22 December 2009 Photo(s): The Spirit(s) Of Christmas

I finally have caught the Christmas "spirit"! It only happened a day or so ago but was kicked into high gear when I arrived in RI to see my family today. This is the one (usually) guaranteed time of the year when all of my siblings are together, along with spouses, children and assorted extended family. With six of us spread from GA to NY to MA to RI that is never an easy feat. As you can see in the photos above my sister, Anne Marie, is the Gaming Queen!

It has been quite a year for us - my brother was in the hospital during Christmas last year, my sister had kidney cancer in the spring, my nephew broke his arm, I broke my ankle and assorted other aches and pains as we get older. Luckily this Christmas season we are all relatively healthy (or at least healthier) and will be gathered in a few days to celebrate the season.

As we enter into this year's Christmas festivities, I am happy to have my family around me and remember those that are not here. Today would have been my mother's birthday and while she is not here with us physically, I know she is here in my "spirit" of Christmas!

8 August 2009 Photo(s): The Scottish/Redneck Games

So today we went to the Scottish Games/Celtic Festival and the Redneck Games. Separated by only a few miles, I am not sure I can tell the difference between the two games.

It seemed like there were a lot of men throwing things that probably shouldn't have been thrown (heavy weights by the Scots and hubcaps by the Rednecks). They both had music, food (with long lines) and beer. Both groups where wearing unusual clothes by main stream standards. I must say that the music at the Scottish Games was better and the humor factor at the Redneck Games was slightly higher. All in all, there were different cultures experience today.