On the Road Again…

OK, now I’ve got that Willie Nelson song singing in your head, and it’ll probably be there for the rest of the day, overstaying its welcome!

Later on this week, we’re hitting the road again for another journey! Yes, we just got back from one not too long ago. But time’s a wasting! For several years, we have wanted to take this particular trip and something always popped up and nixed our plans. No more! It’s time to pack the bags, format the digital photo cards, and load up the little red Outback with petrol. We’re going to skedaddle eastward for our last trip of 2010!

First stop is a little town called Seagrove in North Carolina. It’s located south of Greensboro and known as the self-proclaimed pottery capital of the world. We love folk art of all kinds, and handmade pottery is one of our favorites! We’ll be visiting just in time for their Christmas open house weekend at many artist studios.

Our next stop will be Colonial Williamsburg to see it decked out for Christmas. This destination is famous for their natural greenery decorations. We thoroughly enjoyed our spring 2009 visit here, and can’t wait to see the buildings in their holiday splendor.

Our final destination will be historical Mount Vernon, home of President George Washington. There are special activities available and the mansion will be fully decorated for Christmas. We visited there about a dozen years ago and look forward to our return.

All of these activities should get us firmly in the Christmas spirit! We’ll be taking our laptop with us, so I hope to load up a post or two while we are meandering through the North Carolina and Virginia.

And please let me know if Marty starts to misbehave! Santa will want a full report!

Decking the Halls

No, we’re not out there among the crazy shoppers today. We’re decking the halls here at the cottage! It’s been an off-and-on project this entire week. We have two Christmas trees already up and decorated. Now we’re moving on to miscellaneous decorations. (Sorry, no pictures yet.)

It’s a bit of a jumble this year because we are now living in a much smaller house; many furniture pieces have been sold; and the floor plan is completely different. For example, we no longer have two fireplace mantels to decorate with our extensive Santa collection. We’ll just have to see what fits and where! And we don’t have room for 3 trees anymore, so there are a lot of ornaments left over. But abundance of decorations is a good thing (as Martha would say) and I’m not complaining! I just get to be choosier about what I truly love and will set out for us to enjoy during the season.

I’m redecorating my blog too, now that Thanksgiving is a wonderful memory. I’m rolling out a new custom blog background and header for the season! I did my own custom backgrounds this year, but now I am venturing into creating them out of my photographs.

Speaking of blog design, those who comment on my blog have noticed over the past month that I no longer moderate comments or require that dreadful word verification step. That’s because Blogger has successfully stopped all the nasty spam that was previously getting through. Their spam filter really works - hooray! So if you still have these comment settings, you might want to seriously consider changing them. As a bit of precaution, I still require that only registered users may comment.

Blogging has been a frenzy for me this month, but I know that everyone thoroughly enjoyed my vacation pictures. I’ve posted more this month than any other month in my blog’s 3-year history! My dear readers can expect me to now resume my normal publishing pace.

As you go about your shopping, wrapping, decorating, and other related tasks, I hope that you can find a happy balance by focusing more on the joys of the season rather than the work of the season! I’ll be telling myself this advice over and over again as I prepare and address our Christmas cards later on today!

An Abundance of Gratitude

(photo altered with Topaz Simply filter)

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something.
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations.
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge.
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary.
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.

~ Author Unknown ~

A Surprise Giveaway for Polar Bear Lovers!

Thank you so much for all of your gracious comments on my series of Polar Bear Country posts! Bloggers love getting comments, and I’m no different in that department. It seems that I successfully touched your hearts and you have generously reciprocated.

In appreciation, I have some little presents for a surprise giveaway! The winner will receive a small 2011 calendar with photos of cute baby bears, an embroidered Churchill “Polar Bear Club” patch, and a picture postcard of an arctic hare (Marty’s Canadian cousin). I used a random number generator to determine the winner from the 63 comments that I received during the series of posts.

So who is the lucky winner? It’s Donna of Made in Heaven! Congratulations, sweetie! I’ll be shipping these off to you later on this week!

See? You never know when I will have a surprise giveaway for my blogging friends who shower me with comments!

P.S. Did you know that all of my Polar Bear Country images are loaded on Flickr? If you want to see a slideshow of them all together, go HERE!

Polar Bear Country: Portraits

Whew, this series was a lot of work! But it was well worth it if it inspires you and reaffirms your deep appreciation of natural beauty. Maybe you can put a visit to Churchill on your bucket list to see these amazing creatures yourself someday. If not, now you have experienced a “virtual” journey! Please consider this photo expedition as my gift to you, my dear blogging friends.

