William Coquerel visiting Macon

William, my nephew, visited with us after Thanksgiving.
It was nice to see all these cousins interacting and intereting to notice how alike the Coquerels are. (Kelly, Leah, and William are cousins as you know).
We did our favorite things and William was good sport to join in and have fun. Yes, he learned to play Rook and got good at it too. He got a taste of birdwatching at the Ocmulgee National Monument. William is already used to the outdoors with plenty of camping under his belt in different States.
Looking at this picture it looks like everyone was pretty tired. Actually, it just seemed appealing to lay down on that Indian mound in a clearing that was quite peaceful. After we laid down, the birds sung for us. We had to get up or we would have fallen asleep.
Some of the birds we saw that day: 2 Anhingas, a Great Blue Heron, a White Egret, Phoebes and Eastern Peewees, Cardinals, Several Sparrows (White Throated and Swamp Sparrows), a Red Tail Hawk, Red Headed Woodpeckers, Mockingbirds, Blackbirds(Red Winged), European Starlings, ..., and best of all an American Kestrel that zoomed down and picked up a rodent. We also saw a big Water Moccasin.

Thanksgiving at Jacques'

All the Coquerels in the US met at Jacques and Claire's for Thanksgiving this past Thursday.
After sitting around and sharing with each other, we had a nice Thanksgiving dinner meal.
Sylvain and Jean-Sam wanted to get a soccer game going but the card players got their way and we ended up playing cards (first). I even taught some people how to play Rook. Emmanuel and William liked it. They are the ones who learned to play.
Jean-Luc taught a new game too: KuhHandel, a German card game with bidding and auctioning.
The day went by so quickly we didn't have time to do everything we wanted to do such as playing soccer and basketball after the card games then go for a walk in the park, and then have some more desert, tea and coffee while listening to the young Coquerels who are becoming piano virtuosos. Well, I guess there is a next time.

The year is almost over!

Is there one thing that you wanted to do this year that you didn't get a chance to do?  Can you still do it?  Well, concentrate on that one thing and just do it.  The year is almost over, but it's not over yet.

If you had no special goals to accomplish this year, then just enjoy the rest of the year and keep smiling.  let's spend time with each other the rest of this year if we can.  Family and friends are more important than money and material possessions (or the lack of it).  I bet houses, cars, stuff..., you see around you today were there 100 years ago.  And I bet what you see there today (material stuff) will be there 100 years from now.  While we're going through this plane (experience), let's value what's important i.e. the people (souls) we're here to touch and share with.

If you just read this, then post a comment.  Say what's on your mind.  Share a thought.  I'm just curious who bothers to read this blog.  I almost didn't post anything this month then I realize I've never missed a month since i've started.  But then, what good is it if nobody reads it? 

Take care, love life, smile a lot, be at peace, and don't sweat the small stuff. 

Birdwatching at the Bond Swamp

Debbie and I went birdwatching this Sunday afternoon at the Bond Swamp outside of Macon. I don't recall we've ever seen this much bird activities as we've seen this Sunday. Birds, birds, birds everywhere, and quite vocal too. Totally awesome!

This bank of the swamp was one of the spots we just sat at and watched, and enjoyed ourselves. There were a lot of Northern Flickers among other birds. A couple of Pileated Woodpeckers came for the "party" too.
We like the Bond Swamp, especially the Beaver Creek Trail, because it's very quiet and serene. We hardly ever see anybody here. It's almost like our own little secret birdwatching place.

Besides Deer tracks, we saw some wild pigs ground stirring activities. We didn't see any pigs though. They like to hide, I guess.

Besides birds and animal tracks, we saw something quite peculiar this Sunday. A car parked on the edge of the woods by the parking lot. You read earlier that hardly anyone comes here right? Well, we got curious and run the vehicle tag on the "stolen vehicles" website and sure enough, the car has been reported stolen on Saturday. The Bond Swamp is just inside Twiggs County so it took a few phone calls to get the authorities to go do their "job". Apparently, Macon Police and Bibb County Sheriff Office have no interest because it fell just outside their jurisdiction.

Quite a busy week-end including helping out at a Karate testing Saturday morning.

Kelly's 20th Birthday

Kelly celebrated her 20th birthday this Saturday. We had some of her friends from college over at the house.
Everything went great. Kelly's friends were nice and pleasant.
We played pool and croquet, and we chatted a bit. Before you know it, the afternoon was over. Kelly has friends from Bulgaria, South Korea, Florida, and one girl whose parents are from Mexico. They were only 8 people at the house, but quite diverse in nationality.

Happy Birthday again, Kelly!

A great week-end with the Price Family

Debbie's Mom has been visiting with us this past week. Ricky came on Friday, then James and Melba on Saturday. Kelly and Leah were here as well.
Thus, we had a great week-end with the Prices. At one point we had two Rook games going simultaneously! We also played pool games. Debbie made some great meals.
The College Football game between Alabama and South Carolina was on on Saturday evening. With some great Alabama fans here (including Mama!), we watched the game. Alabama won. Yeah!
Everybody had fun and the week end just passed by too quickly. Everyone went back home on Sunday. What a great week-end! Come back again, y'all.

A week-end with Elvin and Linda

We went to Elvin and Linda this past week end.
They have a beautiful home in the country with dogs, lots of dogs. They like to greet people with excitement, and bark because they are scarred. They're beautiful. Susie, the poodle, is the cutest but I liked the Hound Dog best. He is totally unafraid and hardly barks. He wants to be your friend, like a good dog.


Both Elvin and Linda are great cooks, so we had...you guessed it, great food. Mama (Debbie and Elvin's Mom) came for dinner. Always nice to see her. She missed the Rook game. Sorry.
The one thing that struck us there is just how peaceful and quiet it is. You can just sit on their back porch and gaze at the woods, watching birds, and seeing dogs chase squirrels.
We enjoyed ourselves. Elvin and Linda were great hosts.