Happy Monday before Christmas and I write to you from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I can only wish you the best for a short week at work. If you are traveling for the holidays like I am to be with family and loved ones, I wish you safe travels.
Over the weekend and with the promise of snow coming to the Northeast, my girlfriend “suggested” we needed to do a road trip to Williamsburg, Va and enjoy a white Christmas. With the threat of a winter nor’easter coming to the Outer Banks (10′ – 15′ swells) it seemed like a good idea, that was if we could get off the island. Surfing through the many over wash areas on Hwy 12, I wondered if it was going to be a surf White Christmas we might end up participating in.
I had never been to Williamsburg with its rich American history and beautiful colonial homes but once we arrived it was everything that had been advertised. We arrived after sunset but with the snow coming down decided to tour the city and make plans to return the next morning to capture what I hoped to be a spectacular photo for this weeks’ holiday blog. How could I go wrong with the beautiful snow, gracing all of the homes, as the sun peeked through the clouds. There were the beautiful churches, the colonial homes, and the majesty of the Governor’s Palace and the Capital. Anyone of the captures would do. How wonderful it was to have had the opportunity to visit such a historical location. With the natural holiday decorations adorning the doors, houses and sidewalks of the city, it was the perfect time of year.
With our mission accomplished, we headed south and on the way opted to stop at one more location, the Hampton National Cemetery, in Hampton, VA. The cemetery is located in the vicinity of where the historic Civil War naval battle between the Confederate Merrimac/Virginia and the Union Monitor ironclad ships occurred in 1862. The cemetery’s first burials took place in 1862 and the cemetery is among numerous national cemeteries with origins that date to the Civil War. As you pass through the cemetery you cannot help but feel a sense of humility and reverence for those that are buried there. You could not stand in the presence of the thousands of headstones and not mutter the words, “Thank You!” In that moment a true sense of the meaning of Christmas overcame me and I knew, as much a Williamsburg was the beauty of Christmas, the gift of all that they have given really defined the true meaning of Christmas.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Holiday with family and friends.
“Peace on Earth and Good Will Towards Men”
If you have not heard, my first year of blogging is now in book form and can be viewed and purchased on-line by going to…..
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1065856
Have a great week
~ dK ~
