We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. This beautiful amaryllis partially opened up on Thanksgiving Day and opened the rest of the way today. Look upon it and calm your nerves after a grueling shopping day.

This was our post last Thanksgiving Day. It is just as appropriate today as it was a year ago.

We often think about and pray for our troops across the globe. And our efforts go beyond just thoughts and prayers since we routinely support charities such as Wounded Warriors, Soldiers Angels and the USO. Please, if you are able, send our troops a little support as a way of saying thanks for what they do. Keep it going all of this holiday season if you are able.

You should also keep the families of these wonderful men and women in your thoughts and prayers, since they will be celebrating without their loved ones.

Neil Cavuto of the Fox News Channel offered this poignant and insightful thought about those serving in our defense:

Giving Thanks to Our Troops

By Neil Cavuto

I cannot imagine eating Thanksgiving dinner in a mess hall. In a foreign country. In a hostile foreign country. Away from family. Away from friends. Away from all I hold dear.

I cannot imagine wondering whether this meal might be my last. Or the buddy sitting next to me won’t always be with me.

I cannot imagine going through what our soldiers go through every day. But especially “this” day. When we should all give thanks. But they barely have the time to eat. Before they’re back on the line. Back protecting us.

We who debate their role. Some of us who even mock their cause. This isn’t about a war. This is about those who fight it. And endure it. And live through it. In a place we forget. On a day we should not.

I am very lucky to have this day with my family. My creature comforts are secure precisely because theirs are not. It’s not fair. It’s not right. It just is.

They are due our thanks every day. Our prayers all days. But they are due both, especially this day. It’s amazing to me that those paid so little, give so much. Never complaining. Always giving. So that we can sit down in peace. While they stand guard, in war.

May God bless and protect all of our men and women in the armed forces.

Last night, we watched a couple of “You Tube” videos; they were time-lapse movies of the skies over Antarctica. In both videos, there were shimmering images of the Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights. This morning, I was looking at SpaceWeather.com and found this picture of the Aurora Borealis a.k.a. the Northern Lights. Andreas D. Skjervold, of Bodø, Norway took this Christmas-card-like photo of the lights as he was out looking for Taurids meteors on November 13. I’d say that Mr. Skjervold got more of a show than he expected that night. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Over the past several days, it has been quite foggy. Over the weekend, it seemed to stay foggy all day long. I snapped this picture of the sun through dense fog. It was its only appearance the entire day. “They” tell me that it will be clear and warmer for Thanksgiving and the weekend to come. Fine with me. Click on the picture to enlarge.

It was with good foresight that we decided to archive our photo files on an external hi-capacity hard drive. The dual computer crash last week could have been a greater loss than we actually experienced. While looking at some of Verna’s old photos, I ran across this shot of the historic Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, California. Click on the image to enlarge.

Here’s some of the lighthouse’s history from the Point Fermin Lighthouse website:

Built in 1874, the Point Fermin Lighthouse was the first navigational light into the San Pedro Bay. Phineas Banning, with the support of many local businessmen, petitioned the Federal Government and the US lighthouse Board to place a lighthouse on the point in 1854. Although the Lighthouse Board agreed funding and land disputes delayed its construction until 1874.

Paul J. Pelz, a draftsman for the US Lighthouse Board, designed the Stick Style Victorian lighthouse. The design was used for six lighthouses built between 1873 and 1874, of which three are still standing, East Brothers in San Francisco Bay, Hereford Light in New Jersey, and Point Fermin. The Stick Style is an early Victorian architectural style and is simpler in design and decoration than the later high Victorian period. It is characterized by its gabled roofs, horizontal siding, decorative cross beams and hand carved porch railings.

If you’re nerdy enough to have a pair of 3D red-blue or red-cyan glasses (like me), then you might enjoy this 3D anaglyph photo I took of the lighthouse at about the same time.

For more 3D images, see Bob’s 3D Stuff in the sidebar.

The other night we were out on the porch when Verna noticed this fuzzy little fledgling sparrow in a nest in the top front corner of the porch. I ran and got the camera and snapped this picture of the little guy as he sat there looking at us.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Bad news with a couple of computers this week. The laptop lost it’s hard drive and the old workstation on my desk had a power supply failure. When it rains it pours. We’re trying to recover from the double crash, but it might take some time.

Meanwhile, check out this short video about Verna’s newest favorite hobby.
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