As a final remembrance, here are some of my special portraits of Ursus maritimus.

Face-to-face, pressing noses...

An aerial view…

Sheer joy…

A welcome to polar world…

A bow to the winter season…

A loving momma bear…

A graceful walk through the snow…

And spending time with a good friend.

Polar Bear Country: Close Encounter of the Furry Kind!

Only a couple of thousand people venture up to Churchill each year to see the wild polar bears congregate and wait for the Hudson Bay to freeze. The prime viewing season is October through November.

These magnificent animals look cute and cuddly, but they are at the top of the food chain. Male bears can weigh as much as 1300 pounds and stand at 10 feet tall. The safe way to see these bears is by riding in a tundra rover. Jacked up on huge tires, these vehicles are able to handle the rugged trails, traverse shallow ponds, and keep you safely elevated from any bears that come up to investigate. Some folks even live out on the tundra in special lodges so that they can watch the bears non-stop!

The Canadian government restricts the amount of tour operators and where the vehicles can travel in the Churchill Wildlife Management area. Our trip was arranged by Natural Habitat Adventures, the biggest polar bear tour operator in the travel business. They book with Great White Bear Tours for use of the rovers. One of the great things about Natural Habitat is that their tours are purposely kept small. Only 18 people maximum are loaded up in a vehicle, along with the tour director and driver. Everyone gets their own window seat! The vehicles were comfortable and equipped with a toilet (very important for all-day trips).

We were no different than all the other visitors. We hoped that our group would get to experience an up-close visit by a polar bear! We held our breath, crossed our fingers, and said our prayers. On our last day out in the rover, more bears were staying around the tundra lodge area, so that is where our driver headed. We had seen this bear hanging around the lodge a couple of days before the snow arrived.

We watched him for a while, and soon he stood up and closely investigated one of their viewing platforms! Could we ever be so lucky?

YES!!!

Remember the pair of two-year-old cubs? One of those youngsters decided to come over and see what we were all about! In the picture-taking frenzy that ensued, I was able to get a photo of him underneath our feet while we were standing out on the rover’s viewing platform.

Hubby was at the railing, but the bear got too close for his long zoom lens to focus. So I got to switch places and get next to the railing. The cub wandered about a little more and finally parked himself near the back bumper. When the bear started to sit back on his haunches, I was all ready for him to jump up on the back panel. And UP he came!

OK, we were all squealing like a bunch of silly children at this point. I was hanging over the side, snapping pictures as fast as I could. Would you take a gander at this furry foot?

After a short while, he decided to come over and give a personal hello to the crazy woman hanging over the side of the vehicle (me). I saw him coming up through my viewfinder and backed up a little bit to keep him in focus. Mercy, look at that wet nose!

This young rascal continued to put on quite a show for us. He was a bit frustrated that he couldn’t reach us, so he proceeded to chew on the wooden bumper, tearing off several good-sized chunks! It was a hoot!

He finally lost interest in us and wandered off to visit with another bear. He had done his part to add to our grand polar bear adventure! Thank you, Mister Bear!

There will be one final post for you in this series. I know that you won’t want to miss it!

Polar Bear Country: Snow!

There’s no doubt about it. People may not like snow, but polar bears sure do! On our final day out on the tundra rover, we saw many happy bears. There were quite a few congregated out near the tundra lodge (where some guest stay overnight), so that’s where all the vehicles headed.

This poor fellow was surrounded by four rovers. It was bitterly cold with a fierce wind still blowing. You can see that nobody in the rover across from us was braving the elements out on the back deck. I about froze, but I took many of the day’s photos out on our rover’s deck. It was so worth it!

All he was trying to do was catch a few zzz’s, but the paparazzi descended upon him!

Look at that frown! “Hey, can’t I get a little peace and quiet around here?!”

He finally realized that napping was a futile activity. Much to our delight, he decided to groom himself instead. Lots of licking and scratching ensued. This photo shows the massive size of his back foot!

He was actually in a deep-cleaning mode here, but I thought it looked like he was giving us the raspberries for being hopeless voyeurs!

Most of the bears were close by on this final day, but this one provided a good photo opportunity of the snow-covered tundra and ponds.

This gorgeous creature put on quite a show of polar yoga moves, exercising those massive legs! Ah-ONE!

And ah-TWO!

And whoop-dee-DOO!

