"Hello, Everybody!" says Agathe the Aardvark, one amazing wedding planner. "We, the ABC Creatures of the Honalee Bay Aquarium & Gardens, are here again this week to distract you of this and that, and all else from which you need and/or want momentary respite. Enjoy!" That's very kind of the ABC Creatures, who showed up on this blog in 2018 for the then upcoming wedding of Winnie the Wallaby and Thomas the Tree Kangaroo.  I love these guys and gals.  The A to M friends dropped by last week. If you missed them, click here . Nehemia the Narwhal, Noah the Nyala, and Nalia the Napoleon Mastiff are Nfinity x 3 Security who made sure everything was safe and secure at the wedding. Ofelia the Octopus was the officiant who married Winnie & Thomas. Pauly the Pademelon — where oh where had he gone? Quinn the Quokka and Quaid the Quoll hoped they could sing their way to America and the wedding. Cheers to our dear beloved Rhonda the Raccoon...

Really? It was only two years ago when the ABC Creatures took over my imagination every Wednesday for 26 or so weeks. The gals and guys, most of whom live at the Honalee Bay Aquarium & Gardens, were all involved in one way or the other with the planning of and/or participation in the wedding of Winnie the Wallaby and Thomas the Tree Kangaroo. It didn't become apparent until week 8 that the ABC story was about the upcoming nuptials. The ABC Creatures don't like that I'm moping about election results. To distract me (and anyone else who wants to be distracted), they decided to take over Thursday this week and next. I don't mind. I love the ABC Creatures.  Agathe the Aardvark is quite an amazing wedding planner. Twins Bingo and Bubba Byrd work hard and party hard, too. Charlie the Camel loves to participate in the cable car ringing contest in San Francisco. The Daffodils—Davey and brothers Dicky and Davey —always take time to smell the flowers. ...

That's the main street of our little city of Hollister as it looked in Eliza Does-a-lot's driver's side-view mirror. I snapped it the other day while waiting for the Husband. As a kid, the festive garlands and bows above San Benito Street was one of my clues that the holiday season was upon us. With luck, I would be able to avoid any Santa Claus lurking in the downtown stores. Yup, Santa Claus was a scary figure to this kid. In 2008, the Husband played Santa Claus at the annual Christmas Ball, held by the Filipino American Community of San Benito. For the first time, I sat on Santa's lap. This was a Mister Claus who did not creep me out. Last year the Husband created a Holiday Spirit tree with lights in the living room, more specifically next to Molly the (wild) Cat's condo. She has no problem sleeping while the lights twinkle brightly. Here's a photo from last year of the sleeping (wild) beauty and our Twinkle Twinkle Tree. This year I have cooki...

i, ii, iii, iv Evolution of Love.  That's what has been happening with the mystery craft project I'm working on for the county fair. I have to use at least four items from this list: bandana, feather,  pillar candle holder, magnet, cake pan, sea shells, wooden spoon, domino, yarn, rocks, paper party hat, and plastic liter bottle. So far, I have rocks, dominoes, and a cake pan in the mix. Yarn, sea shells, and/or a party hat are in consideration. Can you tell what the dominoes spell? v, vi Iago the Iguana is one of my ABC Creatures that I created for Round 22 of ABC Wednesday . The imaginary iguana was named for my dad, Santiago, who was sometimes called Ago (pronounced like Iago). This handsome dude, Iago, is in love with an egret named Edwina. Imagine that. If you want to read his story, click this link: Iago the Iguana and the Invitation . vii "And, love is all that I can give to you," sang Nat King Cole . viii, ix I drew this illustration...

Last week was the wedding of Winnie the Wallaby and Thomas the Tree Kangaroo. They hope you enjoyed the fun. They are honeymooning in Australia and New Zealand, by the way. Their reception was a blast. Sorry to say, pictures have yet to be processed. Judge Jennifer the photographer has been busy in court, and her assistant Zebediah the Zorilla Striped Polecat is no where to be found. Neither is Nalia the Napoleon mastiff of the Nfinity x 3 Security, for that matter. Some of the creatures say the two have taken off to Las Vegas. Fortunately, I have at least one more photo to show from the wedding. Winnie, Thomas, and some of us wedding attendants thought it would be fun to pose in a silly face-in-hole board. Crazy, huh? Us, animals, in human bodies. The wedding cake by Katja the Kookaburra was delicious. The music by Leticia and the Ladybugs was delightful. The decor by the Max Family, divine. And, when Hazel the Hammerhead Shark finished the Hawaiian Wedding Dance hula, there ...

Throughout the morning the Northern Yellow Bats and the Southern Yellow Bats rang the bells in the campanile in the center of the Honalee Bay Aquarium & Gardens. Insects and sea creatures, birds and reptiles, and two-legged and four legged animals in their Sunday best flew, padded, trotted, and swam to the grounds to behold the moment they had been waiting for the last three months. By mid-afternoon, the moment began. The Yodeling Yellowjackets flew to their marks on the cut-out heart beside the officiant. As they began singing Yodel Love Call , the happy guests quieted and turned their attention to the eastern end of the meadow.  Slowly coming into view was Yagel the Yak, proud as all can be. Carefully and steadily, he pulled the cart on which stood the handsome and beautiful wedding couple of the moment. Some guests cheered and clapped their paws, while others hooted and stomped their feet. Winnie  and Thomas blushed. Tears streamed down their faces as they w...