HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY

Happy Christmas, Happy Holidays, Peace on Earth, Happy New Year

Click on "Read more" below to see the year in photos.

In no particular order, here are some scenes from 2022. 

We got a pile of snow on January 4.  But white wasn't the only color.

In April we headed for the Big Island, Hawai'i, our first trip since February 2019.

I do a lot of walking at Hains Point in D.C.  Can you tell it is Fall?

This is Regee's Mum, Lola Nora, on her 97th Birthday in July 2021. She is now 98, still in fine fettle, still painting and still very active. 

Lola Nora's latest painting--at 98 years old!

What can I say?  Our beautiful Queen has left us. Photo courtesy of The Guardian.

Sarah, Paul, Andy and Jaela about to dig into Andy's amazing Ethiopian feast in their new condo in Glover Park, D.C.

Sarah and Jaela at Thanksgiving. in November. Jaela is now 11 years old, going on 16!

In November, we went on a river cruise down the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel.  We were able to meet up with the Sieber Family in Amsterdam for about four hours before we sailed!

  This is Cologne Cathedral.

Veronica and Max doing the "heart" with Lola in September in Winchester, MA

The very first blooms of the year--a Magnolia tree in February.

Kevin, Sarah, Regee and Jaela at a pub in Alexandria which is run by the parents of one of Jaela's friends at school.  Friends with pubs?  Excellent.

My walks along the C&O Canal always bring me into contact with wildlife.  This old Great Blue Heron didn't budge when I photographed him quite close up.  Deer, beavers, Cooper's Hawks, Bald Eagles, Pileated Woodpeckers  and once, alarmingly, a Copperhead snake await you if you are very quiet and respectful.

There was an amazing exhibition of huge photos of the Sistine Chapel ceiling right downstairs in Tysons Mall in June. Not sure that Michelangelo would approve but he should have copyrighted the whole thing!

Relaxing at the Thunder Mountain coffee plantation on the side of a "dormant" volcano in Hawai'i.

Dinner at Jose & Erik's house on Long Island with Jose, Patricia, Veronica, Jen, Erik, Adrian and Max.

Relaxing after a big day of fishing on our Annual Road Trip in May/June in Washington State. Yvette, Rich, Chris and Wayne at home on Bussard Lake

Some of the day's catch--Rainbow and Brown Trout.  If it's big it's mine!

Ethiopian coffee ceremony with Paul, Andy, Sarah and Jane

Veronica and Max at the Winchester Yacht Club.  We are saving up for the yacht! 

Regee and I went to Jose and Erik's house on Long Island in January and February to dog sit Charlie the Beast.  A few months later Charlie went to the happy hunting grounds at the good old age of 16 years.  He was the sweetest boy with a BIG and loving character. Run free, little Charlie. 

When we were dog sitting, I would walk along the local beach and it was literally freezing.  I have never seen sea water freeze before.  Umm, that's cold!

So, that was our 2022.  We hope for a good and peaceful New Year and, hopefully, an end to Putin's brutish war in Ukraine and a little less inflation, please. 

And to (almost) conclude, two photos from the Newport and Llana/Rose/LeBuffe Christmases!

Let's raise a glass (or two) to a HAPPY NEW YEAR!