Sometimes Nick borrows my shoes when I'm not home. Happy New Year!

Inverness had a ton of Spanish moss. How southern gothic. Very Carson McCullers or Truman Capote.

When we first drove into Inverness, I fell in love with this peninsula cooter turtle sculpture between Cooter Lake and the Citrus County Sherriff's Office. Smart looking fellows.

I made my parents pull over so we could check out Cooter Lake. Cooter Lake! There are alligators and turtles in there!

We drove to Inverness Wednesday afternoon to find my grandparents' old home that I haven't seen since Autumn 1994. Here's the street right in front of their home on Dawson Drive.

This Florida Sandhills Crane came to visit my parents' place Wednesday morning.

December 26 was a lazy day, and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon engrossed in the new Jeffrey Eugenides novel, The Marriage Plot. I got to a point in the book where I was quite choked up by the love and humanity and loss in the novel, and I realized the room had grown dark. I looked outside and saw this. It fit perfectly.

The Christmas come down. Kevin and Steve left midday, and the afternoon was spent running around with my parents, trying to find an elusive Christmas ornament. When the hunt was over, we stopped for food in Kissimmee and saw this on the side of the road. Life is a limited run; don't forget to pump the brakes and appreciate what you got, while it's there. I love you folks, and it's not even Christmas.

Christmas Eve at Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World. 

My parents' Mickey Mouse car antenna thingy is missing an ear. Last Thursday we parked next to their car's soulmate: another vehicle with a one-eared Mickey. Look closely.

This was waiting for me at the Orlando airport when I arrived on December 20.

Nicky catching some pre-holiday sun. Cute, much?

Today I wore my new socks patterned with pictures of bulldogs in Santa hats, listened to a lot of Husker Du, and hung out with Nick. Those things felt good. 

It's that time of year where it sometimes snows on dachshunds when they go outside. Nick's a good sport about it.

Walked out to my car at lunch and the sun was shining just right that it illuminated Nick's nose marks on the back window. I love those little smudges. A gentle reminder of what's good in life.