Grammy Lawton

Grammy Lawton, Elizabeth and Grace on the beach, Martha's Vineyard. Mass.

Lucy Vincent

Lucy Vincent Beach full moon

Fisherman

Portuguese fisherman, Stonington Harbor, CT.

Ode to the Hudson River School

Landscape- Clamshell from the Steep Rock

Barn and Tree

 

Barn and Tree, Washington Depot

Judea Cemetary

Judea Cemetary, Christmas Eve

Old School

Checker gals at The Washington Market

Mad Dog

Mad Dog- Denver Art Museum

Christmas in Red and Gold

The legacy of "christianity" in Christmas seems a checkered one. Greed and violence have gone hand in hand with peace and good will, maybe the pagans had it right first.  

The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.

Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. May the spirit of Yule encourage all of us to be better human beings and if the birth of a baby named Jesus represents hope, then I hope for a brighter future. 

 

Friends

Coming together for the holidays; friends, food, good cheer and all that stuff...

 

Chillin' with the Chipmunks

Here I am  just hangin' with my Chipmunk homeboys. Actually, these guys were at the theater last night when we went to see "The Road" (which we both gave about a "C" grade).

I waited until I was in my mid-forties to get married, that's a long time being single. It's easy to say "I just didn't find the right girl..." and most of that is true. What it really took was finding the "perfect girl," Elizabeth was always one of my best friends, as far as I'm concerned, it's still not worth it unless you are absolutely sure, there's too much crap that get in the way otherwise; now, I am sure.

Since this blog is built around my life as a newly married  guy in his mid -forties, I have laid out the cast of characters for you- enjoy!

Lost in the Twilight

Elizabeth, my wife; deep thinker. The early winter evenings are a time for reflection and finding inner peace.

We were married once this past summer in a Hindu ceremony in Bali, Indonesia and again on a farm in Colorado in September, enabling our families to attend; both weddings were incredible.

Elizabeth and I have been friends for twenty years but lost touch  about eight years ago. Thanks to the miracle of Facebook she looked me up last January and "friended" me; "what have you been up to? Where are you?" she said. I made sure to write back right away-
"Where are you? What have you been up to?"

The clincher came when she mailed me a photo of her and Grace walking along the dunes in Martha's Vineyard; she wrote on the photo "Come walk with us." I knew right then we would always be together.

The Girls

Well, I guess its time to introduce our cast of characters- ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Lucy and Grace. I have had Border Collies for the past 15 years or so, at one point I had four. People all over town seem to recognize me for my dogs, not necessarily me. "Hey man, how you been... say, how are those dogs? They doing well? What are they up to today?..."

Lucy is going to be ten and Grace is three, they aren't just ordinary dogs, they're really good  dogs.

Animoto.com

Three good buddies venture to the end of the Earth in search of Darwin's ghost.

Super Trouper

Grace aboard her brand new Mountain Boy Sledworks handmade toboggan (http://www.mountainboysleds.com/). Santa came early this year and left her a beautiful new carmel colored sleigh. Unfortunately, on our first outing we ran smack into a pine tree... everyone was OK but the sled we dubbed "Super Trouper" was pretty bashed up. A call put in to the totally awesome guys at Mountain Boy resulted in their cutting us a great deal to send out a new toboggan by Christmas. These guys are incredible, thanks fellas... and 

Merry Christmas!

http://www.roberttroupphotography.com/Grace aboard

Paige does her best to mimic the Pawnee Buttes

Pawnee Buttes Colorado


Paige the dog as Butte.