Celebrating life, bridge over peaceful waters and hustling

I was in Orange Park, Florida over the weekend to celebrate the life of a beloved uncle who passed away last week.  He was my late mother's younger brother and such a happy man that he would have loved the party my aunt threw for him on Friday night.  The service was on Saturday morning, but since I walk on Saturday mornings with my friends, I tried to rally sister and cousin for an early walk with me.  They could not be persuaded.  So I asked the hotel desk if there was a path along the St. Johns River and there was!  Off I went.

- The birds were singing so sweetly as I started out on this peaceful morning, that I titled this photo Three Little Birds, after the Bob Marley song, because serendipitously, it came on my iPod at that very moment.  And I sang a little of it out loud, since no one was stirring.  Click on the red link there to hear it if you don't know it.  "Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing's gonna be alright."

- Ah - I found the river behind a home that was empty and for sale.  That's the Buckman Bridge that connects Orange Park, Florida with Jacksonville, Florida.  What a glorious view in store for some lucky buyer.  I had taken a wrong turn and missed the river path, so backtracked and found it:

- Love the Spanish Moss dripping from the trees that is all over northern Florida.  A peaceful walk, listening to tunes.

- And toward the end, I encountered people running - I found it on the internet - it was the "Hula Hustle 5K", which explains why some runners were wearing grass skirts and leis.  :)  Click to enlarge.

A cheerful sheriff's deputy, who was directing runner traffic, directed me back to the hotel.  And everyone was sorry they didn't go with me, after they heard about the view.  :)  I loved it and was just as happy to be alone.

Through angel wings, wee visitors and to grandmother's house

- I love a fanlight doorway anyway, but the addition of these wooden angel wings make it exquisite.  Seen at the antiques shop where Whiskers (who now lives in the apartment upstairs) used to be.

- The owner is a kind woman who feeds the local strays.  Looks as if they have a warm box to sleep in, too.  That's friend Janice's hand, knocking on the glass so I could get their faces on my photo.  That tortoiseshell kitty just kept eating - oblivious.

- Over the river and through the wood...to grandmother's house we go!  I always associate that song with Thanksgiving and indeed, Wikipedia tells me that it was a Thanksgiving poem written by Lydia Maria Child in 1844.  It celebrated her memories of visiting her grandmother's house as a child.  What a wonderful time that must have been.

Kicking it off, Thanksgiving and looking forward

- I'm going to my first holiday gathering of the season tonight, so it seems appropriate to post a holiday photo this morning to kick it off.  :)  The sleigh is in front of the antique store in Lilburn, Georgia, near the park where I walk.

- My sisters and I tried to remember the words to the Over the River and through the Woods song once - a song we associate with Thanksgiving.  This is all we remembered, so we sang this first verse a couple of times and ended with "Hey!":

Over the river and through the woods

To Grandmother's house we go,

The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh

Through the white and drifted snow...

The rest of the lyrics can be found here (I just looked it up.)  Turns out a woman named Lydia Maria Child wrote this in 1844, based on memories of visiting her Grandmother's house, which still stands near the Mystic River in Medford, Massachusetts.  It has been restored by Tufts University.

- All three sisters (two of them grandmothers), who live in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, Atlanta, Georgia and the rolling "red hills" farmland of northern Florida, will be together this year for Thanksgiving.  The Florida sister called me last evening about the menu and later texted me, thanking me for "talking her off the ledge."  She is nervous about being in charge of the dinner, but I reminded her that we all like to cook, so we'll make it fun and remember that the most important thing is being together.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!