It’s That Time of Year

Here it is, December, once again. It’s always a busy time of year, and because of the holidays it can also be one of the most stressful times of the year. Why is it that your family can stress one more than anything else in your life?

Well, this blog isn’t really here to try to figure out the philosophical questions of life, nor is it to be a psychological analysis. Instead, I am trying to focus on the beauty of the season, so for your viewing pleasure I have pictures of one of the holly bushes in front of my house. This picture was actually taken in early November. There are no more berries on my bushes because the deer have already stripped them! Oh well, they were pretty while they lasted!

Getting My Ducks in a Row

The past two days have been very busy. Being December, it is what I like to call “Concert Season”. I play the euphonium in a community band, and I work part time as the assistant to the band director at a private school. The school’s band concert is next week, and the community band starts its holiday concert series this weekend. It makes for a very busy month!

One thing that I have learned about December over the years – I have to stay very organized and try to get as much done as early in the month as I can. So, getting my ducks in a row is kind of a good motto for the month. Here is a photo to go along with my thought of the day.

Uncertainty

I find myself feeling very unsure today. My daughter had a job interview that she’s really hoping will work out, but it was very short. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? I had a rehearsal tonight that should have been easy (the dress rehearsal before the weekend’s concerts), but the conductor still doesn’t know the music himself. That causes problems when the time signature keeps changing. If the conductor isn’t sure of the beat he gives the band, the band can’t stay together.

I didn’t have time to go out to take some new pictures, so I went into my “archives” for this picture to match my mood for the day.

Not even the water is sure of what it wants to do here. The foam almost seems random. However, underneath it all, there is still the rock that remains sturdy despite the pressures that the water keeps throwing at it. Hopefully, I can be the rock here against the random uncertainty that keeps throwing itself at me.

Birds

Ever since I can remember, I have loved to watch birds. My grandmother taught me how to identify many of the birds on Long Island, New York, but now that I spend a lot of time in Massachusetts I have been seeing a lot of birds that I am unfamiliar with.

Yesterday I had a few minutes to take some pictures of some birds at Phinney’s Harbor. The gulls were flying above the water, no doubt looking for some fish.

Of course, there were many of the standard Canada Geese.

Then there were some geese that I was unfamiliar with. A quick search on the internet and I have learned that these are Brant geese. I love the coloring of white against the black and their short bills are so cute!