Blue Christmas

I get so nostalgic around Christmas. I miss family, friends who are far away, and loved ones lost.

My tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving and I rock around it like Brenda Lee through mid-January! Some people collect magnets or shot glasses from vacations. I pick up ornaments to remind me of special times throughout the year, and on my pre-lit beauty they go!

I also can't get enough Christmas music right now, even though some songs make me all weepy! It's a good feeling, though, not a sad, woe-is-me sort of situation. My favorite is "The Christmas Song" (the Nat King Cole version, of course!). I can name that tune in about two notes, and when the strings come in, I'm a goner.

I also come apart at the seams when the children sing "Blue Christmas" in "The Year Without A Santa Claus".

The Peanuts gang ice skating to "Christmastime Is Here"?  I'm done.

Growing up in the south, Christmases were not snowy affairs. So during the five years I spent in Cleveland, all the songs and carols about "folks dressed up like Eskimos" and "doing alright with your Christmas of white" sort of came to life for me.

Swoon. I miss that. See?? There I go again!

I'm on a stay-cation right now, so this morning I left the house around 3:30 a.m. and went in search of Christmas lights to photograph. And speaking of blue Christmases, the first stop was Graceland! I always love seeing it lit up for the holidays. I think the security guards thought I was nuts for showing up at that hour with my camera! It was pretty foggy, but the mansion did not disappoint!

I've been inside Graceland only once, about ten years ago. I was working with a local TV station during Elvis Week in 2007, the 30th anniversary of his death. We were set up in the Jungle Room for interviews. It was at least 1,000 degrees outside, and the only relief I found was taking my shoes off. Which leads me to the only Elvis story I have, which is that I ran my toes through the shag carpet in the Jungle Room at Graceland.  Boom.

Anyway, I stood outside the Signature Wall under the watchful eyes of security guards, and got a few shots of the mansion, the giant nativity, and the blue lights leading up the driveway. Across the street, next to the Lisa Marie, the grounds were lit with musical instruments and other traditional holiday figures, all behind a white picket fence decorated with a string of blue lights. I loved the quiet street, being able to appreciate Graceland without the crowds.

Beachy Weekend

Orange Beach, AL

We all met in college.

Britton might tell you she didn't like me at first because I cut to the front of the line during freshman registration. Which is only partly true.

Amy might tell you I forced her out into the cold to search for a missing dog we heard about on the radio. Which is completely true.

Beth might tell you the first time we hung out we sat up talking for hours. Which is also totally true.

We all lived on the same floor in James Annex, each with different roommates. But we met by chance and decided to make our resident adviser crazy by shuffling three different rooms, affecting more than half a dozen people, a move hardly rivaled when it comes to NBA trades!

That was the Great Roommate Swap of 1995, celebrated with a snack of ding dongs and milk because that's all we had handy. I'm pretty sure someone's mother sent them to us in a care package. Probably Amy's.

More than two decades later, we still talk about that night and the countless adventures we've had since. The most recent, a beachy birthday weekend on the Gulf Coast.

I caught a quick flight Friday to Pensacola where the girls picked me up and the relaxation began! Whenever I'm around them, my walls come down and we immediately drag out the old stories from college and continue the razzing that started 22 years ago.

Not even a little rain could dampen our time together. Lounging around, a dip in the ocean, fancy dinner, birthday cake, card games, even sweaty miniature golf, it was a short weekend that was big on good times and tons of laughs.

Now we're back to real life filled with work, kids and other obligations. But after the girls took me back to the airport and we hugged our goodbyes, it only took five minutes to get the text, "I miss you already!"

History Lessons

Washington, D.C. is by far my favorite city in which to be a tourist.  So when I was invited to the capital last weekend, naturally I jumped at the chance. Even before I landed Friday afternoon, I knew I wanted to wander through the monuments at night!

But I wasn't always so gung-ho.

Lincoln Memorial

History was not a subject that interested me as a student at any level. The last history class I took was a two-parter: American History through 1877 and American History 1877 to Present. I never bothered to learn why why 1877 was such a pivotal year to switch syllabi. I don't remember my professors ever making it that far. Likewise, we never made it to modern history. Essentially, I learned the same stories repeatedly from elementary school through college (which thankfully was abbreviated during that beauty of higher education: summer school).

Sadly, not one educator was ever able to bring history to life for me.

Lincoln's second inaugural speech, 1865

I can't pinpoint the moment that all changed, but suffice to say I'm now a complete sucker for everything from antebellum homes with creaking, polished wood floors to cold marble monuments, gleaming beneath floodlights, etched with immortal words.

I love sterile museums that smell of oil paint and dusty light bulbs, ancient libraries with the musty odor of mildew and well-loved books, and documentaries that teach me what I don't remember from a lifetime of boring lectures and scribbling notes straight from the chalkboard.

My deepest apologies to Mr. Bolin from First Baptist Church School who tried so hard to teach me world history, American history, even Louisiana history in the late 1980's and early 1990's. You'll be happy to know that, at long last, I get it.

I didn't get to capture nearly as many pictures as I wanted this time, but I will be back in Washington soon. Seeing this stuff never gets old!

U.S. Capitol

Washington Monument

Just the most fabulous bicycle in DC!