Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Bill! Your pics are gorgeous as usual! What is the new Vegan going to eat for dinner today? Tofurkey? Have a wonderful day. :-)

Mahalo et Merci Karen. I hope your day is Perfect .. Happy Thanksgiving !! Aloha et Au revoir

And a very happy Thanks-for-Giving to you and Beanie !
Beautiful pictures as usual. The orchids always take my breath away.

Greetings from Roanoke, VA, Bill. It has been a lovely day. Bright sunshine, cold crisp air and a ride -- truly -- "over the river and thru the woods" via Hwy 460, to family near the Tidewater. I have always loved this drive, mostly woodsey and rural, on the path Lee took to Appomattox. You can see deeper into the forests now that the trees are bare and my eyes are always searching for an animal sighting. I like to think about those who lived on this land hundreds of years ago. In these silents woodlands Native Americans, true stewards of Maman Terre, lived and gave great thanks for all they took and took only what was required to survive. Theirs was a spiritual relationship with nature, the deepest part of their worldview. Found this:

Love of the Land

The old people came literally to love the soil, and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power. It was good for the skin to touch the earth, and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with bare feet on the sacred earth.
Their tipis were built upon the earth and their altars were made of earth. The birds that flew in the air came to rest upon the earth, and it was the final abiding place of all things that lived and grew.
The soul was soothing, strengthening, cleansing, and healing. This is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of propping himself up and away from its life-giving forces. For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly.
He can see more clearly into the mysteries of life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him.

- Chief Luther Standing Bear -
Teton Sioux, Born 1868

p.s. I deleted my Industrial/Tech-age diatribe -- thank goodness. A now late Happy Thanksgiving to you, and thanks for the beautiful photos and your thoughts.