Scattered Thoughts . . .

While Adam and Joi were visiting us the week before the holiday weekend, we headed up to Burlington for a very nice cruise on Lake Champlain.   We do one cruise every summer and had already done one cruise back in June with Lukey and Kenzie but this sightseeing cruise is always a nice time so doing a second cruise this summer received no objections from either one of us.   Actually, we jumped at the chance to do a cruise with Adam and Joi.   Adam hasn't been here for a visit in quite a few years and he is now married to Joi so it was nice to see both of them again.  We met Joi during our cross-country trip on Amtrak a few years ago.  That was a great trip and we enjoyed our time with the two of them while getting to know Joi a little better.  Now they were visiting Vermont...  just before a holiday weekend...  at the peak of foliage season...  which made for a very busy tourist season in our neck of the woods.  Every place we visited was very crowded with tourists.   Since it was a

Our schedule is pretty full between Thanksgiving weekend and the end of January this holiday season. We had planned to head to Church Street in Burlington yesterday for our annual Christmas celebration in Burlington but I wasn't feeling my best in the morning so we cancelled... then I fell asleep for a few hours... I took some extra medications... showered... and I was feeling a bit better so we decided to head up that way much later than we usually do. We got there in time for a very late mid-afternoon lunch at Vermont Pub & Brewery. Lunch was delicious... the beer was delicious (geez... how I wish all micro-brews were as good as their's)... so Sheila and I had a nice time.  Vermont Pub & Brewery is quite behind schedule with their Christmas decorating. They were decorating while we were there which gave us something to watch and laugh about occasionally! Maybe they'll have finished decorating this tree this afternoon. As darkness fell upon Burlington, w

Church Street Every year, we put aside one afternoon and evening for an annual visit to Church Street during the Christmas season. Yesterday ended up being the perfect day for this annual event.  Church Street is a nice place to visit anytime but it is especially nice at Christmastime. Yesterday was no exception and the Christmas spirits must have been looking down upon us, providing laughter, warmth, Christmas cheer and even some snow!   Wendy, one of Sheila's coworkers, joined us yesterday at Ri Ra's for the first time. Actually, she got there a little bit prior to we did and saved some prime seats for us! She was a nice addition to some of our usual attendees... Frank, Christine and Liza. I do believe everyone had a really nice time. We did have one casualty yesterday... I dropped a lens and damaged it beyond repair. I wasted half my shots yesterday trying to shoot photos with a lens which consistently missed focus before I realized that my shots were all out of