A Whale of a New Year

Happy New Year!

I have been really enjoying all the blogs lately that share either last year's projects or this year's goals.  New Years is generally a time for reflection, but for me it is usually a time for purging.  This year I have company, and so I'm doing other things.  Today we went whale watching off of Virginia Beach and we saw two Humpback whales!  My husband and I were with my parents, and whenever we go whale-watching, we always have good luck.  A few times we even had "dream trips" where even the boat staff get excited!

I thought I would share some of today's photos:

When you whale-watch, you are on the lookout for this--blow.  It is often the first clue you have that there is a whale in the vicinity (unless you are extremely lucky and you see a breach--where the whale leaps out of the water.)  Can you see that some of the blow goes straight up and some goes off to the side?  This forms a distinctive "heart-shaped" blow which immediately identifies this as a humpbacked whale.  It is formed because humpbacks have two blow holes right next to each other--you can see both in the picture.

The other way to easily identify the species is because it has, er, a hump on its back--hence the name.  Did you also know that Right whales were named thus because they were the "right" whales to hunt back in the whaling days?  No kidding.  I don't think I will inquire how the Sperm whale got its name...

This photo is not cropped!  That whale got really close to the boat!

 

I love this photo because I got the whale with the two Cape Henry Lighthouses in the background.  The shorter one is the original.  It was constructed in the 1780s as the first lighthouse built under the new American government.  In fact, George Washington himself appointed the first keeper.  It cracked in 1870 and so they built the "new" one--the taller one on the left.  If you visit, the old one is open to the public and you can climb to the top.  We did so back in August.  It was hot!  And sweaty!

Back to New Years...   I have lots of projects in mind for the New Year.  I am really making 2013 the year of the Unstarted Project (USO) and have several of them on deck waiting.  USOs are projects for which I have the pattern and the fabric but have never started.  Once I went looking, I was amazed at the projects I discovered "hiding" in my quilt room.

I also have a resolution.  I don't believe in making traditional resolutions--where one makes unrealistic, usually unpleasant goals for the New Year that are  history by March.  I like to make fun resolutions.  This is mine:

 

Three cones of thread, each having 2500 yards.  That makes 7500 yards.  There are 1760 yards in a mile.  7500 divided by 1760 equals 4.26 miles of thread.  My resolution is to use it all this year!  Do you think I can?  I'm sure going to have fun trying!  Tomorrow before I do any more sewing, I will take off my current thread, wind new bobbins from this, and thread the machine and begin.  Because of my company, I'm falling behind on Easy Street and it is really bothering me!  But, I'm so excited to see how it comes out!

I would like to wish you all a sincere Happy New Year!  As I'm writing this, it looks like a deal has been made to avert falling off the Fiscal Cliff and hopefully Sequestration as well, so perhaps all of our chances for a prosperous New Year are as good as ever.

JoAnne