December

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We were in Independence, Missouri visiting with Gary's parents. We arrived on their 65th Wedding Anniversary and helped them eat this lovely fruit arrangement containing lots of chocolate covered strawberries sent by Gary's brother, Galen and his wife, Cheryl. Mmmmm. Thank-you, Galen.

We spent Thanksgiving with Gary's cousin's family and had a lovely meal and visit with them. We had David with us as he flew in very early on Thanksgiving morning so that added to the excitement .

Unfortunately, our trip has come to a sudden stop due to Gary's mother falling on the ice and making the arthritis in her left knee worse. She has now decided to get the knee replacement her Dr recommended two years ago. Therefore, Gary and I will leave here tomorrow and return to the boat in Alabama. We should arrive late Saturday and then Gary will leave Tuesday to return to Independence with his cousin, Jackie who lives in Huntsville. I will then return to Maryland and make plans for Christmas. Gary will join me in Maryland on 18th December and we will spend Christmas with David.  David is running his first marathon at Disney World on 11th January and we hope to be able to cheer him on. We are not sure yet if Gary will return to help his mother after her knee replacement on 29th January or if his brother and his wife will fly out and assist her with her second knee replacement.
There is not much to tell about our journey to Missouri. We did pass a true trailer home-

I do not think I would like to live in this type of home. I wonder if they got their furniture from "Crate and Barrel"!!
We went through two very large locks, not as large as Carillon in Canada but still quite a hike up.

I tie the boat up to one of these and up we go-

                                The view from down below looking up-
Well, my blog would not be complete without photos of birds, would it? So as not to disappoint you, here they are-

These poor little coots flew away as the boat approached them. The trouble was they always landed in the path of the boat not too far in front of us so had to do the same thing over and over again. It is interesting to see how they walk on water before taking off. Some of the birds "walked" for 7 steps before taking to the air.

 Aren't you glad the pilgrims didn't spot the heron before they saw the turkey? Imagine stuffing this skinny bird and look at those drum sticks!!!!

It is no good, I have avoided writing down Ogden Nash's poem about the pelican but today I am gonna recite it-
"A wonderful bird is the pelican
His bill will hold more than his belly can
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week
But I am damned if I can see how the helican!"
Gary, whilst driving the boat saw a coyote on the beach. I ran for my camera and took a photo but the boat engine scared him away - scaredy dog!!!

OK, so it is not the best picture - the coyote is almost in the middle of the photo with his back to the camera.

 Fall is now behind us and winter is arriving. On our drive back to the boat we drove through snow covered hills in the Ozarks. The road from Memphis to Alabama was pretty slick and we saw several cars that had skidded on the ice covered roads. We took it slowly and easily after seeing them.

The following photos were taken at Mammoth Spring on the Missouri/Arkansas border. The springs were a balmy 60 degrees allowing the geese to stay and visit for a while.

                   The trees in the above photo were covered with 1/4" of ice.
This will be my last blog until sometime in the New Year. I wish each and every one of you ( wherever you are in the world) a peaceful New Year. Let us forget our hates and the colour of our skins and make the world a happier place to live in for ourselves and for future generations.