November & December 2016
HIGHLIGHTS:
We spent November and December both at home and on the road.
We finally laid Skye’s ashes to rest in her favorite spot under the stag horn fern hanging from our oak tree. Lexi supplied moral support.
Jan co-chaired the ECW’s Annual Bazaar again at St. James Episcopal Church….
Budweiser’s Clydesdales highlighted Leesburg’s Christmas Parade….
Papa hung our ‘Christmas Lights’ in the oak tree…
Visited Albany on the first leg of our Christmas travels…
We took the ‘Back Roads’…
The Nutcracker at The Fox Theater…
More fun with the Ely Crew…
We nearly missed the Famous Fox Organ…
Christmas with the Hocketts…
DKS
October 2016
In October we traveled to Charlotte to be with Erin for a ‘Hearing Loss Association of America’ fund raiser. The event was held in Carey, North Carolina. Carey lays in the middle of the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill which is an academic and technical hub. Our family has been involved with the ‘Hearing Impaired and Deaf’ community since Erin’s childhood. It was good to reconnect. We also got to visit with Debbie and Todd who have moved to Waxhaw, South Carolina, which borders Charlotte. They have relocated from New Hampshire and are now southerners once more….
DKS
August and September
Here is a recap of the final summer months. September is still summer here in Florida. September here can be long and tedious…Only in October do we get a hint of cool weather that is coming!
These two months were mostly spent as ‘home time.’ Papa went one week again to the Florida Keys with his long-time lobster diving buddies. The Keys are not only a place but a state of mind.Then in September we ventured to Atlanta to visit Amy and her kids in their new house…
Enjoy these highlights!
DKS
Florida Camp – July 2016
July brought the Hocketts back down from Charlotte. By now Papa was back into full ‘Camp Counselor’ mode. That meant activity was in full gear as evidence here in the video….
The Music is ‘Wildflower’ by the “Sleepy Banjo Boys” which seemed appropriate…
(Photos by ErinSmith Hockett, Jan Smith and David Smith)
DKS
June 2016
In June we enjoyed both local flavor and visiting family. We again help host a “Crawfish Boil” with the Trees’ family which was a St. James Episcopal Church fundraising auction offering…Then we were off to Charlotte and Atlanta to visit with the Kids and Grandkids….
PS Our neighborhood which despite being in downtown Leesburg has plenty of wildlife. The sandhill cranes in the video would drop in occasionally…
(Photos by ErinSmith Hockett, Jan Smith and David Smith)
DKS
Spring 2016 – ‘Florida Camp’
About a month after my total knee replacement surgery the Hockett part of our clan came to visit. Papa, the Head Camp Counselor, and Nonna were good hosts but not participants as usual…Danny and Erin found local adventures on their own….Their visit was restful and leisurely…
(Photos by ErinSmith Hockett, Jan Smith and David Smith)
DKS
Knee Replacement Surgery
Knee Replacement Surgery…
I had known for decades that I needed to have total knee replacement surgery. Finally the time came when I could not put it off any longer. Dr. J. Dean Cole, an incredible orthopedic surgeon, was my choice to do the surgery. Dr. Cole had lengthen my left femur in nineteen ninety-seven. That lengthening surgery was remarkable as I was part of an FDA process to approve the devises he used. Over a three month period Dr. Cole slowly lengthened that leg two inches while I continued to practice dentistry for half days. It is a long story. Needless to say Dr. Cole had my full confidence…
(Photos by Jan Smith)
DKS