An unapologetic plant geek shares advice and opinions on gardening, the contrived and the natural landscape, as well as occasional topics from the other side of the gate.

November 29, 2014

Thanksgiving Roll (Camera Roll, not Dinner Roll)

     Here are some of the photos I took over the Thanksgiving Day holiday, which as usual, we spent on Virginia's beautiful Eastern Shore.

     The first photo was taken from my parent's front porch Thanksgiving morning. Unfortunately my camera did not adequately capture the pink glow happening in the sky, but some things can only be experienced and not explained, nor photographed. Weather-wise, this was the best part of the day, but that was that was fine by me, as I always think of Thanksgiving as in inward, indoorsy sort of holiday.
  Day of Thanks

     On Black Friday, I opted to keep far from the orgy of consumerism going in some places. Instead we visited the quiet town Onancock and Ker Place, home of the Eastern Shore Historical Society. Several artisans had set up shop in the old mansion, which I quickly breezed through, preferring instead to get closer to the 200-year-old sycamores out front. In winter this species always reminds of bleached whale bones.
Ker Place


Platanus occidentalis (1)

Platanus occidentalis (2)

     My son is almost a man now. This fall has been the season that chickens have come home to roost, so to speak, and I have a whole new appreciation (and regret) for what I put my own parents through when I was his age. Like the trees, I think we will both survive.
Young Man and Old Tree

     Later in the afternoon, I had a nice walk with the dogs along the shores of Metompkin Bay, though it was quite cold and very windy. It gave me chance to tinker with my new phone.

     This morning before we left, another beautiful sunrise revealed itself
Saturday Sunrise


Sunrise with Geese

Frosted Marsh (2)

Frosted Spatina

Frosted Solidago

Frosted Marsh (1)

      I hope all of you had a chance to spend the holiday with family and friends, and that you were able to take a few moments to remember what really matters in this world. I'm thinking we need to do it more often than the one Thursday each November.

10 comments:

  1. Great set, Les! I agree with you on having more than one day each year to cultivate a grateful heart. Well said!

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  2. Beautiful sunrise pictures. I would be thankful to be a morning person, but alas.

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  3. We only gain from your lack of participation in the shopping orgy. Your dogs seem very happy out there on the shore. I would have been too. Awesome sunrise shots.

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  4. Glad you had a good American Thanksgiving (ours is in October). I enjoyed the video too. I think a lot of kids of this generation "are coming home to roost". lol

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  5. When my children were teens, I decided that adolescence was nature's way of making sure that young humans were ready to leave the nest and that their parents were ready to kick them out!

    The sunrise photos and the backlit shots of frost on the grass and flowers are particularly stunning.

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  6. Exquisite photos as usual Les. I find all the black Friday stuff so disheartening, it's always good to find others who don't participate.

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  7. Gorgeous photos, Les! You capture light so well. I'm pleased to see that you also spurned the consumerism of Black Friday to embrace the beauty of the world. Time spent with family is well spent. I'm overwhelmed by the changes in my son too, months past his teen years.

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  8. Sounds like you had a good weekend with your family. Beautiful shots! I especially liked the ones of the sun sparkling on the frost bejeweled grass! I think that children have to put parents through some tough times; if they didn't you'd never want to let them go.

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  9. You chose wisely. The heck with "Black Friday".

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  10. Fun to catch up on lots of lovely posts and great photos. Had a good family holiday in Nov. and Dec. Finally is snowing here on 1/4 and I must say I have not missed it after last winter.

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