Santa says...

Merry Christmas to all... have a safe and happy holiday!

Carolers

Everyone has their Christmas decorations up by now, but still no snow.

Winter walk

I know winter is not official for another ten days, but around here we are normally well into snow and cold by December. Not this year.

My walk across the fields and to the path behind my work building was more like October... sunny and in the 50s. We have only had one short instance of snow cover so far, and no show or cold in the forecast.

But we can still hope for a white christmas.

That's a big wreath

Earlier in the day a crane truck hung the wreath on the bank. It is a Christmas tradition.

On our last day in Saratoga Springs the sun decided to break though the clouds and give us a sunny departure.

Bridge

Metered seating

Chicken on the roof

This is not the most flattering view of Hattie's, and it's not very flattering to the eye anywhere... but if you have a hankering for Southern cooking while in Saratoga Springs, this is the place to go. The fried chicken is famous, and even Bobby Flay was not able to best it.

Hattie's alley

Homeless

New York State Military Museum

The New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs is a great use of an historic armory building. The architecture really says "military" and might have been difficult to repurpose for some other function. I did not visit the museum collection but did admire how the building had been restored.

The original structure was designed by Isaac Perry and built in 1889. In 2001 renovation was started which resulted in the museum we see today.

Morning light