Some Sad Family News

Life is full of opposites isn't it? One minute you can be as happy as a lark, which btw, how happy are larks anyway? But I digress....

Perhaps you noticed in my last post that Cris, Bruce's older brother looked frail, yet totally with it. His eyes are wide open with what looks like curiosity to me. I am so happy our families gathered after several years of not seeing one another because Saturday morning we got a call from Bruce's sister that Cris had died. So while we were shocked having just seen him, we were not surprised as he had been declining for the last few years after nearly succumbing to Covid. 

I have two photo libraries on my computer, both of them voluminous as you can well imagine; it takes some effort to access the oldest one, but I was up for the task yesterday following a little help from our eldest. I found this picture of Cris in much happier times. (he looks so much like his Dad!)

He loved being behind the wheel of a boat, so happy to be on the water. When our boys were young, heading to Aunt Judy and Uncle Cris's for a Saturday of fun on the lake was a huge treat. He never tired of pulling them behind the boat on a big inner tube, seeing how fast he could go before they would fall off. That said, never so much to be dangerous. Cris was an Eagle Scout and the tenants he learned from earning that rank were words to live by. He was a great dad to his two daughters, attending more gymnastic meets than he could count for Jessie, while Katie ended up working with her Dad in the construction industry. Chatting with Judy on the phone Sunday night she said she was just so sad even though she knew it was imminent. What else is there to say? 

I know how hard it is to lose a sibling because I have lost two. Lost, that is a silly word for death, but there it is. 

While searching for a happy picture of Cris I came across this old one from Lisa's 50th birthday. I loved seeing this because it says so much about each one of us. 

I wish I could remember who took it, but they did good. I am flanked by Carol and Maureen, both of whom have died and who I referenced in my last post. I've always preferred wearing dresses and I am happy to report that when we were in Orlando I found a stash of tights, so now I am good-to-go which is a good thing because baby, it's been cold outside. At least overnight, although I think there are predictions for colder daytime temperatures in our immediate future. I will let you know.

As you can imagine we've been busy here including on day two of our arrival. Gerrie got in touch asking if we wanted to join them on a New Year's hike and while I was hesitant, this is a year for doing more things, including the yoga class which I attended yesterday and did not make a fool of myself so that''s progress! 

Gerrie could not resist taking this photo as I am so darn awkward, but I do look pretty good in the alpaca hat David and Michelle got me! There are those in our group who love getting out on the rocks and that would not be me!

 The weather was overcast, but only slightly cold; a good way to begin a new year together.

Along with others, we joined Cobby and Diane to celebrate his 74th birthday.

As well I have been getting out on the riverwalk in order to get stronger. Rarely do I walk in this direction andI have taken countless photos of the railroad bridge before but never this angle. I don't know the exact year that the trains stopped coming to Murphy and Andrews, but I imagine it was a hard pill to swallow for those in the region that relied on it. 

I never thought I would say something of this ilk, but I do love the bare trees of winter; seeing their architecture and imagining that in a few short months, buds will appear and before long birds will disappear in the lush greenery.

With several days of steady rain, nothing like Florida's torrential downpours, more like a drip, drip, drip, the river is much higher than it has been of late. Even though it was crazy windy and cold, I went for a Sunday afternoon walk and was I ever glad that I did because look at this cute little Downey Woodpecker I watched. Isn't it cute? 

I can't remember if I mentioned this before ,but I was made aware of a birding film on Youtube that I have now seen twice called Listers that has an accompanying book, should you be such a person who wants to know more. Jonathan knew I am one such type of person and I love it so I now have a copy of this. It was lucky I was having a birthday which, as you know we spent on the road.

Once we reached Valdosta on our trip back from Florida, we stopped at our favorite hotel and because it is only 200 miles from Orlando we had plenty of time to head downtown. It was mostly empty on that cold day but we did see their Christmas decorations which were very nice. I will say those empty spaces on the Santa and elf look weird with no one in them. Or so it seems to me.

Although we stopped at Buc-ee's for Bruce to get a drink we were hungry from having skipped lunch. We went into a Mexican restaurant, the name is forgotten, but those chandeliers were really something.

Pretty wild right?

One difference between photographing birds here as opposed to Florida is that the ones here tend to move a lot and quickly whereas in Florida,  oftentimes they will pose for you like this Osprey in a tree over the courts in Orlando.

It stayed there for so long that Bruce was able to drive to the condo and bring my camera back to me and still it stayed perched! 

