Early Christmas Visit

We had a great weekend. Pam and James came for an early Christmas celebration. It is very nice to have Christmas start in mid-December and not end until mid-January when the four of us will get together with Meg and Steve. A month of Christmas beats a day!

What did we do? Friday evening we had our traditional Christmas Tamale Dinner, fixed by Russ while the rest of us put up the tree. That was followed by our 2nd Annual Cul-de-Sac Neighbors' Christmas Party. We roasted chestnuts on an open fire pit. Actually, Ralph did all the roasting work...thank you Ralph. The rest of us ate them, and the other goodies we all brought along. It was warm enough for no jackets!

Saturday was rainy and cool, but no problem because the plan was to make pick grapefruit in the backyard and make it into marmalade, then to pickle some okra and green bean. Amazingly, the results of a day of cooking made it back to VA on the plane without breaking.

Sue using a fire log for a foot stool :)

You need this much sugar for 40 half-pints of grapefruit marmalade

Marmalade's done...on to the pickles!

Cat Island Paddle

Finally, last Tuesday, the weather gods smiled and after 4 cancelled attempts we paddled the final of the 12 trails that will be in the Friends Paddling Guide! Not only are we relived to be finished with the research, but it was a fantastic paddle. More photos are here on the Friends of Refuges website.

The Great Suwannee River Cleanup

Russ and I stayed ashore to sign -n the volunteers, and to help weigh and haul away the 1 ton of trash the volunteers brought in at Fowlers Bluff. Then we had a down-home lunch at the Treasure Camp next door to the boat ramp. About half of the 82  Fowlers Bluff volunteers stayed for lunch on the screened porch at the Camp. What a way to spend a December Saturday! More photos are posted here on the Friends website.

Teaching the Camino Courses

Our class at Santa Fe College had 14 students, all of whom are thinking of doing the Camino within a year or so. That meant we had the opportunity to talk about all the nitty-gritty fun stuff that nobody who wasn't planning to go with ever care about. We talked about clothes, walking sticks, backpack features, how much water to carry, first aid, boots, rain, accommodations, trains and buses, scallop shells and pilgrim passports. We had a grant time and they kept coming back for more. They even liked to look at guidebooks and pictures of the trails!

What's Up?

Since the Mercy Reunion we have been happily busy. I attended the Friends Academy sponsored by the US National Wildlife System at the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia. Here is a link to more photos from the week of intensive networking and learning.

When I got back, we were off to Cedar Key for a couple of weeks of kayaking, Friends activities, and Halloween fun.

Now we are back in Gainesville teaching a mini course at Santa Fe Community Education for folks who are seriously considering walking El Camino.

50-Year Mercy Reunion

Fifty years since 1961...having not gone back to my high school in all that time, it seemed right to go this year. And it was. I greatly enjoyed seeing everyone and hearing what they have been up to. It was also nice to be back in the building. The school is going strong.

More photos are here. I fermented more about it on our Random Ferments blog

Camino Presentation and Class

We had great fun doing a presentation about the Camino for the Prime Time Institute on Thursday. About 30 attended. The audience was wonderfully interactive, full of questions and comments. We talked about the "What", the "How", and the "Why" of walking the Camino...the historical and cultural path, the practical path, and the inner path. 

I enjoy talking about the legends related to the Camino and its historical perspective. But I must admit that the "how to" parts are the most fun for me. Our show-and-tell was a hit. We brought our backpacks and sticks for people to try out. We brought our packing lists and examples of all our gear.

Now we are looking forward to the short-course we will teach for the Community Education program at Santa Fe College on three Tuesdays in November...the 8th, 15th, and 29th. In these we will have time to expand the how-to information as well as the discussions of the historical and inner paths of the Camino experience.

If you are interested in taking the course, it will open for registration October 12 through the College's Community Education website www.sfcollege.edu/ce/ The class is listed in the "Special Interests" category and costs $24 for all three classes. It requires at least 10 to run.

Camino Glow

The Camino never seems to leave us when we leave it. All summer we have been enjoying the glow of having been there in May and June.

Now we have started a new novel...set on the Camino.

And, we are going to offer a three-night course about it for the Santa Fe College Community Ed program here in Gainesville in November. More to come

!

Back from the North Country

My spent much of August in Star Lake, NY again this year. We went to Montreal from there for a day at the American Cheese Society Conference and to attend the Festival of Cheeses. This year over 1600 American made artisanal cheeses were on display. See the photos here.

Meg, Pam and James came. We ran in the Save Our Schoolhouse Fun Walk Run. Russ came in second to Gary in the men's 60 to 69 age group, but both were beat by classmate Bonnie. She, Gary, Russ and the others in their class celebrated having graduated from Clifton-Fine High School 50  years ago.

Larry and Donna visited. Well actually they came to see Jake, but we enjoyed their company too.

We saw Cousin Charlene, who looks wonderful and laughed at all our jokes. Russ's mother's friend Agnes, who is now well into her 90s, had us over for lunch at her house in Carthage. Gary, Tracy, Aaron, and Kayla were there.

What a great trip! The lake was even warm enough for non-teenagers and good-old dogs to swim in.