Bufflehead

OilMan loves these ducks so I was trying to get a close up shot so he could see what they really look like. Unlike the mallards and mergansers, the buffleheads don't come ashore very often. They're diving ducks and like to stay where the water is relatively deep. They will upend themselves, stay under for a very long time and pop up a long way away. It was very cold this morning, so we didn't hang around watching them. It's not the best shot, but I liked the light on the water and the way these black and white ducks looked in, well, black and white.

OilMan set off before dawn for the grocery store to get the seafood for our Christmas Eve bouillabaisse. Arriving at the store at 7am, he was fifth in the queue at the seafood counter. 

We're not very good at making comprehensive grocery lists. If it's not on his list, OilMan doesn't buy it, while I tend to wait to see what's available when I get there and make impulse buys. I am less queue averse than OilMan and but I am definitely averse to getting up in the dark, so I made as complete a list as I could in hopes that neither of us will have to brave the crowds and/or the dawn to go back.

I still have a couple of extra shots to use up before the new year begins, so I give you my next door neighborJanet's' hand drawn Christmas card. We thought she and her husband Paul were out of town when the fire started so, although we banged on several other neighbor's doors, we didn't bang on theirs. I felt bad when we learned that her sister had to come and wake them up. 

Janet is a survivor. She was in charge of Homestead Air Force base in Florida when Hurricane Andrew hit it in 1992 destroying not only the Air Force Base but most of the town of Homestead and Janet and Paul's house. And she has a good sense of humor.