'Twas The Day After Christmas...

...and I couldn't find, not a single snowflake, not ahead or behind...

It's easy to hide away when the sun isn't out, and it's gray and gloomy, and indeed I've done my share of being a hermit this Christmas Season. It's easier to just stay in on gloomy days. But, after ending up developing a healthy (or unhealthy) dose of Cabin Fever, where it feels like the Four Walls Are Closing In, it's "get outta here for a while"; I couldn't stand myself! So I took the camera and got out, and in the process, found that gray days are great days for taking pictures; no insurmountable contrasts between sun and shade to be dealt with, and great for my thinning pate, no Sun with which to Sunburn my Head with. (Have you ever tried using a hairbrush on a sunburned scalp? OUCH. I rest my case.)

So, 'twas the Day After Christmas...and here, two miles (as the crow flies) from the coast, it was rainy and overcast like the last several days; the best I could hope for was that the Sun would come out later in the day; the view out the kitchen window (below) was snapped right before heading out the door; it's noticeably lacking anything resembling a shadow.



Heading south, I thought it would be a good day to spend a little time in the Charleston seaport; the plan (me having a plan?) was to stall there before heading to the beach later on; and best of all, I could take some photos of the weatherbeaten but proud fishing fleet that plies the ocean waves on a regular basis; the photo below shows a few of the boats resting peacefully (if a boat can actually 'rest') in the safety of sheltered waters...



After a couple of hours of photo-shooting (and having breakfast at a little restaurant that serves FREE COFFEE with any meal!), it was looking more and more like the Sun was just gonna hide from me all day, but still the beach wasn't far away, so I went there, the object being to try and get a good view of a wave crashing upon the rocks...how's this? The cliff pictured below is about 40-50 feet high, and just lookit this here wave...



After a day of hiking around the harbor and beach in a totally rainsoaked coat (and not caring, because it wasn't especially cold outside), it was time to go home and put the stamp on a surprisingly good day for picture-taking. I got home, and walked to the mailbox, and that's when I saw a group of Chickens one of my neighbors has; they just walk around the neighborhood like they own the place. Even the Cats leave them alone. Here are the Neighborhood Chickens preserved for Eternal Internet Posterity...

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As you know, I have a special little girl waiting for me at home. Little Jill, the Meyers' Parrot. She's not an especially active bird; her schedule consists mainly of Eating and Napping. But every bird needs to fly, and with that in mind, I'll perch her on my finger and swoop my arm downward, and she flaps her little wings; we do that a number of times, and she'll fly back to my shoulder. And I don't spoil her one bit, not at all, as the following picture indicates...



Whenever I'm biting or crunching on some snack, Little Jill just has to have some of what I'm eating. She'll wake up out of a nap if she hears me crunching away. She's eating a Puffy Cheeto here. They are sinfully good. And I now have a junk-food parrot. She also craves the onion-flavored variety of Sun Chips. So that's what we do, Jill and me. Both of us, crunching away. I think perhaps I'm a bad influence on her. Aw, heck, though...might as well 'live it up', huh?
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These are but a few of the fotos I took on what the Brits like to call "Boxing Day"; I've posted the rest of them in the links (left margin); it's be titled "December 26th photos". And in addition to hoping you had a great Christmas, let me wish you All The Best in the Upcoming New Year. In short, "ho ho ho and all that jazz".