Winter Wonders -The Scenery of the Season

Today, on a dreary, rainy, foggy, upstate New York morning, it is time to bring some color into our lives.  It could be worse - a lot worse - and wetness will not be permitted to ruin this holiday season, at least on my blog.

No snow today, but I will have plenty of snow pictures from my guest photographer to feature in the coming weeks.

This is what awaits you in upstate New York.

In a Wegmans supermarket, some holiday cookies await the shopper.

A beautiful poinsettia (or two).

This morning, the NYC Ballet, dressed for The Nutcracker, opened the stock market.

Inflatables have never been my favorite holiday decoration - but this Santa beckoned. 

In downtown Binghamton, New York where two buildings once stood, a lone little tree stands in a tiny city park, lighting the pre dawn darkness.

Finally, a Thanksgiving cactus (late, but appreciated) and African Violets bloom in my house.

Now that I have brought you this beauty, I want to mention one more scenery of the season. I tried hard to find a blog post I had written years ago on "Blue Christmas" to rerun it, and I could not find it.

The weather we are having deepens depression for many - and, for many, Christmas is not a happy season.  In my family, we've had two deaths right around Christmas, one last year, one back in the 1990's.  A good friend is waiting out results of a biopsy today, and we all pray for positive results. A fellow blogger in Great Britain writes about this a lot better than I ever could, though.  

If this holiday season is blue for you, my wish for you is better days ahead.  And, if all you need is an infusion of color, I hope my blog did a little something for you today.