Town Hall and Snow Shower

Captured yesterday evening as Toruń was experiencing a light snow shower. As you can see our festive decorations are still up. Polish people tend to leave them up as late as early February.

Toruń's Very Own Messiah

Following on from yesterday's Christmas decoration post...Toruń's attractive full size nativity scene is still up in the New Square. Though it's likely to be dismantled soon. This year the rather old, church-like figures have been replaced with more stylised wooden ones. Either way...it makes for quite an attractive scene.

Santa's STILL in town!

The Poles tend to take a loooooong time in taking their Christmas decorations down. And why not? It makes the place far more colourful and festive. Don't be surprised to see Christmas trees up in homes until early February. This Santa is still hanging around...even in mid January.

My Leprechaun Volunteer

St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun, Charleston, SC

Well phewy. I can't get the embedded link to work but here is the footage Channel 5 took of my Leprechaun visit to the hospital yesterday. Tell me this fellow doesn't make a perfect Leprechaun? It was meant to be.

The gentleman's name is Bob Jones and he calls me every year at this time.

Found in the woods this morning...

Charleston, SC

I don't blog from work. Except on major holidays.

Happy St. Patrick's day!

Happy MLK Day!

MLK Parade, King St., Charleston, SC

What a wonderful day! I am so pleased to have the day off and be part of the joyful energy surrounding the Martin Luther King Day parade this morning. It's kinda hard to focus a camera when your eyes are all teary. Sniff. I never really knew what the appropriate greeting was for MLK day but I do today, it's "Happy MLK Day!"

I'll upload more into this gallery later but I need to jump into action right now. In fact these pictures have been posted while the parade is still going on.

New Year's Pig Pickin'

Wadmalaw Island, SC

One of the pigs raised on Chef Sean Brock's Wadmalaw farm was the center of attention at a gathering to bring in the New Year last night and I was lucky enough to be invited. Woo hoo! There was even a cake in poor piggie's honor.

We drove up at sunset to find two huge bonfires, kids sailing through the sky and tables overflowing with food and drink. They had built a smoker for the occasion and I was just in time to watch them lift the pig out and onto the flat bed of a truck. Hungry helpers stood around with spotlights and kids climbed up on the truck waiting for tasty scraps to be tossed in their direction. What a fun feast. For a happy finale, nothing says Happy New Year in South Carolina like shooting a couple of propane tanks in a farm field.

The rest of the pork sacrificed for the occasion is safely tucked away in the freezer at McCrady's restaurant waiting to be served in a slightly more formal manner. More photos here.

Happy New Year! 2009

Read Brother's window, King St., Charleston, SC

We will open the book.
Its pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity
and
its first chapter is New Year’s Day.


Happy New Year, kids! The year may be an empty book but I've always enjoyed scribbling.

What shall we do this year?
* Learn to play one song well on the harmonica?
* Learn to dance? (Shut up)
* Make coconut macaroons that don't get soggy the next morning so I don't have to eat the whole batch immediately out of the oven.
* Con some educational institution into giving me an honorary degree. (I have a Canadian Diploma of Nursing and I collect certifications in topics of interest but no actual degree. Probably shouldn't write this here. My boss may not remember. Ssshh..)
* Most importantly: Try my hardest to behave and hold on to my job. Jobs feel like precious jewels right now.

2008 has been a whirlwind.
* I won a national award for my student mentoring programs in health care.
* Was invited to present on student mentoring at a regional conference with my friend Kelly and we got a standing ovation from hospital recruiters.
* Walked across England from coast to coast.
* Decided I should sell my house and downsize. Got in a panic about what all I would have to do if it actually did sell (don't see that happening) and started trading off my stuff for work done. Yep. I gave the painter the guest bed and the roofer my chest of drawers and antique trunk. You heard me. I bartered away my chest of drawers (Shut up).
* On a couple of occasions I have had photos in print in almost every publication in town at the same time. No one would ever know they were all from me though. Sneaky.
* Raised $58,000 for the American Heart Association primary by making very proper gentlemen dress up in Red Dresses.
* Won multiple awards for my volunteers by nominating them for the Governor's Award, Health Care Heroes. Jefferson Award. I do have a magic touch with a nomination.
* Adding up my numbers yesterday it looks like my volunteers will have served close to 80,000 hours this year.
* Added this one: I paid off my roof loan. Yipee!
* Made wonderful new friends and stayed close to important older ones.
* Ended the year losing 4 years of blog entries and close to half a million hits, on my former site Walk this Way. The site is unrecoverable. This doesn't just effect me but thousands of bloggers. I very much appreciate the welcome I've received at the Daily Photo site and encourage everyone to update their link. I am humbled by the emails I have been getting from folks who have followed me through the years - people I didn't even know have contacted me. Thank you to all of you for your support and friendship. I need it. Happy New Year!

New Year's Traditions

Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, SC

I have always liked New Year’s Eve. My mother's family was Scottish and made a bigger deal of it than Christmas. After my divorce I was so determined not to be sitting at home alone on New Year's Eve that I volunteered for the then active Charleston First Night Festival and the next year found myself on the board and Volunteer Coordinator for the event. I'd recruit hundreds of volunteers to staff the events all over town and spent the evening going from belly dancing to gospel singing checking on all the venues. By midnight I'd be freezing, exhausted and happy. Now I am completely content to socialize earlier and be safely home at the stroke of midnight.

Forget Hoppin’ John, I like the Scottish tradition of the First Footer bringing good luck.

Snopes.com New Year’s Beliefs
The first person to enter your home after the stroke of midnight will influence the year you’re about to have. Ideally, he should be dark haired, tall and good looking,(well, yes!) and it would be even better if he came bearing certain small gifts such as a lump of coal, a silver coin, a bit of bread, a sprig of evergreen, and some salt. Blonde and redhead first footers bring bad luck, and female first footers should be shooed away before they bring disaster down on the household. Aim a gun at them if you have to, but don’t let them near your door before a man crosses the threshold. ......First footers must not be cross-eyed or have flat feet or eyebrows that meet in the middle.

Now, how do I pull this off? A sign on the street? Heheh. Another site allows that whiskey would also be a welcome gift.

Folly Beach Holiday Card

Love, Truth, Peace, Moon, Joy, Warm, Water, Dog, Now

Why am I up this early with no kids in the house? Merry Christmas everyone!

Naughty & Nice

King St., Charleston, SC

I took this one a few years ago but am obligated to drag it out each holiday season. The risque display in the Victoria Secret Store clearly made the the reindeer wake up frisky. A photo catch like this is like a worm to an early bird.

I am off until Monday. Wow. A rare treat. My daughter flies back to Portland this afternoon (sniff) so I have Christmas dinner ready for today. I won't be following the photo a day guidelines this week as I am busting with pictures to post. Thanks to everyone who has tracked me down!

Baby in Waiting

Newborn Nursery, Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, Charleston, SC

At midnight on Christmas Eve, one of the Nursery Nurses will carry baby Jesus out to the manger scene and lay him in the manger. Meanwhile he waits with the other babies in the nursery.

Rutledge Ave.

Rutledge Ave., Charleston, SC

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