And after all the mid-day activities, it was time for this critter to have a little shut-eye. Sweet dreams, Mister Bear!

Are you bored with my polar bear pictures yet? I hope not because the best are yet to come! I have two more installments in this series. What’s next? Our close encounter!

Polar Bear Country: The Snow Boogie

The blizzard began when our tour group went on an evening trip on the tundra rover. Heading out at dusk, I didn’t expect any exceptional photo opportunities. So I only took my little Coolpix camera on the excursion. Little did we know that we would see something both magical and hilarious. The episode has to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life.

One doesn’t get many opportunities in their lifetime to witness pure bliss and whimsy by a wild animal. But that night was a special night. Snow was blasting across the tundra with 40 mph winds and accumulating, much to the delight to our bear friends. The quality of these pictures is poor due to the conditions and a wet lens, but I have to share them with you. It’s the middle of the week; the rush and stresses of the holiday season are upon us; and you are in need of some humor!

Folks, this is the story of “the snow boogie”.

About a half hour after we loaded into the polar rover, a bear came up alongside the vehicle, about 30 feet from us. The driver stopped. The bear moved into position, as if on cue.

He settled down among some shrub willows and began a brief warm-up. We had no idea what was going to transpire during the next 10-15 minutes. But we would be transfixed!

Suddenly, the boogie business began! He dropped and proceeded to roll around in the cold snow with no qualms about indignities.

Then it was on to the cheesecake pose, making sure that his admirers were catching the action on their cameras!

The thrill of the cold snow soon overwhelmed him. He began rubbing his head and kicking up his heals, lost in the revelry!

With a brief pause, he looked back as us (to make sure we were mesmerized by the performance) and gave us a wink! The scamp!

Confident that he had us locked under his spell, he proceeded to throw some more leg kicks while thrashing about.

Blissful contentment was obvious as he stretched out and savored the spotlight.

Sweet remembrances of past winters consumed him as he curled up in a ball and stroked his furry head. He didn’t mind the willow bush that was poking the back of his noggin.

In fact, he wore that bush as a temporary wig while flinging himself back for a spectacular and final boogie pose!

Ah, the snow boogie came an end, and now the little bush was under his rump. No matter! Amid our howls of laughter, he gave a contented sigh. The boogie bear knew that we thoroughly enjoyed his routine.

His work was done. It was time to sleep and dream of a glorious winter season ahead!

~~~ the end ~~~

Polar Bear Country: Blizzard A’Coming

Undeterred that I couldn’t mimic the sound of the bears’ favorite food, we still managed to witness some furry beasts close to our vehicle. This handsome fellow glanced our way while he was out for a stroll.

A young bear with a vivid white coat was only brave enough to venture as close as a distant boulder. He stood his ground, finally climbed on top of the rock, and then turned his back to us. OK, we can take a hint!

This grumpy older one got roused from slumber because of the rover’s noise, and quickly scooted away for a less visible and quieter spot.

There was no way that this bear was going to stir from his cozy bed. He made it clear, “Move along people, I’m not here to entertain you!”

Ah, but one furball kindly posed long enough for me to take a proper portrait. (To emphasize the beautiful detail of the fur, I dropped the saturation and applied a Topaz Adjust filter to the image.) Isn’t this bear handsome?!

Bits of sleet were already coming down and a wintery front was predicted to arrive just in time for our evening tundra rover trip. We saw something both magical and hilarious at the beginning of the ride. You will not want to miss my next post!

Polar Bear Country: Before the Storm

When we first arrived at Churchill, it was cold and very windy. When the tundra rover took us out to polar bear country, we saw numerous ponds scattered across the tundra and most were partially frozen. The landscape was a gorgeous patchwork of browns and russet textures. A few pine trees survive in this climate, and those that do are midgets compared to those in southern climates. The most prominent feature across the barren countryside is the shrub willow, and it tends to form wild hedges wherever it sprouts, particularly along pond banks.

Polar bear sightings were easy once we concentrated on finding the “white dots” in the distance. We saw an incredible 19 bears in one day!

Before the storm, most of our furry friends were located too far away to clearly photograph. However, my long-range images are always good candidates for creating watercolor pictures!

We were ecstatic with the abundance of the bears, and cheered whenever a few decided to come close to the tundra rover.

Come on and visit with us, big guy!

Hey, don’t walk away! Stay around for a while because my blogging friends want to meet you!

I asked our guide what sound a ringed seal makes, and I got a dirty look instead of an answer. Darn it all, LOL! 

[to be continued]