Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #306

And a final 2012 Cape sunrise.

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Sunrise at Broadneck  Park.

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Little Magothy kayaks on Christmas Eve.

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A closer up view of that heron in the tree.

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One heron and five vultures...

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Following a little bit of snow this morning, it was nothing but nasty rain for the rest of the day after Christmas. Laika thought that was just fine and spent most of her day lying on her new outdoor dog bed watching the rain fall. The simple pleasures...

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #300

Smooth sailing for this Great Blue Heron on Christmas Day. He was gliding down to Deep Creek from high in a tree. My camera just caught him before dipping down for a landing.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #299

A beautiful Christmas Eve sunrise over the Little Magothy. What a spectacular morning. I think we are in for some nasty rain later today, so finish all your running around early and settle in for the duration. Santa can take it from there.

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #298

Ah, the joys of the holiday season. Sitting in Beltway traffic to get to a party. Ho ho ho...

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Ridge, MD

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Well, the world did not end today, but we had our own version of a zombie apocalypse in our home. For our Christmas Mother-Daughter Book Club meeting, we went with a Zombie Christmas theme (needed a short book, and A Christmas Carol of the Living Dead was just the trick - not recommended as anything approaching good literature, but kind of fun for an Xmas party theme). The great thing about decorating gingerbread men as zombies is that if an arm, leg or even head falls off in the process, it just makes for a better zombie. The other bonus is that we get to eat the zombies instead of them eating us. :)

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Seagull eyeing me up.

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As we returned from our morning of fishing in the Potomac, the fog cleared just enough for us to finally see land. It was a really peaceful and calm scene with the flat water and fog hovering just about it.

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #293

How about that sunrise this morning? Really spectacular. I find it a little painful to appreciate wonderful things in the past few days, but they are also more significant and meaningful at the same time.

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #292

Any of you who have enjoyed a Chesapeake fishing charter or who run a sophisticated set of lines off of your own fishing boats probably recognize this rig. We were out today with Captain Greg Buckner of Miss Susie Charters at the mouth of the Potomac. We usually charter with the Miss Susie out of Solomon's, but the Maryland rockfish season ended this past weekend. Driving an extra hour south to Point Lookout put us in legal Virginia and Potomac waters for an early morning of fishing.

We were also in a lot of fog! The planar boards (visible in the picture) were about the outer limit of our visibility. The water was flat though; it was pretty warm for mid-December on the Bay; and the fish were biting! We came home literally with a boatload of rockfish - several of them over 40 inches. If anyone is looking for a good fishing charter, we have always had great luck with Captain Greg Buckner on the Miss Susie. You can find him on Facebook. Or here's his number with a big plug for his charter:

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #291

Life imitates art. Or art imitates life. Who can say.

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Looking festive on Deep Creek at sunrise.

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As I returned to the Cape today after a full day of tying up loose holiday strings, I was drawn to drive the long way home past Cape Elementary. I had been hearing reports all day about the awful events in Connecticut and felt the need to lay eyes on our neighborhood school - to reassure myself that all was as it should be, peaceful and calm. Thankfully it was, with a sprinkling of kids, parents, and teachers coming and going like normal at the end of a busy pre-holiday week.

May we never know the kind of horror experienced by that New England community today. Our hearts are broken for them - for us all.

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #288

In the gloaming...

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #287

These Cheseapeake outdoorsmen couldn't decide whether to go duck hunting or fishing. Looks like they covered all the bases and brought the hunting blind along behind the bay boat. We certainly don't want for outdoor activities on the Chesapeake. The only trouble is deciding which one. Or if you're these guys, figuring out a way to do it all.

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #286

Looking out over the foggy Magothy from Lake Claire over the weekend.

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We saw a lot of great boats at the Lights Parade this weekend, but the crowd favorite was this rockin' vessel.  It was not the most elaborately decorated, but the crew was swinging, and the guy singing was dynamite. It made me want to be at that party. Nice job to all the boats who entered. What a fun event!

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #284

A Battle of the Beltway for the ages. Even though the Redskins came out on top, it was a great afternoon for all. I encountered just as many Ravens as Redskins pumped after the game saying, "We should play this game EVERY year." Both sides commented on what a terrific, amicable rivalry it was. This is one happy Redskins household, but I am even happier to have witnessed a hard fought, well played, respectful game between rivals. It proved there is plenty of spirit to go around for two well loved local teams.

