of need to help our brothers and sisters. But I hope it brought a bit of cheer and fellowship.
Peace to you and yours.
Falling leaves…
We were treated to beautiful autumn color on our trip to Louisville. One of my favorite songs to get stuck in my head is Nat King Cole singing Autumn Leaves.
Photo manipulated with Brushstroke iphone app.
Todo list.
🙂
Roadtrip!
Since we are (mostly) unencumbered by commitments, we took a road trip over the weekend to Louisville, to attend our niece’s wedding. We extended it a day or two to squeeze in a couple of additional visits in Indiana and Kentucky before heading back home. It was a beautiful and heartfelt wedding. The fall foliage was beautiful. We were able to play tourist a little bit. And we are now back home safe and sound.
Mary Anne and Chris did it up right. We enjoyed the ceremony, the reception and, most importantly, the time spent with family visiting and telling stories and laughing. Not everyone could be there, and Gene & Jo were sorely missed.
We visited some wonderful places in Louisville.
The Louisville Stoneware factory got my potter juices flowing:
The FlameRun glass-works gallery and working studio:
The Louisville Slugger factory & museum:
The Big Four pedestrian (former railroad) bridge over the Ohio River:
And then we popped over to Indiana to visit Charlie & Kathy, and enjoyed the night life and autumn beauty of Madison.
Will Carter and Trisha Gene Brady performed at Red Bicycle Hall.
This is the amazing view of the Ohio River valley from their living room!
Then we stopped in the hills outside Bowling Green for a day with Lanny, and I scoped out all the birds I could find. The bird on the left is a lifer for me – a white-breasted nuthatch; a carolina chickadee on the right. I do love the birdies!
Another trip in the books. It’s also nice to be home 🙂
Eye of the beholder.
The view from a ladies’ room bathroom stall.
New day.
I caught a glimpse of the crescent moon this morning as the sun was coming up behind it. Only a week ago I was watching the moon rise, just past full, over the desert. It made me think about how Time passes and Life happens. The James Taylor song Secret o’Life popped into my head. Give it a listen here. Enjoy the day.
Desert bird report.
In addition to having a wonderful visit with old friends, I did see birdies while visiting Palm Desert last over the weekend.
Right outside our house there were 2 palm trees on an island in a large pond on the golf course. Every night cormorants and egrets would come and roost. They came late and left early. I counted at least two dozen at one point. This is a shot from one morning as the sun was rising.
An American Kestrel visited me while I was drinking coffee one morning; he’s backlit by the rising sun. This is the first picture I have ever gotten of one.
A blue heron made an appearance. There were a number of mallard ducks in the ponds at the golf course. I saw a belted kingfisher flying away from the pond every night. We had a couple of bewick’s wrens scolding us when were out on the patio. We had many hummingbirds buzzing around. A flock of Canada geese flew over us on the way to the airport. There was a flock of unidentified colorful birds that stopped in a Joshua tree while we were in the park, but I didn’t get a good look. I also saw a verdin, and a cactus wren; both firsts for me.
Henry sez…
I’m headed home after a wonderful weekend with two lovely ladies that I wish I had kept in closer touch with over the years. But, thankfully, we picked up where we left off – and then some. It was a really great visit. I’m looking forward to all the others. 🙂
FaceTiming with the bird.
Today was another lovely day in Palm Desert. Irene and I took a long walk this morning and found two geocaches along the way. We all had massages this afternoon and then grabbed a bite to eat while watching the end of the Seahawks game at a restaurant nearby. We won!
Back at the house we did our best to finish off all the food and wine we had bought for the long weekend. We stayed in the hot tub again looking at the moon and stars til we were pruned.
We also face timed with Keeto, a first for both of us. Goodnight birdie!
Sheila365 