What will follow are birdie photographs that are a few of those taken while we were in Orlando, mostly on our little lake behind our place.

Ta da...

A Green Heron, a bird that I rarely see. Amazing how it stands on the lily pads. As well, that head plume!! What great colors this bird has. 

White Ibis are common and numerous at times. This was one of those times.

A pretty little Palm Warbler in full song mode.

Northern Cardinal that I heard first as it was in a pine tree more than forty feet high.

With my head leaning way back to look so high above, a few Blue Jays came around although they are not nearly as easy to photograph as a Northern Cardinal because they move like crazy.

Interestingly enough, I have never seen a flock of Blue Jays in Florida, but just the other morning, in the early morning and still with dim light, I saw a flock of them in one of the neighbor's trees here.

Another beauty was taken at Lake Davis and I will let you decide if it is one of your favorite big birds. 

Another heron, this one is called a Tri-Colored Heron and isn't it so delicate? All of the shorebirds will soon be sporting their breeding colors, generally visible around the beak. It is so fascinating to see. Reading Genesis this morning when I read that God created birds on the fifth day, I wondered why He took so long? Imagine there are approximately 11,000 species of birds!!! Even more mind boggling is to think that there is but one species of humans and we are all different! 

Cris was most certainly one of a kind. A Florida Gator fan in spite of the fact that both of their girls graduated from FSU and by all reason, he should have rooted for FSU, yet he was a man who marched to the beat of another drummer. He will be sorely missed.

Until we meet again, I remain, 

your friend,

Gail

Post #2018 and Counting

Indeed, should you have noticed the title this is post #2018 and I am using that title because I could think of no other; not a good sign for the first post of 2026, but there you have it. 

Since last we met in this space, a whole heck of a lot has happened, including being in two states, having two Christmas trees, one of which remains in the upright position, seeing family and more family, as well as seeing a host of birds. Yup, birds and there were plenty. Of course we miss our family but big birds are right up there on things I miss from Florida. One chilly morning, one of only a few during our visit, we went to the lake for Bruce to have a few casts. This beauty was hanging out with us.

Lest you be shocked at this lead picture, one thing I have learned over my 18 and soon to be 19 years of blogging is that the lead photo must be strong to catch folks attention. Because blue is most people's favorite color I chose this Great Egret against the bright blue of the lake.

In reality it is hard to know what to leave in and what to leave out. It would probably be hard to go wrong with a photo of "little bit" my nickname for Christian. I will say he has already outgrown that name because he is now pretty darn sturdy, but I think I will still use that silly name for who knows how long?

Holy cow...it's a twofer what with two of my favorites in one shot! As many of you know, heretofore, Christian has been pretty much a stay-at-home baby so it was somewhat surprising how well he handled the crowd of us on Christmas day, and then again a few days later when Bruce's brother's family came to visit. He was a little trooper, particularly when Matt, Tom and Jonathan got down on the floor and played with him.

Alissa took the photo below, and Bill was in the garage having a refrigerator delivered, but the rest of us were available to smile for the camera. Apologies from me to Tom for not bending my knees a little bit.

It has been forever since we've seen Cris, Judy and Jessica which made this visit at Bill and Fallon's house so special. 

Bill and Fallon hosted both gatherings; for sure our place is not baby-proofed, now very much a neccesity  as Christian is an inquisitive toddler. Already! Can you believe it?

He also has a small swing set thanks to David and Michelle. I've never seen a baby swing set before but now I have. 

Matt and Tom, along with Jonathan and Alissa, were having their first experiences having a baby in the family and for one, Matt could not get enough of his new role as an uncle.

So I am making a presumption that whomever is reading this knows all the ins and outs of our family, and you know what they say about presumptions, so let me introduce you to the Peck men.

From left to right: Bill and Christian, Mr. Bruce Peck, Matthew, Jonathan, and David with apologies to David for not doing a very good job getting him in the frame! This might be a good time to remind folks that I grew up with four sisters and a brother so living in a house with all men was definitely out of my regular comfort zone. 

No longer are there the five Price sisters following Carol and Maureen's deaths. That is the thing about having a blog for so long, life has unfolded in this space. Just a warning, should you choose to click on those links, get a Kleenex beforehand. Being with family is such a blessing because you never know when it can be taken away from you. 

No more sad stuff, let's carry on with sister Nancy and Christian. 

From left to right, Tom, Nancy, Gail, Pat, Bruce, Matthew and Ruth.

