Another year coming to a close

WHEN? Friday · December 24

WHERE? Lower Alabama

Here we are in Paradise (Lower Alabama) nearing our third year as 2010 is coming to a close. It seems many things have occurred since we settled down here. Here's what I have to say about that. It's the same thing I've mentioned before. If you are doing lots of things to write about, you don't have time to write about them. If you aren't doing much, what do you write? One of those quandaries. What results is one never really fully shares the exciting, newsworthy happenings because there is not time for that. When there is time on your hands and you'd like to think of something to share, the feeling is, it's not worth sharing mundane happenings. Perhaps we can just sum it up by saying –

♥ We still love living in LA ♥

This time of year beginning with Thanksgiving and running through the last day of the year and rapidly moving into New Years Day, has so much to do and be energized by that I am seriously thinking of taking off January of 2011 as a vacation from blogging. I've threatened this before and couldn't stick by it. Maybe, just maybe, next year I'll succeed.

Recently I have noticed TV shows such as Oprah, run their shows more than once, so I am going to refer you to some reruns from both of our blogs.

As I looked over previous blogs, I found this one from this blog in 2007: Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum

This reminded me of one of my projects I plan to complete before the Christmas decorations are stored away. I want to scan the Little Drummer Boy Christmas cards we have sent and received. Most people would probably think that's a waste of time. Well, that's the kind of priorities I set, so the really important things don't get done while a project like this does. If you are curious enough to check back, I plan to have them in one album on Flickr:
THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY - A Collection

As I looked over previous blog posts, I discovered that some of the links I gave you in previous posts no longer work. At first I thought I'd try to correct that, but life is just too short to spend my time on that. Most of the videos that do not work are from YouTube and the account has been closed because the user was infringing on copyright laws, etc. So, just let me apologize for the fact that they don't work and be done with it. If you want to mention a particular one to me, feel free to do so, and I'll see if there is something else I can substitute that does work on the post.

The other posts I wanted to run by you are from the LIVING... MAEDEANS STYLE blog:

One is also related to THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY:
Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum

The other is related to Wendell being the one who said "Christmas Eve Gift" first today on Christmas Eve:
Christmas Eve Gift

Here's one more I almost forgot:
O CHRISTmas Tree

By now, if you have been paying attention, you probably realize I like THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY. Yes, I know there is nothing in the Bible about him, but it was published in 1857 by James Pierpont, so we'll just say its a fictional legend, sort of like Rudolph and dare we even say the fat man in the red suit? All I know is I really think Jesus likes him too.

This is my final 2010 post, so let me send this wish to you from our house:

Merry Christmas and
Happy 2011!

Magic Christmas in Lights

WHEN? Friday · December 3

WHERE? Bellingrath Gardens and Home · Theodore, Alabama

Our youngest daughter treated us to the Lights Show put on each holiday season at Bellingrath Gardens and Home. It had particularly been recommeded to us from a long-time resident and friend from Mobile, so we knew it was well worth the trip to view it. We had not seen it already because we really don't like to drive at night. With Carla doing most of the night driving on our return home, we sprung for an unbelievably entertaining evening as we strolled the gardens decorated everywhere with seasonal light decorations while Christmas songs played from many speakers in the gardens. The weather could not have been better with calm winds and only the need for a jacket while leisurely walking all the paths.

• An early disappointment: We left our camera at home. Carla had hers, though, and snapped lots of photos as long as its battery allowed.
• A pleasant surprise: The area's frost-free autumn encouraged spectacular blooms on the gardens' flowering plants. The cascading chrysanthemums were fantastic, and the rose garden was prettier than when we visited last April. Although there were fewer roses today, the December blooms seemed invigorated by the cooler temps. We recommend arriving long before dark to see the beauty of the blooming plants, then stay for the lights after nightfall. The only negative about approaching it this way is that old joints tire before that much time and walking. Perhaps a better recommendation is to make two visits: one in the daytime and one in the evening.
• A clever plan: We arrived before dark and missed heavy traffic, some by the busloads, attending the special lights display. As we departed, vehicles were streaming in to enjoy holiday lights.

More photos would have been taken and probably some videos if we'd had our Canon camera. The reason we were unable to bring it finally unwound after lots of searching back at home. We theorized the camera had fallen out of my unzipped purse sitting on the bedroom floor and slid under the end of the bed out of sight.

Leaving our camera behind certainly didn't deter all three of us from enjoying our visit. The photos that Carla took with her camera illustrate what an impressive and entertaining evening it was:

Christmastime at Bellingrath Gardens

This Bellingrath Gardens video reveals more about this premier Christmas lights display: