November 2021December 2021 January 2022

12/31 - Into the Woods Up By The College

The day was sunny, but it was still quite cold. The snow was going to be with us for some time. We got out again. This time it was a walk up to the college and the woods behind it.

Our street

Sunlight

Snow covered everything

Snow in the forest

Sunlight and trees

One of the creeks

The collge

Melting ice, just barely

Mount Baker and a blue sky

Keywords: christmas

12/30 - Webster Woods - The Fine Arts Center

The roads were still treacherous, so we stayed close to home. The nice thing about loading the house with food for Christmas is that one has a lot of food in the house. It was still bitterly cold, in the teens, when we made our way over to the Fine Arts Center and Webster Woods.

This is a little arts center but the highlight is a forest full of art work. There are steel pieces, stone work and weavings throughout the woods which are knitted with trails. There are also some nice views of Port Angeles and the Strait of San Juan de Fuca.


Clear air today

Bare trees, gray sky, snow covered sculptures

A view of the town

A partially buried sculpture

Illuminated trees

One of the webs

Light in the forest

More light in the forest

The Pi

Christmas decorations?

More lights

Keywords: christmas

12/28 - Christmas in Our Neighborhood

There was pink light in the morning. We took a walk around the neighborhood deep in snow. The city had plowed our street though a fair bit of snow had accumulated since then. We walked up to Peninsula College and wandered around a bit. The air was extremely clear. We could see the San Juan Islands and Mount Baker beneath the gray cloudy sky.

Pink morning sky

Clear view

Across the strait

Near the college

More near the college

Snow covered trees

Seasonal decor

Another view of the strait

Mount Baker

Keywords: christmas

12/26 - Christmas Snow

There is nothing like the dark, the cold and the silence of the snow to make one appreciate Christmas lights.

The patio tree lit again

Some candles and a dark sky

The dark scene - This was not actually taken at noon.

Keywords: christmas

12/25 - Christmas Day and Lots of Snow

Christmas Day was as exciting as usual with its lights, our favorite foods and a bale of presents. We woke before dawn and found a further surprise. It was snowing and had been snowing for most of the night. We had almost a foot of snow, and it would snow all day. It was just as well that we aren't big ones for a Christmas Day hike or other outdoor activity.

The snow kept the sky dark much of the day and added a lot to the seasonal spirit. We turned on all our lights and hunkered down by the tree.

Christmas Day with the Kalebergs

Some of our neighbors and lots of snow

More neighbors and more snow

Our indoor tree at Christmas Maximum

Our outdoor tree

El Jefe in his Christmas swamp

Some other neighbors and even more snow

Keywords: christmas

12/24 - Almost Christmas

It's almost Christmas, so we're just about at Christmas Maximum.

Bumbles and Bumbles

Just about Christmas Maximum

Full lights and ornaments

El Jefe, an alligator friend we brought back from Georgia

The Christmas topper - sort of an LED free form

Keywords: christmas

12/11 - Christmas Party

We held a small Christmas party with a handful of vaccinated friends. We served our usual cassoulet with white beans, lots of duck confit and lots of garlic sausage. We had our traditional candle tree lighting outdoors which is much safer. It was cold, but nobody was in a hurry to come back inside. The candles were that beautiful.

Christmas is here

Cassoulet and brie en croute

Linzer tortes

The candle tree illuminated

Close up

Even closer

And closer

Keywords: christmas

12/10 - Christmas Lights

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The big tree with its topper

The mantel for the season

Our shaman

Setting things up

The patio tree

Dark test

Dark test II

Keywords: christmas

12/08 - Christmas Trees

We chose our Christmas trees, the large one for the living room and the smaller one for the patio, the very day we returned from our trip to Georgia. Now, they're set up and we are starting the decorating. This year, we are going heavy on the lights, LEDs and ceramics. We got a bit of a late start, but now we are catching up on Christmas.

The big tree

With its first round of lights

Dark test

Very dark test

Wreath and roping

The tree out back

Another view

Keywords: christmas

12/02 - Little St. Simon's Island to Charleston

We got up early on our last day at Little St. Simon's Island. There was still a red glow in the sky. OK, we didn't get up that early, but it was early enough to take a little walk and say goodbye to the vulture tree before breakfast and our drive back to Charleston.

Wow, we really don't miss I-95. We expected Thanksgiving holiday traffic. What we got was a half hour delay thanks to some huge thing two plus lanes wide being hauled slowly up the interstate. We have no idea what it was, but everyone had to squeeze around it. Luckily, our little Chevy fit just fine.

We finished up with dinner at Husk, the one in Charleston. We had even more shrimp, fried oysters, slow smoked pork ribs and fried catfish. We loaded up. We were heading back west the next day.


Saying goodbye to Little St. Simon's Island

Last of the dawn's light

Yes, we got up early.

More dawn light

The lodge

Last visit to the vulture tree - We had to say goodbye.

Countryside

A fire in our cottage

Seen from the ferry back

The view from our table at Husk in Charleston

En route to our hotel

Charleston streets

The city at night

More Charleston

Yet more Charleston - It was a nice long after dinner walk.

Back to Zero George

Lights at the hotel
   

Keywords: georgia

12/01 - Little St. Simon's Afternoon Walk

That afternoon, we had one of the naturalists drop us off towards the north end of the island so we could get a long walk back to the lodge. This time there were alligators as well as lots of birds, an armadillo and a variety of countryside. We stopped and checked out the various observation towers and viewing blinds and had a long, tiring but fascinating walk back to the lodge.

Some egrets

The drained land

An alligator and an egret

View of the water

Another view

The road

Another alligator

Lowlands

A bit of shade on the road

More birds

Yet another alligator

Scenery with an egret in flight

A view from an observation tower

Christmas colors

More of our road home

Another egret

A more forested part of the road

Another armadillo

More welcome shade on the road

Keywords: georgia

November 2021December 2021 January 2022