Serene Scenery Sunday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim, here with photos of things that make us here at Ao4 Headquarters feel all warm and fuzzy inside!  Ready to get started?

Nothing makes me feel more in my Zen of Zim Zone than freshly fallen snow.

Mom's foot print

The treads on my mom's new boots make mighty cute prints, don't they?  We'll come back out later, but let's take a look at my favorite Christmas tree!

Every year, we put up a few trees.  My favorite is our patriotic tree!  It features American and military-themed ornaments.  It's a great reminder of all the places Mom and Dad lived, of friends, of family, and of all the members of our military who are serving all over the world.  You could see it in the background of one of the pix of Davy yesterday - remember I told you we'd get back to it!

It sits between the living and dining rooms.

Let's go in for some close-ups!

Eagle at the top!

There's our national symbol - an eagle - at the top of the tree.  Or almost at the top!  Above that is one of Dad's old Army dress uniform buttons!  There are several of them tied all over the tree:

One year, when Mom was doing some research for a historical function at Fort Riley, she learned of the tradition of tying uniform buttons to Christmas trees.   The practice dates back to at least the mid-1800s - a great military family tradition from the frontier days!  Following in the footsteps of military wives who came before her, Mom now loops ribbon through the shanks on some of our dad's brass Army uniform buttons and even some of her dad's buttons and ties them to our tree!  Here is a button from her dad's (our grandfather's) uniform he wore at West Point:

There are also ornaments Mom made from some of Dad's old uniforms on the tree:



Mom used to make ornaments every year (like the ones above) and give them out to friends and neighbors.  I'm sure she only used uniforms Dad had worn out.  Right, Mom?  Mom?

Moving right along ...

Please remember the members of our military and say a prayer for them.  Some are serving far from home, some in extremely dangerous places, and I just know they'll appreciate your prayers.

All this military talk brings me to my final photo for you.  There are very few things that help me find my inner peace than the successful construction of a really cool snow fort!  Here's the best I could do with our snowfall the other day:

The Zen of Zim Zone;
me in my really cool snow fort

I hope you feel a bit more serene!  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Play bows,

Zim