from New York to Naples and back

Lunar eclipse...magic!

Not a tree in sight...

 We arrived in Naples Fl. to a lunar eclipse at 1 am.  The moon looked red!

The next day, Sarah, Nat, and I set out to buy a Christmas tree.  It was Dec. 21 so surely there would be some around.  As you can see, the cupboard was bare.   Apparently last year's sales were slow, so sellers didn't bring in as many.  And Home Depot's trees had some kind of bug and were quarantined by the health department.  Sarah persevered and finally found one that was on display at Whole Foods.  

Thank you Whole Foods & Sarah!

The result was a gorgeous tree that kept its smell and needles through Epiphany.

aaaaahhhh....

Santa

The Grinch

Joan on Christmas day

Rudolph on the beach

Santa on the beach

Horseshoe crab

Sunset on the beach

Cocktail hour on the beach

The wster's great!

Joan and Bob arrived on Dec. 23, about 6 hours apart at Ft. Myers.  We picked Joan up and headed for the Miromar outlets, just a couple of miles away.  The sales!  By the time we got back to the airport to meet Bob, the trunk was full!

Bob & Sarah & self-timer

We swam, we biked, we ate, we walked, we ate, we shopped, we ate, we slept, we ate...  Boiled shrimp in beer, key lime pie, and Captain Kirk's stone crabs were favorites.

Scrabble and Angry Birds on the iPad were very popular too.

Let's all get in the kitchen

Breezy walk to Doctor's Pass.  Note the jackets.

Bahama Club beach

Agassi and Graf... not so muc

Bob graciously hit balls with us at the Naples public tennis courts.   Don't think we're ready Wimbledon just yet...

Bob just kept hitting those balls back

Mom's iPad was a BIG hi

Sarah's favorite store in Naples

Joan's Christmas tree

Back to New York where Joan had no trouble finding a tree!

After being frightened to death by 'Black Swan', we recovered by looking at furniture at West Elm

Trying on a sofa at West Elm

Joan dispenses hot chocolate at Mulch Fest

Joan helped organize Mulch Fest, a city-wide program that asks New Yorkers to bring their Xmas trees to designated locations for mulching.  You bring your tree and take home some mulch.  We helped her set up at the entrance to Inwood North Park on a freezing Saturday with hot chocolate and a sign up sheet for her Inwood Green Team.   Then New York Rangers showed up with a table, cushions to sit on, and a truck full of trees they had picked up.  Lots of people brought trees, dragging them up the street to throw on the growing pile.

Unloading trees

The chipper/mulcher