The Photo Bin - December 2014

I'm not much for looking back so you'll get no in-depth review of 2014 around here. What's visible in the rearview mirror - just about a month's worth - is more than enough for me and just perfect for the Photo Bin. Let's get to it.

I have a fixation on the view from my sister-in-law's front porch, out across the Indiana corn fields to the homestead just up County Road 800, and it's never quite so captivating as it is during the winter. This holiday's visit was no exception. Our early morning departure for home was delayed when the packing of the truck was interrupted by gorgeous light playing across heavily frosted farm acreage under deep purple skies. It was well worth the delay.

As you can imagine, the vast majority of last month's shutter clicks captured Christmas activity. Not wishing to subject you to a deluge of someone else's holiday snapshots, I offer but a single image that captures what Christmas morning is like with a 6-year-old. Actually, this blur is pretty well representative of most days around our grandchildrens' Chicago household. To have that much energy again...

It always looks like Christmas at The Flying Saucer; a beer lover's haven and our base of operations when we head south to Charlotte to visit. The plates that adorn the ceiling and walls commemorate patrons who have "sampled" two-hundred different brews. Two of those plates bear our son's name; the first accomplished on his own and the second completed, in memoriam, by his legion of friends who miss him as much as we do. We gather there, each December, for the Delivery of the Tea Rings, a family tradition he embraced with gusto.

And just to remind you that this is a fishing blog (yeah, that makes me chuckle too) a gratuitous shot of one of the last fish of the year; a healthy Davidson rainbow I snuck in between days at the Western North Carolina Fly Fishing Expo. Always a good time, both the show and the river. My thanks to the Davidson River Outfitters for another mighty fine day on their waters.

Finally, my favorite little Polar Plunger with her best "that was fun but let's go home and get into a hot bathtub" look. Technically, this image should be used for next month's bin as I shot it at our 8th annual New Year's Day dip into the neighborhood pond, but what the heck. We gather at noon on each January 1st to re-establish our lunacy and start the year off with an exhilarating dive into frigid waters. It's hell going in, but, when you re-emerge, it's life affirming and exactly how you need to start a new calendar year.

I hope that yours has started with equal enthusiasm. Face it. It's 2015 and there's no looking back.

Happy New Year!

What is a Photo Bin?