I don't know why this town on the end of the Merrimak keeps on calling us, but it does.  I guess it's because it is always nice to wander around an old fishing town caught between the past and the condominium divided commuter driven today.

  
With the girl I will spend the rest of my life with we set sail in a ship of stone and glass.

YES!

We are so very HAPPY!!!

The "temporary" bridge of 24 years over the Merrimack River.  The speed of government astounds!

I just filed my taxes.  Yup, Feb. 11, and I've got my returns in.  For me it is kind of simple; did I give most of my money to the government?  Yes, well continue on.  I also like the sham that gets pulled on people; give them a healthy return and they'll ignore how much is going to our favorite Uncle.  Anyway, I've got to change my deductions (another great misnomer).  I'm getting too much back.  Why give my Uncle my money to play with when I can certainly use it.  I prefer to write little checks in April than to receive big checks in March.  Lest you think I've got deductions to beat the band I paid $20K in Federal taxes ... ouch!  Well we all have to do our part

I know this not a big deal, we are one wherever we are.

We will be apart for Valentine's Day

for the first time since we were we.  Love

needs not our presence to feel our embrace.

You are deep in

her boughs whispering. 

I am Brushing the snow

       in Massachusettes,

silence lightly falling.

We have crossed the line,

        our armies bristle

cannon arrayed, fuses primed.

And we will meet, sweet Dixie

we will meet and our arms

will exchange fire!

Oh, how our shots will ring,

        our corporals,

charge, thrust, entwined.

The smoke clears,

       across the line I gaze

and find love.

My only one and I were testing a new Fax machine out; I at work, she at the home office.

She asked me to fax here something.  Do you really think I could only fax a simple scribbled note with the ubiquitous "Testing" on it, did you?  Here is what I sent:

Because Of You

 Because of you
 my world is now whole,
 Because of you
 love lives in my soul.
 Because of you
 I have laughter in my eyes,
 Because of you
 I am no longer afraid of good-byes.
 You are my pillar
 my stone of strength,
 With me through all seasons
 and great times of length.
 My love for you is pure
 boundless through space and time,
 it grows stronger everyday
 with the knowledge that you'll always be mine.
 At the altar
 I will joyously say 'I do',
 for I have it all now
 and it's all because of you.

  - Written and owned by Amy S. Bedford

We have been trying to reclaim the bank of land that runs from just off our deck down to the river.

The slope was just untended for the past twenty years.  The last two springs have seen floodwaters bring driftwood on to the lower bank.  This we had to ignore as some of the wood was actually the size of entire trees!

We have been cutting the Kudzu and brush back all summer, moving the dead fall and knocking down the poison oak.  We left it to dry until today.  My hands hurt from using the hand saw all day.  Typing this hurts

We hauled the fire pit down the bank; it is cut and burn day.  Everything had dried from the summer and we just hauled the scrub down to the pit.  The pile we started with was about the size of a full chord.  There is something nice about burning dead wood on a winter day. 

There is still a good bit to burn but we can see a clear section all the way to the lower bank.  I am already thinking of spring and the flower beds.  Hydrangea and Rhododendron will do well down there, some Forsythia along the edges and flower beds in between.

Now we wait for the sleet and ice storm to remind us that the calendar still says January ...

Yes, my girl did bring to me, not a Partridge in a Pear Tree ...
but a brand new Kodak C875.  Wonderful piece of technology
though a little difficult to get used all that resolution, 8MP, and the
new little gem tends to shake.  Or is that me shaking and the camera
picking it up?

One of the many things, neat and cool is a Panorama mode that will
automatically stitch together three shots taken from either left to right
or right to left.  It even gives a little slice of the previous photo to help
out.  Here's a couple for the perusal.  Oh, sixty degrees last Saturday!

Today makes the phrase "grey, gloomy, dreary day" a definite misnomer; it was far worse  Or was it better?  We awoke late after a great night's dinner;

I'm second from the right ... anyway my honey (third from the right) and I spent the day doing absolutely nothing!  And let me tell you it was also with no guilt and no worry.  Welcome 2007, it is us time!  There is no resolution or worry, just the enjoyment of our selves and the world we live in.  We wish you all the best for "two double aught seven."