O Holy Night With a Country Twang

One of my favorite songs at Christmas season all year long is “O Holy Night.” A well-known version is by Celine Dion. Her voice is so angelic, a gift that keeps on giving.

But there are plenty of other versions… and there’s one with a country twang. One of the big surprises of this year was coming across singer/songwriter Anne Wilson. Awhile back I wrote about her song “Songs about Whiskey.” (more here)

Luckily for us, and another nice surprise, she sings “O Holy Night” and I think you’ll really enjoy it. Check it out below and I hope you’re having a fabulous Christmas season.

PS. I feel like it would be wrong to not include one of my favorite mashups featuring “O Holy Night.” Here’s America’s favorite brother trio, Hanson and their “Silent Night” medley.

-Out of the Wilderness

Football at Christmas… are the tear drops flowing?

If you’ve tried to get diced celery at basically any grocery story then you are fully aware it’s the holiday season. Sure, Christmas is just a few days away but football is right now. College. NFL. But let’s focus on college for now, shall we? Playoffs started this weekend and… well…. the games were duds. Sorry for that spoiler although the games were yesterday so if you don’t know by now, that’s on you, goofball! I’m sure ad executives were disappointed (along with SMU, Clemson, and Tennessee fans) with people tuning out as the scores got out of hand. It was a fun to watch though, especially having an Ohio State Buckeye alum in the family. In fact, if they lost the Christmas family weekend would have been awwwkkkwaaarrrrd. Now we can safely say O-H without tears making a river through the kitchen.

The NFL season is sort of wrapping up as certain teams (Chiefs/referees, Minnesota, etc) are already preparing for the playoffs and other teams are on the brink of making it through. While other teams who shall not be named, their seasons ended weeks ago.

NBA is going full swing, along with college basketball and soon enough those leagues and baseball will be all we have. Sad day. Football is America’s sport and you won’t convince me otherwise. But also go Predators!

Hope you’re having a happy holiday season and may all your football teams do well in the playoffs.

-Out of the Wilderness

An Apalachicola Christmas

I went with some family over to Apalachicola during some Christmas activities. Santa was there, of course, on the foggy, cold winter day. Here are a few pictures. It was a great time of cheer, music, hot chocolate, and joy.

-Out of the Wilderness

Florida State Park Photo Contest… Again!

One of my favorite things to do when I’m camping at state parks is finding fun things to photograph. Mostly I look for wildlife and there are a few photos that have become near and dear to me. A particular badass deer in Louisiana is one that comes to mind.

Florida has amazing state parks (does this surprise anyone?) with the beautiful coastlines and an abundance of wildlife. For the last couple of years I submitted photos to a contest the Florida Park Service has been doing annually. Here are a few photos from last year.

Now it’s that time of year when I have to pick new ones for 2024 and of course, being as indecisive as I usually am, I’m having a hard time narrowing it down! This is where you come in. I have 10 that I like a lot (the contest is for 8 photos) so when you have time, comment on this post with which you like most and if you’re feeling wild, tell me why you like the ones you pick. Or if you have strong feelings against one, I’d love to hear that, too. Thanks for your help. 🙂

-Out of the Wilderness

Llamas As Soft As Cotton Candy

Just me and a couple of llamas, no big deal. The church where I attend had their annual Christmas gathering and among the activities was a petting zoo, of sorts. The animals were from a rescue farm– pigs, chickens, a camel, and of course the llamas. I had no idea how soft their fur was going to be. Wow. For the young one, it was like touching cotton candy, barely even able to feel it.

I also beat my sister at axe-throwing. Can’t leave that little factoid out. 😉

Horses, llamas, pigs, possums… a lot of wildlife lately and it just confirms again that one day I’ll have a possum as a pet. I’ll love it and cuddle it and make sure it has a great life.

-Out of the Wilderness