Luck 'o the Irish to You!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

From now on your troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the Yuletide gay

From now on your troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together

If the fates allow

Hang a shining star upon the highest bough

And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope your holiday is filled with Christmas cheer and family and friends and all of the things that make your Christmas the best it can be. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Happy Halloween!

One cannot visit the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in Atlanta, Georgia, during Fall and not bag some pics from their Scarecrow Display. There were several exhibits I wanted to check out at the botanical gardens before they closed for Fall. All throughout the gardens there were all types of creepy and scary Scarecrows. The Serpent Lady was oh so busy keeping a handle on her slithering friends.

Let's face it, this guy is definitely a different kind of Scarecrow, but seriously, it's Halloween so doesn't that rule apply, anythings goes.

What a Hag! I admit her dress and tights are a serious hoot, but you still better watch out as she's keeping an eye on you with her binoculars.

It wouldn't be a Scarecrow Display without a Skeleton or two. This bony guy is really a cool looking dude. Perhaps its the wide brimmed hat that does it. I don't know, but he is. Someone should offer up a free meal and perhaps a facial and manicure would help. Everyone far and wide, in the States and wherever you celebrate this Hallowed Day have fun and stay safe. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Happy Independence Day!

Everyone have a wonderful 4th of July! Triple digit heat indices across America this holiday weekday. Pop up thunderstorms are a daily occurrence here and bring added fireworks. Here is an image from the fireworks display as they light up across Old Hickory Lake from Drakes Creek Park here in Hendersonville. Stay hydrated all and be safe on this Independence Day! ENJOY!

Sunset St. Patrick's Day

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back. 
May the sun shine warm upon your face; 
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, 
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

As the sun was setting on St. Patrick's Day, this Irish holiday, I hope you had the chance to celebrate. Perhaps you kissed the blarney stone, if you found yourself in Cork, Ireland, or sipped an Irish green beer or found a four leaf clover or looked for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. However, you spent the holiday, I hope you celebrated joyously. From this Irish gal to all of you folks, Luck of the Irish to you! Sunset captured St. Patrick's Day in Hendersonville. Go easy on me. I've never felt my sunset images met my standards. Not to mention I had to shoot from my car. Thanks for stopping by. ENJOY!

Red Barns of Sumner County

There are so many winding roads here in Sumner County where I live. Every now and then I take one because many of them criss cross Old Hickory Lake and I like to see if there are any wildlife viewing spots around. On this day I had taken a road that actually had quite a few farms on it. Here are a few barns I captured on that drive. I don't know if the three x's have any significance on this first barn.

Further down the road I discovered this old red barn with it's peeling paint. The owners even decorated it for the holidays with a wreath. I absolutely love that. Who doesn't love a red barn. I'm starting to notice there's a fair amount of red barns in this county. Wonder if there's anything to that. I hope your week is off to a good start. Mine will be very busy with end of year work related meetings. Back soon. ENJOY!

'Deck the Hulls' Christmas Boat Parade

Tonight was Hendersonville's 'Deck the Hull's' Christmas Boat Parade on Old Hickory Lake. Everyone gathered as night fell at Mallard Point Park. Cars lined the edge of the lake in rows waiting and watching as the first boat came up the lake channel toward the park. This was one of the first boats hailing a real Santa waving at the crowds along the lakeshore. He's a tad skinny. Don't you think!

As the boats neared the boat launch at the park, they turned around and paraded back to the marina. When they turn and are headed back is the perfect time to get images and I was in the perfect place to do just that. I love this huge inflatable Santa Claus on this houseboat.

Here's a close up of Santa Claus, the inflatable, on the houseboat. Don't you just love him. The real Santa Clauses were yelling Merry Christmas to the crowds on the shore.

Here is the first image with blue lights lit up instead of red. It's amazing how the blue lights show more than the red ones do.

This Santa Claus was a much better one and he was real. You can't see him very well, but he was a jolly 'big' guy. Love this Christmas tree on this houseboat too. Tonight was a balmy 38 degrees. Last year is was in the mid 20's and BRRRR. I hope you are having fun this holiday season. My decorating is done. My shopping is done. My wrapping is done. Ahh, let's relax. ENJOY!

Fall Gives Way to Winter

It is time to embrace this new season. Winter brings with it the holidays with Christmas and New Year's and more. We spend some time adorning the halls with the season's colors of reds, greens and golds, and in some settings even silvers and blues.

Goodbye Fall.

The forests lay bare from Fall's bounty with many leaves strewn across its floor.

