Thoughts of Thanksgiving......

A couple of Thanksgiving quotes.......

- As we express our gratitude, let us not forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

- Thanksgiving dinner takes 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half-time takes 12 minutes. This is not a coincidence.

Erma Bombeck

- In America, Thanksgiving means many things to many people. May it always represent the treasures and blessings of family, freedom, bountiful harvests, open roads, mountains and plains in our window, birds soaring in blue autumn skies, and deer peering from behind a bush. Add an imagination that can visualize smiles from those who truly care, and the hope of transformation for those who do not.

- Unseasonably warm (upper 60s) and windy yesterday. As so often happens in November, often called one of the transition months by meteorologists, atmospheric dynamics have changed considerably the last few hours.....Cool (30s) and relatively calm this day after Thanksgiving, 2010, after a night of refreshing rain.

Photos.......Top to Bottom.....

- Got to admit...this one was special. While traveling along a roughed-in road in a private, undeveloped part of our mountain properties, opportunity came calling a few days ago. Looking down through the woods through the passenger side window, from the driver's side of the vehicle, I got the sensation that something did not fit in the late autumn landscape...a glimmer...sunlight moving...something...not sure...but then a large male deer walked from behind a clump of trees and stared at the vehicle...from a range of about 150 yards (I had seen sunlight glinting off a tine of his antlers). A magnificent animal to be sure...but was there time for a photo? On full zoom, as he started to walk away, starting snapping photos.....don't hurry......so rare to get a good photo of a big buck in the wild......surely one will be good....he's leaving...there is another deer...he's a big one.....surely one of these will reveal this experience....I need some luck...... As the buck began to show more alarm, and his gait quickened, I delivered the camera to my friend and colleague, Bill Newsome, who was in the passenger seat. He tried a few more shots as the deer made his way into the thick tangles of vegetation. Thankfully one of the photos was usable, thanks to some photo-shopping by Bill. Thanks Bill for helping preserve one more natural treasure. Only later, when examining the photos, did we realize the other animal, feeding in the background, was also a buck....with high curved spikes. The Tennessee gun season for deer is now open, and many are seeking trophies similar to the one in this photo. This deer will not appear on my wall, but he will remain in my memory for a time, and to me, it is a comforting thought to know he is still around. And the next time I drive by this area.....anticipation.....priceless.

- A whitetail doe....looking back at me and perhaps thinking.....What's up?

- A beautiful late autumn sky over Lake George, in the direction of northeast.

- Late afternoon.....overcast, misty day......taken at long range.....a Pileated Woodpecker outlined against the gray clouds, probing a dead snag for one more morsel before retiring to a nocturnal perch.