My “A” is for Alex in the ABC-Along. Alex is a funny dog. Even as a puppy he liked to stick his head in and under things. It’s not uncommon to find him head first under a throw rug. Here he wisely chose a cozy afghan that my Mom crocheted. He looked too sweet to ignore. More photos of Alex with his head in various things can be seen here.

I’m so excited! Rick’s slow-motion video of the hummingbird and dragonfly appeared in a segment called MonsterQuest on the History Channel. A while back the producer had asked his permission to use the footage but you never know if they really will or not. Sure enough about 30 minutes into the show, there it was! The dragonfly (which I never did post to the blog; I need to do that!) came about five minutes later.

It was fun watching something that was filmed in our own back yard show up on television. Well, you might not think it’s exciting, but we do! The segment is an interesting one, so catch it if you can.

Ed.Note: The segment of MonsterQuest is really called “Unidentified Flying Creatures.” Sorry!

Freeze. Thaw. Freeze. Thaw. That seems to be the theme lately. Winter can’t seem to make up its mind. Right now we’re having extremely mild weather. Daytime highs of nearly 60ºF. Rain instead of snow. The icy white blanket that covered our yard has nearly all melted away. Just a few weeks ago our pool looked like an ice skating rink, and if I wasn’t so afraid of tearing the pool cover I’d have gone skating! Now it’s taken on the persona of a reflecting pool.

I liked the reflections of the trees and the way some leaves scattered themselves around.

I imagine it won’t be long before Winter decides to make its return. Blustery winds, snow, frozen ground. Come on, Winter, bring it on! What are you waiting for?

This year we decided to go to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, celebrating their 75th Anniversary. Inside the lobby, a gorgeous tree made from hundreds of Swarovski crystals hung suspended from the ceiling.

The stars of the show were, of course, The Rockettes—those high-kicking precision experts of dance. They’ve come a long way, baby! (The following photos taken from the program.)

The show was nothing short of spectacular. The sets were magical, the special effects extraordinary. We donned 3-D glasses to watch Santa Claus fly through the sky in his sleigh: first stop New York City. Look, there’s the Empire State Building—quick, duck!—we’re headed straight for it! We even got snowed on at one point in the show. Sheer magic.

The Rockettes appeared in nearly every act. They were reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh; toy soldiers (my favorite!); toy dolls that ended up doing the can-can; tourists on a double-decker tour bus seeing the highlights of the city; Santa Claus; and of course just as themselves. The precision in which they perform is absolutely amazing! They are always right together in everything they do.

For 90 minutes straight we were thoroughly entertained. We both felt like little kids again, taking in the wonder of it all as we sat sipping our Pina Coladas in our commemorative Rockettini™ glasses with festive swizzle sticks.

I know what you’re thinking—you don’t fool me. You’re thinking that they are just about the tackiest, kitschiest things you’ve ever seen, right? Well, just wait till you see what else I got…

Of course no visit to New York City at Christmas would be complete without seeing the tree at Rockefeller Center. All in all, a really great day that put us in the Christmas spirit.

Now, here is my favorite thing from the whole day. I know you’re just dying to know what else could be tackier than the Rockettini™ glasses. Actually, I wanted one of these when I saw them for sale in the lobby but Rick wouldn’t let me buy one. I pouted a bit and when I got home I was still kicking myself for not buying one. Somehow he managed to buy one for me anyway and sneak it into my stocking on Christmas morning. Here she is: my battery powered Rockette! Ta da~ !

Here she is caught in mid-spin.

And now you can watch her in all her full glory!

Come on, you gotta love her! Don’t you want one too?

I’m so excited! I’ve just signed up for the ABC-Along 2008! What is that you ask? Well, you can read the details here at (Vicki) Knitorious or I can give you a quick explanation. A group of knitters and fiber freaks got together a few years back and came up with the idea to post a photo every two weeks that corresponds with a letter of the alphabet. The photo should mean something to you and doesn’t have to include knitting or fiber in any way. I was a little concerned about joining because my blog is rarely about knitting. I love to knit and always have something on my needles but it’s just one of the things in a long list that I might blog about.

I needn’t have worried as I was accepted in the fold quickly by Vicki who has answered all my questions and got me started in Flickr. This is going to be fun! If you are interested in joining you need to email Vicki on her blog (link above) for an invitation to join by January 19th.

Now I have yet another reason to get more creative with my photos. I hope you will look forward to seeing what I come up with every two weeks. I know I look forward to coming up with something as I try to be inventive as possible.  I already have my “A” photo ready to post which I will do in the next few days.

I also found another very cool site from reading Vicki’s blog: Photojojo. I immediately subscribed to their newsletter. Lots of good ideas and helpful hints for photographers of all kinds at this informative site! Check them out and you’ll see what I mean. I started browsing their archives and before I knew it I had spent an hour there. I want to make several of the Photo Journals as gifts! Such a great idea.

Anyway, I have several excursions into NYC to tell you about if I can just get started. I’ve been dragging my feet long enough. I need to get back into the groove here! I’d better get busy because I don’t want my “A is for

”  to get buried underneath all that. Maybe tomorrow ...