It is a dark and stormy day in Fort Myers.  At 58 degrees the snowbirds are shivering outside.  Very few are venturing forth.  It is 71 degrees inside the apartment, brr.  I spent much of this rainy day preparing a long overdue annual plan.  Anne and i will likely make an RV cruise along the coast from Jersey to Carolina this spring to see this season’s bird migration along the Atlantic coast and seek out rails.

We, Anne and I, are at Heritage Cove this evening for our winter stay in southwest Florida.  We arrived last Friday after hectic weeks at home preparing for the trip, celebrating the holidays, and enduring the passing of my mother. 

We had planned to make a canoe trip into the Ten Thousand Islands region of Everglades National Park before settling in with Mom and Dad Woods.  That trip was inspired in part by my reading of Peter Matthiessen’s novel, Shadow Country, last winter at Fort Myers. 

My mother, Josephine Strehl, passed away at about 1:40 a.m. this morning.  She died peacefully after a day in some distress but without pain or severe discomfort.  Anne and I shared much of yesterday with her.  Her passing last night was a surprise, but she was ready for death and it came as she wished as she slept.  She was alert and caring on her last day.  We sorely miss her.

Little but good cheer to report on this fine morning.  The porch is white from a dusting of snow.  It is cold and breezy.  I made a "Sunday breakfast" of scrambled eggs, toast, and scrapple.  The kids enjoy the last item, a Pennsylvania specialty.  Alex reported calling out "scrapple" at a demonstration in Facebook where a program was analyzing activity on their server.  The map on the screen showed where the word was being used and lit up this commonwealth  very nicely.  Ah, yes, Pennsylvania, scrapple and pretzels.

There are many phases in life, even separate lives in every lifetime.  Mom has been in the final phase of life for a few years, but that has scarcely been a constant thing.  She and Dad at about 90 years of age each had diagnosed cancers and the constant nagging of disabilities and pain.  Still, they had each other and the joys of children and grandchildren engaged in active lives. 

The First Amendment does not permit laws that force speakers to retain a campaign finance attorney, conduct demographic marketing research, or seek declaratory rulings before discussing the most salient political issues of our day.

— U.S. Supreme Court,?Citizens United (2010)

We have indeed settled in.  So much so that Anne has already plotted a trip to Brooklyn in a couple of weeks.  Autumn has arrived and the forest is lovely.  We do chores, make weekly trips to York to visit my mother, go to church, and join neighbors and friends in social activities.  Great fun.

Anne and I walked out of the great Eastern forest and completed our hike of all of the Appalachian Trail on Sunday, September 22nd near the town of Groseclose, VA.  It was raining lightly but we were very happy if slightly trail worn after a 15 day and 150 mile walk across eastern Tennessee and western Virginia. 

Whew!  I have made no recent posts despite enjoying a fabulous tour of the Black Hills, Badlands, Yellowstone, and Teton Mountains area.  Mostly that was because many of our stops were in remote areas without such amenities as cell phone, Internet, or even electric service.  Internet service, where we had it was sketchy.  At Yellowstone we could read e-mails but not send them.  At the Tetons the server cut us off after 30 minutes and would allow access again only after 12 hours.  Then we were hiking or sleeping.  So, I didn’t prepare much.  Now,

The wedding was a great success.  Our daughter gladly walked barefoot from the barn to the ceremony.  A few pebbles between the steps and the lush grass stung her feet, but she grinned (or grimaced) as we strode forth.  Just one of many images from the grand event.  Much work and treasure were cast to provide the desired program.  I smiled looking at the interior of the barn after the tables were set and thought perhaps it was worth it.  Certainly the setting was lovely.  So too was the outdoor “chapel” assembled from lashed branches and cut ye