The Close of 2021 /  by Dave Hileman

A lot of people are anxious to rid themselves of one year in anticipation of the next. I have never understood that impulse. Life has patterns and rhythm but the start of 2022 will not change anything that we could not work to change last week or last month or February 8th. And no matter the trials and tragedies that may have occurred in 2021 - and they may have been overwhelming, there were joys and blessings, likely in abundance. The year to come is no different. The promise of the new year is not that it will be better but that we can chose to walk more closely with God and trust more fully in his wisdom. So that when the difficult occurs and it will, we are ready and when the joys occur we are actually blessed and don’t miss them. If you wish that the year that starts officially tomorrow will be better begin by preparing yourself to follow the Father more closely. He will make each day whether painful or joyful better than it would be on your own.

Last Stand /  by Dave Hileman

This old tree is about to lose the battle with time and elements. I don’t know how long it has been so close to collapsing but I doubt it will survive the next Nor’easter that blows through the island. I will make a point to go up the beach and photograph this same tree next trip to Chincoteague. If I can find it.

Reminds me of how I feel on occasion.

BONUS post /  by Dave Hileman

So this is a cartoon from S.Pastis who writes Pearls Before Swine. Originally it had on the last panel, “Cheese” which is a horrible ending for the strip. I thought ICE CREAM is the perfect conclusion. So, Dennis Mook took the panel to, I guess Photoshop, and put in the better line. And it is posted here for all to enjoy. Thanks, D.

Still /  by Dave Hileman

The wind and rain stopped, the sun came out and everything was calm, the colors intense and beautiful. Lake Mary in north central Pennsylvania.

Holiday Carvings /  by Dave Hileman

And while I did carve a roast beef that we had - super excellent meal, I actually mean the wood kind of carvings. I have been working on several over the holiday. I still have four on my work area that are in the painting process but these are finished and mostly given away. I did a few more but forgot to record them. I really enjoyed the ornaments.

This was the first test one of 12 I made.

These five went to family. The painting was to intended to have meaning for those who got them! Maybe!

This little snowman was intended to be something else that went wrong. I salvaged the wood by making this.

Two more “Christmas Sweaters.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Twelve (2 photos) /  by Dave Hileman

Along a boardwalk on the Atlantic Ocean on a cold, sleety day, everything in shades of grey. The rain would briefly change to snow and then back while the wind penetrated your coat making you feel colder than the temperature. There were only a couple of people about and they looked even more miserable than I felt. Hope of a bright sunny day seemed far away much like the world into which Jesus was thrust. While life then had moments of joy and human beings have always adapted in difficult circumstances - it was not a hopeful time. Life was rather short, often harsh & brutal, certainly more unpredictable and uncertain than today even with our own disruptions. Survival was difficult. But on an otherwise ordinary day the extraordinary occurs and God becomes one of us, yet distinct, unmarred by sin. And the world will always be different. There is hope. And while our circumstances are vastly different than 2000 years ago the essential needs we have are precisely the same and met in the same person of Jesus. Merry Christmas, indeed.

One bright light in a long, grey vista.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Eleven /  by Dave Hileman

This is an ornament given to us by our friends, the Mooks. Actually it was made by Kathy Mook, Dennis was just entrusted with delivering it. Successfully we can see. We are delighted to add it to our tree this year and for many more. I appreciate both the message and the medium. What an appropriate day to contemplate that extraordinary time, the eve of the Birth of Jesus. Indeed a very Holy Night.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Ten /  by Dave Hileman

One of the activities we like to do, Cindy more than me, is to go and look at Christmas lights people have put around their homes. Some are extravagant, some modest, a few just have a wreath and some nothing. There are also those who go all out for the season. You can find maps or take limo tours of those houses. We have done the “Tacky Light Tour” in Richmond a few times and here in Raleigh the local TV station sets out a list of places to view. The other day we chose two near us. The first was a tasteful assembly with a nice flashing light display set to music that you could listen to over an FM station in your car. The other wasn’t any of those things.

The “Light” Trio, we were lucky to see them as they are usually on the circuit. (Remember this is free!)

