I remember five things about December 2007.
1.) Working for Stalwart Construction in the freezing cold -- roofing over at Davis' when it was 17 degrees outside. That was the work site in which I lost my California Framer hammer. It is probably buried inside of her chimney!
2.) Monday night violin lessons with Troy, Christine, Kate, and sometimes Emily and Ian. This was a very fun time. We met at Troy and Gaelan's house and we laughed, made noises on our instruments, and had tea or wine.
3.) Christmas and New Year's vacation with Mom and Dad and Dustin, Gretchen, and my Uncle Jim. Perhaps one of the most mind-blowing experiences I have had, we vacationed to U.S. Virgin Island St. Croix for about two weeks. I hiked, ran on the beach, swam, jet-skied, went horseback riding, and got to spend invaluable time with my family.
4.) I read Kurt Vonnegut's
Cat's Cradle for the first time. It was absolutely spell-bounding!
5.) Falling asleep for New Year's Eve at 8:00PM.
*****Christmas 2007*****
This was the view from our balcony. This was taken on Christmas Night after a meal. St. Croix has lush plants and vegetation. The island is about 10-15 miles long, 2 or three miles wide. However, the roads were very undeveloped. It took about 45-50 minutes to travel from one end of the island to the other. When we arrived at the airport from Charlotte, North Carolina, we were greeted by natives. The natives were playing ukulele type instruments with accompanying drums. Also nearby there were people giving out free rum samples. It was a surreal arrival in many ways.
*****Fort Christianstead*****
The island's beauty was astounding. It was easy to take a good picture. Even in my amateur level of photography, my pictures looked significantly better because the weather and sunlight were usually pristine.
*****Yvonne*****
This was not my horse. My horse is named C.C. This horse, however, was gorgeous and I could not resist a snapshot. This was part of an hour horse-back ride I went on with my Mother. It was an absolutely gorgeous ride through the St. Croix rain forest and onto the beach on the west side of the island.
*****Sunset Beach*****
The whole family went to this beach one evening to see the sunset. It was striking!
*****Vitriol*****
I snuck away from the family to take this shot. It was so strange to think how close we were to Cuba, which was just beyond the horizon.
*****Nephew*****
*****Patriarch*****
I think this is a great portrait of my dad. Granted, he had already had a couple of Piña Coladas but I think he was truly happy in this moment.
******And Ride a Horse Along the Trail*****
This horse ride was great!
*****Ode to Dunne*****
Our family went out for about a three hour tour (cue: start whistling the theme song to
Gilligan's Island). The views were spectacular although everyone on the boat got soaked to the bone with ocean water. There was snorkeling involved but I remain afraid to swim in the ocean. The ocean is too mysterious too me -- few things scare me more than the thought of an unknown sea monster lurking around. My fear is not irrational -- there are undeniably many species of sea creatures that have not been identified. It was enjoyable to watch my mother and father and brother and future sister-in-law snorkel around the diving site. My brother and Gretchen went further out than my mom and dad.
*****Prophecy*****
I took this photo on January 3rd, 2008. After I took it I had a premonition that it would represent the upcoming year. In many ways it has.
Rose-colored Sunset
Caitlin bought a Mac computer shortly after I left to CH and we communicated through iChat's video chat feature. It was a good way to keep in touch, to see each other face to face. I still missed her very much but at least we could see each other.
This was the view from our balcony. This was taken on Christmas Night after a meal. St. Croix has lush plants and vegetation. The island is about 10-15 miles long, 2 or three miles wide. However, the roads were very undeveloped. It took about 45-50 minutes to travel from one end of the island to the other. When we arrived at the airport from Charlotte, North Carolina, we were greeted by natives. The natives were playing ukulele type instruments with accompanying drums. Also nearby there were people giving out free rum samples. It was a surreal arrival in many ways.
The island's beauty was astounding. It was easy to take a good picture. Even in my amateur level of photography, my pictures looked significantly better because the weather and sunlight were usually pristine.
This was not my horse. My horse is named C.C. This horse, however, was gorgeous and I could not resist a snapshot. This was part of an hour horse-back ride I went on with my Mother. It was an absolutely gorgeous ride through the St. Croix rain forest and onto the beach on the west side of the island.
The whole family went to this beach one evening to see the sunset. It was striking!
I snuck away from the family to take this shot. It was so strange to think how close we were to Cuba, which was just beyond the horizon.
I think this is a great portrait of my dad. Granted, he had already had a couple of Piña Coladas but I think he was truly happy in this moment.
This horse ride was great!
Our family went out for about a three hour tour (cue: start whistling the theme song to Gilligan's Island). The views were spectacular although everyone on the boat got soaked to the bone with ocean water. There was snorkeling involved but I remain afraid to swim in the ocean. The ocean is too mysterious too me -- few things scare me more than the thought of an unknown sea monster lurking around. My fear is not irrational -- there are undeniably many species of sea creatures that have not been identified. It was enjoyable to watch my mother and father and brother and future sister-in-law snorkel around the diving site. My brother and Gretchen went further out than my mom and dad.
I took this photo on January 3rd, 2008. After I took it I had a premonition that it would represent the upcoming year. In many ways it has.
We ate a lot of apples on the road. These were the good kind although I don't know what they were called because usually Jesse and Leo were the grocery purchasers. 
More road dietary items.
We played a really neat show in Kalamazoo Michigan. It was one of the last nights of the tour and it was fun. It was in a church so I felt like Sufjan Stevens or the Arcade Fire, etc. People from Kalamazoo College were excited though and actually danced to our music!
This was on a hike after work sometime in November. Location: The Ridges, Athens, Ohio.
When I get a good hand, it's my master plan, I'm gonna stick it to the man, he won't see me again.
This was Rem's truck at the time (or really the company truck) and later was passed on to Bobby. We were doing two decking jobs over at the Greenfield's out on Hooper Ridge Road. They had an adorable dog and I remember the site being cold and wet.
We built an octagonal-shaped deck in the back.
Southeast Engine had a show in mid November opening up for Bears in Cleveland. It was a fun time but it was especially fun to see best bud Jamie and Lauren too.