Only firs and pines are left to dot the landscape and brave winter's gales.

Where snow has fallen, there is sleighing and sledding and skiing.

Blankets of white cover the mountaintops, the valleys and beyond.

Icicles hang from aside the cliffs with sheets of ice covering the creek beds.

Tracks from deer, fox and rabbits are encountered along paths to and from.

Winter's colder clime has taken hold, with rain, fog and snow.

Welcome Winter.

I hope you will take some time during these Winter months to venture out of doors with your camera to capture Winter's beauty. ENJOY!

Valentine Wishes

I wish for you and yours on this special 'day of love' a bouquet of beautiful red roses or perhaps a heart shaped box in bright red filled with sweet, yummy chocolate truffles. Or if you are a serious Valentine romantic, perhaps a romantic dinner for two at your favorite restaurant with a nice bottle of wine and a scrumptuous dessert to wrap it all up. Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A special Thanksgiving photo I crafted from an image I captured in the Fall of 2012 of two Eastern Wild Turkeys roaming around in Mustatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Seymour, Indiana. I wish everyone in the states a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I'll be spending it with my sister at her lovely home partaking of turkey and dressing and all of the fixings. I thank God for everyone in my life and all of the wonderful things God has afforded me. I'll also be thinking of everyone in the states who recently suffered losses from floods and tornadoes, and of the people in the Phillipines who are suffering from the horrific typhoon, and hoping and praying that everyone finds a place in their heart to thank God for life itself and cherish each moment we have with all of our loved ones for as long as we have them. Giving thanks. ENJOY!

PHOTOGRAPHER'S NOTE:
My new facebook photography page is open for business. You are welcome to LIKE my page at Carol Mattingly Photography. Just type that in the facebook search at the top of the page. This particular page is where I will be featuring images from an archive of 5,000+ nature and travel database. From Lake Superior National Seashore, Upper Peninsula, Michigan to beautiful Stonington Harbor, Deer Isle, Maine, to Cape Cod and Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and all of the beautiful places I have visited over the past decade.

A Thanksgiving Story

Thanksgiving Day grows closer. And this is what Thanksgiving means to me. I hope you will indulge me as I share this story. My Thanksgiving brings with it a golden brown turkey with gravy and turkey giblets and sage filled dressing with onions and celery. Sweet potatoes hot out of the oven with a lightly toasted marshmallow topping and perhaps scattered walnuts will be served. Mashed potatoes and green beans and perhaps even a fruit salad too.

Least I forget dessert, no doubt the star will be pumpkin pie, warm out of the oven, wafting hints of pumpkin and cinnamon, filling the air. The mild hint of brown crusted dough and perhaps a simple dollop of whipped cream melt down the side as my fork cuts through.



Before dinner . . . before the turkey, before the dressing, comes the preparation. Our Thanksgiving table will be donned with a beautiful tablecloth of soft gold and brown hues and adorned with rustic red dinnerware. Each place setting carefully positioned around the Thanksgiving table. Dinner's guests will gather in the kitchen around the counter each filling their plates with delicious Thanksgiving fixings. Plates filled with heaping spoonfulls, each of us will retreat to the dining room and take our seat around the table. Thankful for this wonderful meal and yet another Thanksgiving, the chatter begins as every one partakes in this year's Thanksgiving feast. Stories of by gone days and wishes and hopes of what the coming Christmas season will bring fill the room.

Every Thanksgiving my younger sister spends countless hours cooking, baking, roasting, decorating and place setting. As each of us arrive at her door, we are graciously greeted and Thankgiving Day commences. Yet, I realize every year how much work and effort goes into this fabulous meal and, oftentimes, I wonder how she manages to do it all, with such perfection. This meal shared by family. This younger sister who wasn't supposed to be as the doctors informed my Mother that she was too weak to bear another child. I knew she was coming as my Mother had told me of her coming that day in the back yard of our small home in Louisville. I sat on the swing still as my Mother approached. She told me A baby would be born in a few short months. I was ready. Adults were anxious. Not sure if this baby or my Mother would survive. And yet the day came and my Mother did give birth. And I had a younger sister, and after many months of recovery, my Mother grew strong again. And so today I dedicate this Thanksgiving Story to my younger sister. ENJOY!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all Mothers everywhere, Happy Mother's Day! And as I remember my own mother, I miss you Mom. I miss talking with you. As I grew up and would stop by to visit, you kept me dialed in to all of my siblings and their little ones. I can see you now sitting across the room from me. I wish you were here. Happy Mother's Day Mom! ENJOY!