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #283

Foggy and festive in downtown Annapolis. Warmest Lights Parade I've known. People were eating outside.

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Who would guess how spectacular these are going to look in 3 or 4 months?

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Another picture taken by the fishermen yesterday. Three of the eight unsuccessful fishing poles are in view. And if the picture looks askew, it's not because the photo is not level - I adjusted the horizon to a proper horizontal. For those of you familiar with Sharps Island Lighthouse, you know that its the lighthouse that's atilt and not the picture.

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #280

My husband stretches his fishing season well into the winter by running down the Bay a little further south. He took this picture while out yesterday looking for some rockfish. He and his buddy only hooked one nice one that got away from them before they could get it in the boat, but who can complain when it's nearly 70 degrees out in December and looks like this.

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #279

One more shot from the streets of midtown New York this weekend. This one is Saint Thomas Episcopal Church at 5th and 53rd. The more well known St Patrick's Cathedral, just a couple of blocks away, was covered in scaffolding, but this one was pretty impressive in its own right.

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #278

I spent this past weekend in New York City for a quick weekend visit with my best college chum and her parents. The city was crawling with people, but also crawling with holiday spirit and festivity. The holiday windows of the big flagship department stores were as fanciful and dazzling as ever. It was impossible to get a good picture at street level with all the activity, but by looking upward, I was able to get a nice shot of the spectacles above the hubbub. The tree at Rockefeller Center was pretty stunning, but it couldn't quite compete with Rockefeller Center itself.

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Foggy Severn morning.

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That same sunrise yesterday from the Severn River Bridge.

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Checkout the beautiful sunrise from Cape Elementary this AM. Nice. Looks like it's going to be a pretty weekend to kick off December.

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That same moon from my driveway this morning. The encore before sunrise.

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Big old moon at the corner of N. Charles and Biddle last night. I was in Baltimore to make good on my daughter's birthday request to see So You Think You Can Dance live at the Lyric. Really great show actually. The moon put on a great show, too, and for a lot less money!

Cape Photo of the Day - Photo #272

On Sunday, my family made a trip over to Nancy Hammond's shop on the Eastern Shore to pick out my Xmas gift. I'm way beyond needing gifts to be surprises! On the way, we stopped at one of our favorite places to eat - Holly's just across the Bay Bridge. I came back to the Western Shore with a lovely new osprey print and a full belly.

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My son and I saw this guy down near the Naval Academy this AM pulling a tire behind him on a rope. Talk about a ball and chain! Very clever workout.

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A fence to keep Peter Rabbit out and statue rabbit in.

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Nice new green shed up at Goshen Farm, courtesy of the Boys Scouts, I believe.

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Always more peppers than can possibly be used!

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My beautiful Japanese Maple. It was just a bit past it's fall prime here but still blazing scarlet. There are only a couple of others that compare in the Cape. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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The last of my daughter's summer flowers in our garden plot at Goshen Farm. The feisty snapdragons outlasted the lot.

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A pretty bed of winter greens at Goshen Farm Sharing Garden.

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The Cape will not be wanting for turkey this Thanksgiving.

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The sunset at last night's final home Navy football game.

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Fall morning up the creek.

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I missed my pic of the day yesterday, so I'm filling in with this awesome shot that my cousin Emory took of his dog, Rivers. They are avid outdoorsmen, as are many of my South Carolina kin - not afraid of a little mud, or in this case, a lot of mud. I saw Emory's post on Facebook and told him this photo was good enough for a magazine cover. I thought some of you Capers would enjoy it since we love our Labs here in MD, too. Nice work, Emory and Rivers. Now go get a bath!

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Sleepy Deep Creek this AM.

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Another shot from the Eastern Shore the day before Sandy came through.

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It's a little bit silly how much time this morning I spent watching this stink bug do a high wire act on my earphone cord. I usually flush them right down the toilet, but this guy had too much entertainment value. When I came back from running an errand, I found him swimming in the bottom of my coffee cup. At that point, I moved him outside to make his way in the wild. His acrobatics spared him the one way sewer ticket.