A Post of Photos

I was looking through some photos on my phone and decided to post a few.

This is Oyster Shell Park; I liked the color of the trees.  They reminded me of these.

Here's another painted stone I saw along the Norwalk River Valley Trail. 

Last week as we did a loop at Oyster Shell Park, Lola and I were surprised when a hawk swooped down, flying about four feet off the ground. It landed in this tree. Lola stood and stared in the hawk's direction for a few moments.  

It's amazing how much larger the hawk appeared in full wingspan than it did perched on this branch. I stopped to take some photos; I couldn't get a good shot. While taking the pictures, I dropped a glove and bent to pick it up. When I looked up, the hawk was gone: thin tree branches swaying in its wake. The hawk had moved on to a taller tree. 

Apparently hawks are generally solitary and territorial. I guess this is the same hawk I've seen before at Oyster Shell. 

Jeff gave me this ornament on Saturday evening. I love it; I've often said that I would loved for Lola to have met Spike. Here she sits with us and angel Spike. 

My Best Book Gift

I saw a question in The New York Times Book Review for Chelsea Clinton: what's the best book you ever received as a gift?

I want to write about my answer.

My favorite book is I Capture the Castle as I discussed here. The book was out-of-print for many years. I lent my copy to my sister Joanna to re-read. I told her to take care of it; she used to dog-ear her books which drove me crazy.

So what happened? Her German Shepard puppy got a hold of the book and chewed it up. Joanna said she sobbed when she found it.

I was bummed, but I didn't blame her.

For my next birthday, Jeff gave me a copy of I Capture the Castle, in perfect condition along with the dust jacket.

I was so happy. I had no idea you could get out-of-print books without hunting through library book sales (which I did before the book was back in print.)

Only Jeff realized how important the book was to me: one more reason why I love him.

Roses

I received an unexpected surprise last Saturday: a dozen roses from the mother of one of my tutoring students.

I took this picture after a few days: I had trimmed the stems and placed the roses in two different vases. 

I don't usually get gifts from my tutoring students. In the past, I've received a few gifts around the Christmas holidays. I appreciate them all, but the unexpected gifts are the best.