It's New Year's Eve, and with just a few hours left in 2008, I give you this beautiful closeup of a female cardinal photographed by Elaine Stewart of Valley Grande.
Happy New Year to everybody around the world!
Be sure and check the City Daily Photo Blogs on New Year's Day when bloggers will post their best photo of the year.
Sunshine has returned to Alabama, giving the cattle and us a break from damp, dismal conditions. Let the sun shine on!
Here's a break from all the fog, clouds and rain...High Cotton.
One of Selma's Butterfly Project sculptures, "High Cotton" is sponsored by J.A. Minter & Son, which operated a longtime cotton gin in Tyler, Alabama, and is painted by Anne High.
The sculpture graces the grounds of Sturdivant Hall, but depending on seasonal events there, you might find it across the street at Heritage Park.
Our 12-year-old rescue kitty has always craved companionship...so much so that he spent Christmas morning hugging his Daddy's leg and serving as a ribbon receptacle as gifts were opened. While he isn't smiling for the camera, I can assure you that he's a very contented cat!
To see more Camera Critters, click HERE.
Christmas trees and snow banks fill the entrance of the Selma Mall where a fountain used to be.
These are the days of after-Christmas sales, but so far, I haven't ventured out to the stores. There's so much to do outside while December is pretending to be April. Our windows are open to let in the warm, fresh air!
A little blue and a lot of gray...that's been the sky most every day now for a couple of weeks. This is the sky above the Walmart parking lot just before Christmas, and it's the same today. Temperatures here are 75 degrees F.
To see more skies around the world, click HERE.
Wind blew some of the straw roof off this stable on Broad Street, but that doesn't change the Good News that Christ is born.
The Nativity scene is said to have been introduced by St. Francis of Assisi back around the 13th Century as a visual way to tell the Christmas story. It's a story that changed the history of the world and has the power to change human hearts.
The Bible proclaims Christ to be God incarnate called the Son of God, "God with us," the Savior, everlasting Lord, Prince of Peace, King of Kings... long-awaited Messiah. Hallelujah for the good news!
Oh, the weather outside is balmy, and shoppers are out in force this Christmas Eve of 2008.
Have a very Merry Christmas, y'all!
Crocheted Christmas ornaments were all the rage years ago, and somebody who could work the tiny crochet hook through slender cotton thread spent untold hours making them.
I purchased this and many other crocheted ornaments at arts and crafts festivals, and Santa with his stringy beard is still among my favorites.
Amid all the gift-buying, Christmas parties and decorating, Tabernacle Baptist Church on Broad Street posts the advice to "Keep Christ in Christmas."
Ever since we unpacked Christmas decorations and placed the manger scene upon the jelly cupboard, the cattle have been lowing and our cat has been napping next to Baby Jesus. Last year, she chose to sleep beneath the Christmas tree. This year, she's part of the Nativity!
For more Camera Critters photos, head on over HERE.
Christmas vacation for this college student from Selma so far has included a nearly 40-mile, three-day hike along North Georgia's Appalachian Trail.
His team began their trek at Dick's Creek Gap and ended at Neel's Gap at the Walasi Yi Center, a hiker hostel where the trail runs through the shelter.
Here, after climbing several mountains through fog, rain and unusual winter warmth, he is happy to be just a mile from trail's end. The adventure was not without close encounters. The team saw a mama bear and her cub, which quickly moved another direction. There were also glove-eating varmints at the Tray Mountain shelter.
And yes, if you are wondering, he's one of my boys!
The contrast between the gray sky and golden ground pleaded for a picture!
Check out more skies at Skywatch Friday.
Customers at Southern Antiques and Collectibles on Dallas Avenue receive a jolly welcome from Old St. Nick. The gifts and antiques store is especially busy these days with Christmas just a week away.
"On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...twelve drummers drumming."
Here is Lafawnda Watson's interpretation of the twelfth day of Christmas in the popular song. Aren't these drummers colorful? I can just hear the pa rum pum pum pums now!
The "Twelve Days of Christmas" art project is sponsored by the Selma Art Guild and on display at the Selma-Dallas County Public Library.
Speaking of Santa's Workshop and elves, who remembers the Tiny Tears dolls of the 1950s?
They were popular items on little girls' Christmas wish lists, and Elaine Stewart of Valley Grande still has hers. When Elaine emailed this photo, I was sure that I may have had a very similar doll. What memories! Elaine says she's sentimental and still has her bride doll and doll buggy.
I'll admit to saving two small dolls and a few baby doll clothes that were too big for my preemie twins!
What favorite toys did you save from childhood?
(Do you remember Thumbelina, Tressie or Troll Dolls?) Click HERE to visit Baby Boomers' childhood memories.
High atop bookshelves in the children's section of the public library, elves are at work!
Toys are cut from wood, painted and decorated. Greenery is assembled into decorative boughs, and all a child has to do is look up and marvel at Santa's Workshop Come to the Library.
Many Christmases ago, when I was very small, custom, elf-made gifts were such a delight. While there were Schwinn bikes and Chatty Cathy dolls to dream about, the gifts we truly cherished were handmade.
There were lots of doll clothes...the baby doll's layette, the bride doll's trousseau and tiny Sisette's royal blue dress of polished cotton.
Instead of manufactured furniture in a dreamhouse, Barbie (or my Barbie lookalike) had a wardrobe made of plywood, complete with shelves and an aluminum foil mirror set in a painted popsicle-stick frame. She sat on a plywood sofa with clothespin arms and carpet-scrap upholstery. Her best friend, Midge, joined her on an oatmeal-box chair covered in contact paper. She slept on a cigar-box bed topped with a piece of painted plywood. The headboard and footboard were made of wooden, round-top clothespins, and her pink bed linens were handmade.
