I am pleased to provide this update from the Woods Clan Southern outpost in southwest Florida.  Today Anne and Chuck are at the Davidson Condo with Mom and Dad Woods.  Three Woods brothers, Rob, Mark, and Joe are at the Estero Island Beach Club time-share.  Of course it is never that simple.  At this moment Dad is at the beach with Mark while Rob and Joe are off to a “spring training” Red Socks game.  Mom went with Anne to a small recorder gig.  I (Chuck) am at the condo to do some chores in peace.

The image assist function is not working at the moment so I have temporarily substituted a different function that will allow images to be uploaded to blog pages. 

Let me know if you run into any problems.  

It is a fine afternoon here in southwest Florida.  Anne is out playing recorder with other players she found in the neighborhood.  Mom and Dad are napping.  Outside are brilliant sunshine and a strong wind.  The temperature is 60 degrees F.  A “reinforcing” front passed through this morning as Anne and I traipsed about Sanibel Island.  At dawn the sky was clear though a shimmer of orange played out around the rising sun.  At eight a.m.

After one finds some six hundred kinds of birds in the continental United States and Canada, seeing another usually entails some kind of adventure.  On the morning of January 1, 2009, Anne and Chuck found a barnacle goose on the millpond on the south branch of the Raritan River in Califon, New Jersey.  In recent decades one or more birds of this species, probably from Greenland, have appeared somewhere in eastern North America during the late fall of the year.  Barnacle geese typically migrate east and south across the British Isles to reach wintering grounds in southern Europe and north

The holiday season has ended and we will be off to Florida tomorrow if the possible ice storm leaves us alone.  We have returned from Princeton where we celebrated the holiday with Mom & Dad and Laurie Strehl.  We arrived New Year's Eve after dropping our children off at the Princeton Junction train station.  They preferred to spend the evening with friends in the Big Apple.  We had enjoyed their company from Christmas Eve.  Chuck and Elley built a new base for her snake cage and all enjoyed a wintery South Mountain.  

We have not posted for some time, what being “at home” and all since mid-October.  Still we have not been idle, and now planning a departure by the beginning of next month, I felt it was time to provide an update to our friends and family who review this site from time to time. 

Congrats to Tom on his selection as a SECTION 2, Div C, FIRST TEAM

> DEFENSIVE TACKLE SELECTION!! That is a great achievement, as there

> are a lot of great players. Once again, we are proud of Tom and his

> achievements. (And the great, loving home environment fostered by the

> entire Gallup family - which is a necessary ingredient to success) Way

> to go!!

Those of you who joined us in welcoming the Navy Glee Club to NYC may remember the bicycle and running path in front of the pier for Intrepid.  This is actually a major park that runs from mid town down to the tip on Manhattan on the west side.  Each pier is a different project.  The NY Times ran a story yesterday about the latest pier development in the park.  I am attaching it in case you are interested.   

A warm winter would be nice but on the other hand...check out the Niagara Falls in 1911

When Mom met Dad they were stationed in Portsmouth NH. Dad had an office in the prison where he provided social work services regarding navy men who had gotten into trouble. He also had a bedroom  right in the front of the prison above the entrance and there was a mess hall and other facilities there. One day Mom was visiting him there and heard a couple of trumpet calls. Finally she asked Dad what the call was for and he ran off immediately saying "riot". He had been so happy to be with Mom that he hadn't thought about the call before she said something.