It has been quite a while since I had a photo of Pat and Ruth and now I do thanks to our server at one of our favorite restaurants in Orlando, "Hawkers" which I know you have already heard many times before.

Before you roll your eyes at this first time grandmother (!), just a few more photos of our latest family member. Fallon has done an amazing job for a first time mother!

As has Bill for a first time dad, in other ways of course, but he deserves kudos as well.

Enough already Gail!!!

So many photos of folks in this post aren't there? That will happen when one is in one's home town. As many of you know, we learned to play pickleball at the courts in our community, now six years ago!! Just before Covid hit big time. There are still plenty of folks playing and I had the priveledge of photgraphing the group.

And a special photo of our "pickleball parents" as I like to call them because They not only paid for the lines to be painted on the tennis courts, but patiently taught everyone to play. Ta da! Greg and Leslie.

In spite of me playing for all these years I am still  only a very mediocre albeit enthusiastic player! 

Get this: I went to my very first yoga class Monday. I'm undecided about the next step on that.

I don't want to skip the bit where Tom had his folks in England on FaceTime.

It has been ages since we have seen Ray and Jane in person but most Christmases we do get in touch.

Visits with neighbors, meals out, bird watching at Lake Davis with Jonathan and Alissa, shopping, plenty of shopping, and more. It was a good and busy 15 days away from Campbell Street and now that we are home, we have hit the ground running, in part because the weather has not been very cold. On our way to the airport to drop Jonathan and Alissa off at the airport, we stopped at Lake Davis to look at birds. 

Much to our delight, they had just treated the lake, turning the water that gorgeous shade of turquoise! I spent countless hours circling this lake with camera in hand. I also fell and broke my wrist there but that's the only unhappy memory. So many, many birds.

We left Orlando on December 31 and it was an interesting way to spend one's birthday. 

We do have a nice place in Orlando but we have traded our view of the lake outside our door,

for a mountain view outside our windows. Both are great. 

And oh yeah, I turned 72 years old. My, oh my.

your friend,

Gail

Jack Frost Does Not Love it Here

My last post was laden with tales of cold weather. This one not so much. In fact, not even the thought of frost here as the daytime temperatures are in the  high 70's with temperatures dropping into the mid-50s overnight. I wish I'd packed more sleeveless clothes for sure. That said I am happy to report that I am back in my favorite attire and that would be dresses. Simple and only one thing to think about when dressing unlike the four or more layers when it is super cold in our adopted state. The truth is, we have discovered that there are advantages to both. 

Matt and Tom were here when we arrived last Thursday after an overnight stay in Valdosta. During our drive, as we were approaching Perry, GA, I reminded Bruce that Cobby and Diane had praised the little town of Perry and thought that we would love it and we sure enough did. There is a charming downtown with an abundance of shops and restaurants, all of them either pretty or crazy cute.

Walking up to the Swanson where we planned to eat, I was excited when I saw the purple steps and the inside colors were equally as fetching.

The high blue ceiling was painted a gorgeous shade of blue in our dining room, and the ceiling in the reception area was another gorgeous shade of navy blue. When in the South, eat like a southerner is one way to do it and so Bruce had the fried chicken while I got the sampler which included way more than I could eat!

It is hard to go wrong with fried green tomatoes, deviled eggs and pimento cheese! Fantastic, leaving no room for what looked to be fine desserts. As we pulled out of the restaurant I spotted something down the street and Bruce did what Bruce does, takes me where I want to go. A big blow up was evident from our location, so we continued on Ball Street and were astonished to see Christmas lights for an entire long block. One direction below:

and here is the other end of the block.

My camera lens was not wide enough to show even a fraction of it but here's a close up sample:

Incredible in the daytime, but all I could find to show it off was this nightime  reel.  What a sight it must be! 

Before we leave Perry here is a peek into Sweet Evelyn's, now known nationwide because, well check out this link and see for yourself. 

There is plenty more I could share, but in the interest of your time I will back-track a bit and highlight some lovely times in Murphy before we left.

I was booted as the photographer of the Santa photos by a "professional" this year so I had to see who was this person. As well I returned the Elf hat to it's rightful owner Laura who looked adorable in it as Santa's helper.

Whew, no pressure to perform!! Seriously I was kidding about the professional although that is how it was advertised because no one knows much about me. :) The main thing is that it was so exciting that everything was  happening in the new spiffy downtown park that was so many months in the making!

The Mason Bar was very much decked out with cozy lights.

