This Christmas Morning.

I will wake at 4:15.

There is no tree. There are no presents. There is no wife. There are no kids here. They are at their mother's house. And they will have a morning that she has planned.

My father will be fast asleep at his girlfriend's house.

My mother, gone now almost 2 years, will be with me in spirit.

As I sling the camera over my shoulder.

And head to the last home I have.

The refuge.

I will head out Christmas day, with my 1999 Dodge Ram as my trusty steed, and head to Forsythe.

To see what nature has to offer me this day.

And I will be blessed.

And I will be home.

Merry Christmas to all of my friends. May this day be a wonderful one for you.

For me, it will be one where the birds are my family. The sun and the sky my companion.

I will be home.

A place I have longed for, forever.