Friday, January 4, 2013

Day 370 (Day 4 of 2013): Long shadows



View west from the front porch


The last night of the Christmas tree



Long shadows and oak leaves


After a busy day in Orchard Park, I snapped a shot of the long shadows in our backyard in the late afternoon.  On the trip home, the sun was gleaming on wind-blown glazed snow along the thruway.  Our yard is so trampled by deer and turkey tracks that there are no smooth surfaces to reflect the sun.  Red leaves still cling to the branches of the young oak tree and provide a bit of shelter for the bluejays, tufted titmice, juncos, chickadees and doves that visit each day.

A few hours of writing and editing today yielded another 400 words.  I worked on the hike down Canadaway Creek on Friday afternoon when a beaver swam between Evan and Monica's legs as they were crossing the stream.  They were stunned!  Then I reworked the paragraphs on the after dinner games and the cheesecake contest.  Many of the years we play a game when the kids form two lines and hold thick dowel rods between them creating a horizontal ladder.  The challenge comes when kids and adults attempt to cross the ladder, either by crawling or walking.  Years ago, our Supt., Paul D., was at 300 pounds when he crept across the ladder held up by a team of 8th graders.  He was amazed that they held him and so were the kids.

Anna H. started the cheesecake contest back in 2005 when her cook group decided they wanted to create the best cheesecake known to mankind.  Ever since then, the kids have delighted in embellishing their cheesecakes with whatever condiments they collected throughout the hike.  It's become one of the highlights of the Friday night events.

I feel certain I can finish the chapter revisions by Sunday night.  Tomorrow, the challenge will be to rework the talent show and the Saturday events.


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