Christmas in Florida for the birds

That title reflects not my sentiment, but that of my wife, who today made an effort to get into the holiday spirit, and put out a few of our holiday decorations. She also purchased some new stuff, including a beautiful table runner with cardinals. Cardinals are also "the birds on the bat" and trigger thoughts of St. Louis, where we lived for almost thirty years.



So, here we find ourselves, living full time in Florida and one of us is enjoying that more so than the other. I'll let you figure out which is which. All I can say is "thanks, Caitlin, for getting pregnant a mere six weeks after I sold our Missouri condo, and eliminated a place where your mother could stay now that she's a proud grandmother. If you and Matt had succeeded just six weeks sooner, I'd not be in the perpetual doghouse with Ripley.

Oh well, your mother has started to make a Christmas effort, and we started with birds. A funny story to share about those wreaths hanging outside, which ties into the theme here. In the big house in Missouri, one year we had a seasonal wreath hanging on the front door. We tended to come and go through the garage, and unbeknownst to us, a small bird had taken up residence in the wreath. One day, opening the front door (which naturally swings inward), a bird flies out of the wreath and into the house. Today, when I helped change out the wreaths from the autumn wreath to the Christmas wreath, extra care was taken to avoid bringing any birds into the house. Of course, this being Florida, it wasn't a bird we were concerned about - it was the little gecko lizards.

To quote the little green guy on television, "fifteen minutes could save you....." but can these first glimmers of holiday cheer save Christmas? I sure hope so. Otherwise, I'm looking at a cold and long Winter in a very hot place.