Near and Dear in Pine Knot

This has been a day of sitting around the table. We talked, and laughed, and reminisced. We drank the coffee pot dry, cleared away the dishes, and started a meal and a new pot of coffee! It has been a perfect family day.

Mary Ann, Sue and I went for a morning stroll around Mary Ann's pond. The picture above was taken along her road. You can see that the trees are just beginning to change colour.

Here's a photo that shows a bit of the pond. The water is very low, and the pond is not quite as glassy and pretty as usual.

After our two laps around the pond, Mary Ann set out brunch. Sandra arrived from Knoxville. Jordan and Christopher drove down from Somerset. Dee and Amy came from "down the road". Later, Tom Chitwood (Dee's Tom) and Tom Hall (Sandra's Tom) came as well. We ate a wonderful brunch and talked and talked. People ran off to do errands in the afternoon, and Sue and Mary Ann and I ambled around the pond once more. Mary Ann is really adept at using her alpine walking sticks now. She walks six mornings a week and has made good "strides" in recuperating from her broken hip.

I've been fussing with this camera -- I can sometimes get two or three shots before it goes "wonkey" and I have to then leave it alone for an hour or two before I can get another two or three shots. We may take a trip up to Somerset on Monday morning so I can have a look at other cameras. Anyway, I took this photo from the pond road as well. It may give you a sense of the countryside around Mary Ann's house.

We'll go to church in the morning. Unfortunately, Christopher sang last Sunday -- Mary Ann said that she doesn't know if she's ever heard him sing more beautifully. Chris and Jordan's grandpa (in these parts, grandparents are called "ma-maw" and "pa-paw") is the worship leader, so we're hoping that we can use our family ties and have another song from Chris next Sunday.

After church tomorrow, we are going to Dee's for taco salad. Glenn wasn't able to come today, so maybe he can come from Somerset tomorrow. I gave Sandra the VSO schedule in hopes of attracting her to Vancouver soon. One problem is that the artist she would dearly love to hear is performing in January -- not the best time to visit the Lower Mainland!

I'll see if I can get some more local colour photos tomorrow.