Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Bringing in December

Our temperatures dropped quite a bit two nights ago, just in time to usher in December and the longest nights of the year. I'm glad for it. It doesn't seem right to have warm weather this time of year. Temps have been getting down to freezing or a little below, and that's set to continue for the next couple of nights. Waking up to frost-sparkled mornings, I've revived my recent tradition of sitting by the fireplace in the morning with the Christmas tree lit and a cup of coffee. It's such a nice, peaceful way to start the day and gets my morning off on the right note.

We're still walking George a lot more than we used to. Every morning we go out for two laps around the neighborhood, which equals one mile, and now that it's cold we've contrived a sweater of sorts for George out of an old vest of Gregg's. He seems to really like it. (He's a weird dog. He'll hold his paws up for me to put his legs through the arm holes!) Note the wagging tail-blur:



We've come to treasure our twice daily walks around the neighborhood. There are three deer that we regularly see hanging out together at night. We all stop and look at each other for a while whenever we meet up, and they don't seem afraid at all. Usually after a few minutes they'll just quietly disappear into the shadows. We also hear a pair of Barred Owls calling back and forth at night. And every morning, we hear and sometimes see a pair of Cooper's Hawks patrolling for breakfast. There's a big bare tree top jutting above the rest of the trees across the street from our house that makes a fantastic perch for them. The fact that they perch on that particular piece of wood so often is the main reason I got Gregg a new pair of binoculars for his birthday, so he could get a closer look at them. Another thing that happens in the morning: a huge flock of geese fly over (they return at dusk) and honk up a storm as they go. You can almost set your watch by them.

This place is wonderful for wildlife. Thanks to the proximity of a creek and a wooded nature trail, we see and hear all kinds of birds, deer, foxes, rabbits, turtles (in the summer), squirrels, possums, turtles, and I hear that there are plenty of snakes around although we've only ever seen one so far, and it was dead in the road. All in all, it makes for a perfect neighborhood for two nature loving people like us. Our almost nightly encounters with deer seem almost magical this time of year.

Speaking of magical, we have 13 (and counting) neighbors who have put up Christmas trees in their windows and/or lights out on their lawns. It's so beautiful at night! I expect there will be more as we get closer to Christmas. One neighbor in particular has a display that Gregg and I both thought was very good. It's a big bright star up high on the garage that shines a spotlight down onto a wooden manger filled with hay and a lifelike newborn doll nestled within. Although we're not Christians, the beautiful simplicity of it seems quite touching. We've never seen anything quite like it. I'll try to get a photo of it at some point to share with you all. In the meantime, here is George with our Christmas tree:


I hope you all are having a nice beginning to the holiday season!

46 comments:

  1. George looks great in his sweater. Lots of lights are going up in my neighborhood also. I have just started putting out one box of decorations a day so no tree up yet - maybe by the weekend... People need cheer right now...
    Thanks for the sweet post!

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    1. Cheer, yes. We all need more if it these days! Thanks for stopping by, Ellen.

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  2. I like the fact that George's sweater is red. Very appropriate for Xmas. Perhaps you can make him a white beard and teach him to say "Ho! Ho! Ho!" instead of "Woof! Woof! Woof!"

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    1. George is the weirdest dog we've ever had so far. He'd probably LIKE a white beard since he loves wearing clothes. We thought the red looks nice with the holiday season upon us! :)

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  3. My season's going great! We have lots of wildlife, too, but no owls. Lots of deer to be careful of driving home, and lots of geese, and now and then I'll have to dump a possum out of the recycle can. it is fun. The cooler weather is a relief. we had such a warm summer.

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  4. Wonderful post today !
    That is what I like about where I live,
    all the wildlife.
    cheers

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  5. George is quite the handsome guy in his red sweater. The outdoor display with the spotlight and manger sounds simple and pretty and I look forward to a photo of it. You are ahead of me in putting up your tree.

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    1. So....the manger is lovely, but one thing spoils it. There's an cross beside it lit up with LED lights (that awful cold light!) and a lit up sign that says something about the baby Jesus crying because he foresaw his death on the cross. I understand (thanks to a Catholic blog that I read) that Advent is a time to not only reflect on the first coming of Christ, but on his eventual return. Still, it looks weird and definitely takes away from the beauty of the bright star shining down on the baby in the manger. I'll get a picture of it all to show you, though.