Playhouse appliances were never ordered. I had a custom, fiberboard sink with real running water. A red plastic bin served as the basin set into a cut-out section of the counter. A five-gallon jug underneath contained water and had a hose that ran from it to the pump by the basin. Just pump the water, and wash the dishes!
I wonder what the elves are custom-making this year!
Amazing, isn't it?
How cats can sleep anywhere, anyhow.
Check out more amazing critters HERE.
The Butterfly Calendar is here!
Selma's Spectacular Butterflies 2009 Calendar features the 12 butterfly sculptures of patron sponsors. Each represents a month. The cover and January 2010 photos also include the other three dozen butterflies.
The calendar and The Butterfly Project are sponsored by the Dallas County Arts Alliance, which was formed by more than a dozen arts organizations in Selma and Dallas County early this year.
The calendars are available for $15 each at The Frame Shoppe, which recently moved from Water Avenue to Broad Street near Butler-Truax Jewelers. Profit goes to the DCAA for future projects.
Click the photo to see a larger version, and click HERE to view an inside photo at The Butterfly Project blog.
Birds and leaves were flying with the breeze the day I took this photo.
To see more Skywatch pictures, click HERE.
"On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...eight maids a milking."
Here's another interpretation of the popular "Twelve Days of Christmas" song on display at the public library.
Artist Louella Clements used acrylics plus cutouts to compose this happy, fun-loving scene, and it appears that it is so true to human nature: One does most of the work while the rest play!
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...five golden rings!
Can you find all five?
This felt wool sculpture is by artist Sally Jordan and part of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" display at the public library. It is sponsored by the Selma Art Guild.
Find the day and count the gifts at "The Twelve Days of Christmas" art display. It's at the public library on the first floor and sponsored by the Selma Art Guild.
Interpretation of the gifts in this popular holiday song vary from funny to serious to outright outlandish! I'll be posting my favorites over the next several days, and here is the first one.
"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...a partridge in a pear tree." Artist Cam Walker used recycled materials for the intro art.
Now, just wait until you see the interpretation for the five golden rings...
I
know, I know. It's December, and here I am posting a picture that I took in November!
But, I thought you'd like to see Dallas County's other river...the Cahaba. It's a free-flowing river and considered among the most biologically diverse in America. It is home to the famous Cahaba Lily and a number of rare plant and aquatic animal species.
The Cahaba meets the better-known Alabama River at Old Cahawba, Alabama's first state capital. Sorry this photo is a bit blurred. I snapped it from through the window of our truck as we traveled across the river bridge.
All things at Holiday House are bright and beautiful!
This Christmas arts and crafts sale is an annual two-week event at the Performing Arts Centre, and this is the last week. While you're browsing and stocking up on homemade ornaments and jams and jewelry, don't forget the daily bake sale. Each day, a different organization brings cakes, pies, cookies and candy.
If anyone ever doubted the pride that Alabama football fans are feeling these days, here's proof! The Crimson Tide flag ranks just beneath the American flag in a yard just a couple of miles down the road.
I bet there are more local vehicles decorated with Crimson Tide pennants right now than there are yards decorated for Christmas... and those who drive red or white cars and trucks are really FANatic with the Bama theme. I've seen Bama tags and magnetic signs on doors and hoods and trunks and windows!
All that pride has led to TODAY when the Tide meets its most cunning foe yet...the swarming and swarthy Florida Gators (No. 2 in one poll) for the Southeastern Conference championship. But it's even bigger than that! The winner will probably vie for a berth in the Bowl Championship Series national title game in January.
NOW, while Alabama is ranked No. 1 in all national polls, doubting prognosticators who study the stats even in their sleep give the nod to Florida. BUT, the underdog Tide has proved it's worth its saltwater time after time and pulled with a mighty undertow to victory through 12 regular season games.
SO, how can anyone in Bama Country believe the naysayers and so easily dismiss the relentless Bear Bryant-like defense and game-control techniques reinvented by the Sabanation? Those Gators may come plundering with their jaws wide open, but a Tidal Wave is on the way!
Update: Much to my surprise, the pundits were right this time. Many predicted that Florida would beat Bama by 10 points, and while the Tide led at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Gators came back with two touchdowns and won 31-20. But, the Tide is back with a 12-1 record and is probably headed for the post-season Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Sunbeams from Heaven smiled down last Sunday after a weekend of rainy weather. It was one of those afternoons where the sun and clouds played hide and seek as the wind picked up and blew a cold front through by Monday.
To see more skywatch photos, visit www.skyley.blogspot.com.
A view of the Pettus Bridge from Bienville Park is barely possible in summer, but as leaves shed, we are treated to a this angle.
It's not just Spring when calves are born. Here's the latest Mama and newborn babe out at the pasture.
Despite tough economic times, fundraising must go on!
This campaign is for preservation of Brown Chapel AME Church, a national historic landmark because of its role in the Civil Rights Movement. Marchers met here in mass meetings during the 1960s, and the church served as the starting point for a number of marches, including the Selma-to-Montgomery March.
Welcome to December Theme Day!
This whimsical critter caught my eye with all its round stones and circles, a "Yes!" for this month's theme.
It's the "Aanea" butterfly, sponsored by the Selma Children's Museum, which is a project in the making. Artist is LaFawnda Watson.
There are 187 City Daily Photo Blogs participating today.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.