David and D'Anna had a Christmas dinner party and it was so lovely and fun. 

She is very much a traditionalist, serving all the Southern goodies as well as fruitcake from the Claxton's shop in Claxton, GA. She claims it is good luck, but I have yet to be convinced enough to try it. 

On the other hand, the red velvet cake was delicious.

Our choir joined with the Methodist church in Andrews and performed a beautiful cantata.

We also made a quick shopping trip to Franklin, NC.

As you can see the weather was beautiful and the shops very cute. These small mountain towns really depend on tourists so they do their best to look charming for the visitors.

Before leaving Murphy we bought an inexpensive artificial Christmas tree to put up in Orlando and despite it looking very iffy when it came out of the box, Matthew did an incredible job making it look like a beauty. Memories came flooding in of the year we moved into a new home, nine days before Christmas and our nine year old son did the tree for me as my hands were full with a two year old mischief-maker and six year old twin boys. 

Soon it was time for the big reveal to those of us who had not ever seen Christian before and those of us who have waited seven months to see him again! Bill was watching him after work while Fallon went to a party. He has most definitely grown since our last visit! Who is this new man who claims to be my uncle??

A shock to his little system having four adults descend on his domain so he spent plenty of time in Bill's arms but he did show off his walking a little bit. We are heading over there this afternoon and hope he will be more comfortable with us.

This will be his second Christmas however, as he was but a month old last year, let's just say this one is going to be more special.

The tree is barricaded by the coffee table and a giant ottoman, but for how long that works is yet to be determined!

It is true that I have missed seeing the big birds that I was accustomed to seeing on a daily basis; so far I have not been disappointed because sightings have been plentiful both on our lake, 

and at the Orlando Wetlands park that we visited a few days ago. We were so fortunate to see a large number of Roseate Spoonbills which is not always the case, however, I believe the blue on the head indicates that they are gathering to breed.

Fortunate as well that Matt and Tom are enthusiastic about going there.

I suspect a big draw for them is the warmth and sunshine which we have been having in abundance. Talk about abundance! Our alligator count stood at 18!

I think the photograph above is so funny showing off the cavalier attitude toward alligators that many visitors, including Matthew, have towards a sighting. A Great Blue Heron preparing for nesting season,

although unfortunately, before getting to her destination, the moss and stick dropped out of her bill. Thinking about that, I wonder what that feels like for a bird, don't you? All the hard work of gathering only to lose it?

One day I stopped into my clock guy's shop with two watches that were in need new batteries. As I stood waiting for him, I was thinking what must it be like to listen to this many clocks every working day? Seeing Patti yesterday morning, for some reason going this came up and she told me his name is Burt because his shop, Swiss House, used to be across from their office. From now on I will call him Burt and I may just ask how he tunes out all of the clock sounds!

Losing track of time is nothing new for me yet the fact that we are out of our routine is exacerbating that problem, thus, I will just say that with much mental digging I finally remembered that we went to see the lights at Lake Eola on Friday night and wow, just wow!! What a gift! Absolutely stunning light displays with so many ways for folks to take family photos.

No unlit spot was seen as the perimeter of the lake, and then some, was filled with beautiful lights. Two swans were swimming.

Nancy came along to amuse us with her commentary even though she'd already had a full day. That would be her in the striped shirt in the section called Candy Cane Lane.

Having gone a previous time, we were shocked at how much the event has grown with several areas where live performances were happening. 

Matthew always makes us look good.

Seeing the stocking cap from afar, close up it was so good!

Honestly it was such a perfect night and it even included snow!

Now we know how it is done in the movies!

We are making the most of our shopping days here in Orlando where the opportunities abound. Yesterday Matt went with us to Ikea where we went looking for Bruce's Christmas present, or that is what I'm calling his new chair and ottoman we found for his shop. Matt is setting us up with an Ikea family membership in order to take advantage of discounts.

It is quite handy having tech wizards around; Jonathan has yet to arrive so there is more to come. They actually are in Orlando visiting Universal Studios newest park before coming here on Christmas Eve. 

Christian seems to be more comfortable around us and he was even willing to share his favorite toy of the moment...a Costco water bottle despite having more than a plethora of colorful toys.

He's a bundle of energy, squirming to be let down as soon as you pick him up, however, for a moment he allowed Bruce to snuggle with him.

More busy days to come for us as I suspect the same holds true for all of my dear readers.

From our home and family to yours, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!

your friend,

Gail