Ten things to love about this December

I've been away from the blog for a while, not because I'm done with writing it, but because its been such a different month from the previously blogged ones that I've not had time nor known where to start. And once you get a bit behind, its hard to play catch-up. So, to commemorate my return to the blog, I'll summarize, in order of events and appearance, the past several weeks in a very non-media-like list of headlines, capturing the essence of the month's highlights for me (yes, a very conscious use of the lingo, my dear ISA friends):

1.December starts with a flight to Cuba after three days of rest on a Bahamian beach; the Jamboree is securely parked at the Charlotte aiport back in North Carolina.
2.Five days in Havana is like dipping your littlest toenail into the Atlantic Ocean and saying you know what it feels like to swim in it; luckily a change of flights allowed two weeks and a little more exploration around Cuba, maybe enough to equal swishing a foot in the lapping coastal waves.
3.Swapping the spacious Jamboree for the old, familiar backpack to carry stuff down the road travelled.
4.18 km hike straight up and down a mountain in the sweltering Sierra Maestra leads to the well-preserved remains of Fidel and Che's HQ from 1957-58, and to the baffeled hikers who find themselves standing in Fidel's house.
5.Driving in a '56 Chevy to the beach; sipping Havana rum between attempts at salsa dancing; walking through villages, towns, cities all left to carry on in the chasm of time; peso pizza; barely scratching the surface of Cuba, trying to understand it while falling under its spell.
6.2-day reunion with the Jamboree on the last stretch of I95 south from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Miami, Florida, where it is once again parked in an airport lot.
7.Camille, Lily, Elaine, Tara, Ingrid, Job, Marlies and Jacky.
8.My skin reminds me how it loves the daily Vitamin D doses, while I consciously remind myself that it is Christmas in the heat and tropical surroundings.
9.Discovering the cycle route across the bridge from Miami to Key Biscayne.
10.A Miami Christmas with Lily's family.

The photo album included here is, like the words written above, a sampling of the highlights from the past several weeks. Its enough to give a taste, but I didn't include them all to avoid infecting my followers with overload.

December: Bahamas, Cuba, Miami