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  6. George looks very stylish in his red vest, such a happy dog. What great post.

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    1. Thanks Doc! George looks really good in red and he knows it!

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  7. George! He looks great. How nice to have a star and a wooden manger. I see too many ugly, plastic mangers.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. See my reply to Terra, above. BUT, the manger is beautiful and the newborn doll in it is very lifelike. The large star with a spotlight shining down from the center is perfect, and I've never seen a lawn nativity to beat it.

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    2. Oh. I read your reply. It takes away from the beauty, doesn't it?

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  8. George is a cutie, such a good little companion to take you on walks!

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    1. George loves walks more than almost anything!

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  9. George looks good in red.

    People started putting their lights up and on before Thanksgiving this year. We all need some joy this year.

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  10. It's wonderful that you live near a nature trail with lots of wildlife! George looks so nice in his red sweater and it's great that he likes it too. We got our tree up yesterday but so far it only has the lights on it. I'll get it decorated eventually!

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    1. No need to rush! Taking your time decorating would be a great activity to be slow and mindful.

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  11. George looks so proud of his read sweater. It's the way he is holding his head and looking into the camera. It would be almost magical to see the deer like you guys get to.

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    1. It really is magical to see deer at night when it's all frosty outside! They're utterly silent and way bigger than they seem.

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  12. cute georgie in his holiday sweater! your morning routine sounds refreshing.

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  13. You truly have found not only the perfect house for you, but also the perfect location, and your nightly walks sound wonderful, especially this time of year. A pair of binoculars is a great gift!
    As if on cue, we had our first snow fall this season on December 1st - it did not last long, but it was nice to start the Christmas month with a bit of snow. Now that I work almost exclusively from home, I am not bothered much by how the snow in the city turns into a brown-grey slush so quickly.

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    1. PS: I love the image of you sitting by the fireside with the Christmas tree lit up, having your morning coffee!

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    2. Oh! How I envy you a snowfall already even if it was small and short lived! I always dream of snow at Christmas, but the one time we actually had snow on the ground on Christmas Day my grandfather died unexpectedly. I was 14. I sure wish it would happen again so I'd have new memories of Xmas snow!

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  14. I have to agree with your morning ritual. Nothing like yourself and a lit Christmas tree and a beverage and just take it all in.

    I do believe red is George's color Jen.

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    1. I treasure the 30-45 minutes I have all to myself first thing in the morning while I drink my first cup of coffee. Cold mornings where I can turn on the fireplace and the Christmas tree are extra special.

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  15. Your photo of a sweatered George just made the start of the season a bit better.

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    1. I can't help but laugh at him a little but he really does like it! Haha!

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  16. I love that photo of George in his sweater! He looks so excited. You're so lucky to live in a place with so much nature around. Even here in the city we get a fair amount, but we'd certainly never see anything like a deer.

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    1. We've had so many deer encounters lately that we look for them every single night! And unless it's raining we never miss a night or morning walk these days.

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  17. So sweet, Jennifer. I know that buying your house was a huge and stressful thing but you got the right one for your loving little family.

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    1. We feel like we were meant to be here. Thank you Ms. Moon.

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  18. Not much nature in our neighbourhood, except for the park I mentioned before, and the Stormont Estate which is a couple of miles away. The only animals I see regularly are squirrels, usually scuttling away into hiding as soon as they spot me!

    Lots of Christmas trees around here too, set up much earlier than usual to pre-empt all the closed shops in the second lockdown.

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    1. We see LOTS of squirrels, too. And here's a weird thing....I swear we thought we saw two squirrels having sex the other day. That was a first!

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  19. Some animals seems grateful for extra warmth. A friend had a collection of children's tee shirts for her cat. He wore them year round.

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    1. I have another photo of George in a gray sweatshirt! Wait till you see it!

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  20. I love that picture of George in his vest. He looks so very eager for what comes next!

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  22. Dog walks! There is no greater pleasure for a pooch !
    I hope you two have many lovely walks in the new year.

    ReplyDelete
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