Here we have the very definition of visual cacophony. This is about 1/3 of this yard.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Nine /  by Dave Hileman

We were at the top of the climb coming from Phoenix to Flagstaff on the old highway and there is an overlook and rest stop there that is usually filled with tables of crafts from the American Indian community. One that got our attention included several different hand painted ornaments. Each one was painted with in a traditional color and pattern. Glad to add a neat reminder of our trip to the area last spring.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Eight /  by Dave Hileman

Not every image of Christmas is of warm meals and families smiling in front of decorated mantles with a fire softly glowing. Washington’s attack with 2400 troops on Trenton, NJ is only one of many battles that occurred during the holiday. While the truce in Flanders in 1914 is famous it is so because it was so out of sync with the rest of the front and, in fact, the rest of the war. Raids were often conducted over Christmas during the Civil War and Germany tried to take advantage of the season on more than one occasion.

The Wreaths Across America project provides a natural wreath for every grave in our National Cemeteries. This shot from 2011 is from Arlington. Walking among the graves there is always a moving event, more so with the wreaths on display. They are placed the weekend before Christmas and are there for two weeks. There are National Cemeteries in every state across America and more locations overseas. You ought to visit one near you this year and take a different kind of Christmas photo.

Learn more about the organization here: www.wreathsacrossamerica.org


Twelve Days of Christmas - Seven /  by Dave Hileman

Trains. This photo is from 2004, one of mine that I recently was able to access again after a long time. It is not a great shot but it does have the “G” gauge train set that our friend, Gregg Lagerberg, gave to our boys when they were little. Neither of them was particularly enamored of the train so in 2004 as our grandson, Kellen, was coming to the house and he would be turning two, I set it up again. He was not charmed. Too loud. Eventually I gave the set to a friend whose two boys appeared to like trains. Growing up setting up the train was a big deal. We had a Lionel “O” 27 gauge then later changed to an “HO” scale that we would set up on a 4 x 8 platform with painted streets and houses that lite up. The tree was always precariously perched on a stand in the middle and the sheet of plywood would sag ever so slightly under the weight giving the train a bit of an up and down. As a teen I bought an “N” gauge set and even built a couple of small layouts, one under our tree the first year we were married. I still have that train - maybe next year it will be under the tree.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Four /  by Dave Hileman

A master! I think I wrote about this before but there is a difference this year. My Aunt Carrie, who loved to travel, brought two hand carved ornaments back from a trip in the mid 1950’s to Nova Scotia. One for me and one for my brother. They were carved by a now well known Canadian carver, Andre Gault. They have been on our tree each year since. I think they are carved from maple. So, this year as I come up on nearly two years of learning to carve I thought I would “duplicate” my snowman for it is a rather uncomplicated piece. Wow, simple is deceptively hard. I did not expect too much of my work and I was right! His is all subtle, smooth curves and converging sections. My work is halting, semi-round and smushed together. Still on the tree it goes. Next year will be better.

By Andre B. Gault

By the “unknown carver.”

Twelve Days of Christmas - Three /  by Dave Hileman

Our tree is a memory treasury. Most of the ornaments are reminders of kids projects, friends or places we have been. But some of them have become pretty shabby over 20 or 50 years. So we have begun to retire a few and replace them with new memories. These first two are not “special” except we thought we needed some pizzaz cause a lot of ours were/are paper or cloth, So we bought these two shinny ones at Bronners in MI, an amazing huge Christmas wonderland. And they will remind us of our excellent 2021 trip to the upper Midwest. And that is special.

Twelve Days of Christmas - Two /  by Dave Hileman

This scene is from a short trip to Ocean City, Maryland on a cold, sleety and occasionally snowy afternoon. There were few people around. Most of them were apparently sane. I was taking pictures along with my friend Dennis, however, he does not improve the “it really is not too bad to go shoot photographs today,” factor. There were a few nods to the upcoming holiday. This fallen Santa against the deserted and bare Ferris wheel were indicative of the effort to make this a merry celebration. Still, it really was not too bad out there:

Twelve Days of Christmas - One /  by Dave Hileman

I was able, along with two friends, to spend three days on Chincoteague Island last week. Lots of fun photographing wild ponies, Snow Geese, herons, a few people and some interesting shore buildings as well as a short jaunt in the sleet and snow to Ocean City, Maryland. Not a lot of people on the beach there. In the small town of Chincoteague they have an equally small park that is all higgledy-piggledy with lots of people’s ideas of what ought to be there. The one that I expect had no opposing voices - the statue of Misty, the pony whose story made the island world famous. It was appropriate to deck her out for Christmas. I included two of the many ponies I photographed as well.