HOLIDAY LIVING

Holiday Living STORY BY LONNA UPTON & PHOTOS BY KENNETH BOONE

Two Christmas trees are the main focal points in the vaulted great room 40 LAKE DECEMBER 2022

The Hodges' collection of nativities are beautifully displayed on a console table

LLast Christmas, John and Nancy Hodges had much to celebrate but no time to decorate. They moved into their new Lake Martin home in The Willows on Dec. 27, 2021, and put up only one Christmas tree. It was just enough to add a bit of holiday cheer to the chaos of unpacking boxes and placing furniture. With not enough jingle bells and fa-la-las to suit them in 2021, they took a much different approach this year. “We had just that one Christmas tree last year, but this year I wanted to decorate before Thanksgiving, so we could enjoy the decorations longer. I love decorating for Christmas at the lake using natural elements like holly berries, vines and fresh greenery. And since some of our grandchildren were coming for Thanksgiving, I decorated before they came, so we could celebrate a little of both holidays with family at the lake,” Nancy Hodges said. Traditional Christmas red, the deep red of poinsettias and Santa’s suit, paired with berries, magnolia and cypress, vines and other greenery, provide the color scheme for the Hodges’ festive home. Guests are wel-

comed to the front porch by a Sparkling tree lights dance topiary dressed for Christmas across the room with bows and a pine wreath with a big red bow hanging on the front door. Just inside, the foyer table and mirror above it are decked in greenery with red berries. The greenery provides a woodsy backdrop for a woven twig reindeer and different sizes of wooden trees. Santa stands watch among the green boughs, which have just enough white flocking to remind guests of the often hoped-for but rarely seen snow on the shores of the lake. The beautifully vaulted and spacious main living area in the house is alive with the lights and sights of the Christmas season. Hodges called in her brother, designer Phil Spraggins, to assist her this year. He suggested showcasing groupings of her collections and mixing live greenery in with the artificial.

Another tree was added to the single one last year, one on each side of the sliding doors, which provide access to the covered porch. The tree on the left is filled with ornaments, some purchased and some presented as gifts. Hodges has collected Lake Martin ornaments since the first year the Lake Martin Mini

Berries, vines and greenery create the festive decor in the foyer

Hodges used splashes of red to bring Christmas into the kitchen

Simple touches of Christmas add to the coziness on a screened porch off the master bedroom

Small Christmas items, perfectly placed, have a big impact

Nutcrackers that belonged to Hodges' sons hold a special spot on the hearth and in the heart

Mall started carrying them. This year she added a new topper – gold, glittered branches that accentuate little white lights from Bless Your Heart in Eclectic.

The second tree has red decorations – red satin balls, strands and bunches of red berries, grapevine and pinecones for a natural look. This year, she added an enormous red bow topper, tied by friend, Joy Ferrell. Near this tree, a side door opens onto the screened dining porch, where the table is set for Christmas. Again, natural décor, wooden baskets, greenery and fairy lights blend for the perfect lakeside table setting.

A screened sitting area with a wood-burning fireplace is on the opposite side of the porch, which includes access from the master bedroom. Pine branches adorn the mantel, and a reindeer wreath made of woven grapevine hangs on the wall as red bows and berries accent the space.

On a long side table in the living area, Hodges displays nativities she has collected through the years. Cypress branches dotted with fairy lights fill in around the manger scenes. One of the nativities belonged to John’s grandparents, and the Fontanini nativity was a gift to Nancy years ago. Small manger scenes, wooden and wire, add to the collection. Larger clay animals, purchased separately, enhance the scene. Underneath the table, two baskets of poinsettias surrounded by cypress branches add a bright splash of color.

The fireplace mantel in the main room is decorated with greenery and a red satin bow. Nutcrackers that once belonged to Hodges’ children stand tall on one side of the hearth, and a reindeer basket holding poinsettias and greenery balances the other side.

On the dining table, a Santa Claus collection brings

The ornament tree holds memories of Christmases past and present The grandchildren's room has its share of Christmas spirit

back memories of Christmases past for the Hodges. The Santas are of all sizes and shapes, materials and design and are set into boughs of cypress.

“I can tell you which Santas students gave me years ago when I was teaching. I know which were my mother’s, and which has a broken piece but is still special enough to save. I enjoy unpacking all these Santas every year. For my grandchildren, I used Santa Claus figurines on every other stair in our stairwell (to the storage room) then added little white lights to make a path to Santa’s workshop. They were so excited,” she said.

The Hodges’ kitchen has touches of Christmas throughout. A wreath on the stove hood invites guests to Christmas at Lake Martin. A dough bowl filled with shiny balls and greenery sits on the island. The bar area is set with four champagne glasses filled with pink grapefruit, prosecco and cranberries. A red-andwhite striped cookie jar is ready to fill with treats. Small green wreaths hang in each of the four windows, and Christmas vases on the countertop contain poinsettias and greenery.

Hodges has a collection of Christmas pillows, which she spreads throughout the home, with a couple in each bedroom. In the bedroom used for the grandchildren, Christmas books that belonged to her own children are unpacked and ready to read to a new generation. An elf sits on the shelf, and the crib became the display case for additional Christmas pillows. The twin beds have Christmas pillows at the top of the bed and Christmas blankets folded at the bottom.

“I get excited for the season when I pull out peppermint and pumpkin spice coffee, my favorites. It’s a happy time, watching my children begin their own Christmas traditions while they keep some that they grew up with. And, starting new traditions in my new home, even decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving, just fills Christmastime with so much joy,” she said.

NATURE OF THE LAKE

BY KENNETH BOONE

BBlue JaysBlue Jays are backyard celebrities – loud and active – with show-off colors. If they had thumbs, they’d probably post selfies on Instagram. This time of year, Blue Jays are focused on acorns in the forests around Lake Martin. One can carry up to five acorns at a time by putting three in its throat, another in its mouth and holding one more between the tips of its beak. Scientists have recorded Blue Jays that cached 3,000 to 5,000 acorns for wintertime meals. Because many Blue Jays bury acorns in the ground, they have gotten credit for spreading oak forests throughout their range, which encompass the eastern half of the United States and up into Canada. Blue Jays are a little larger than Robins, roughly 9 to 12 inches long and weighing 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 ounces. They are mostly shades of blue on top, with black and white markings and white or grayish-white on their undersides. They have black collars that go all the way around their heads. In the world of Crayola Crayons, the blue colors range from Denim on their backs to Sky Blue or Turquoise on their tails. Like many animals, Blue Jays like to hang out on the edge of a forest, especially where oak trees are growing, since acorns are their favorite food. They usually stay away from forests that are made up solely of conifers, so while you are not likely to see them in Alabama’s planted pine forests, they are common elsewhere in the state. These birds are found in urban areas, cities and parks – and on backyard feeders. These birds are omnivorous, though about three quarters of their meals are plant-based: nuts, grain and fruit. They also eat caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, other bird’s eggs, snails, spiders, frogs and even carrion. Their best known call is an onomatopoeia – a word that imitates the sound it is describing – so if you hear a bird call that sounds like a noisy, nasal

Blue Jays will agressively defend their nests against much larger predators

“jay,” it could well be a Blue Jay. They often make their calls in pairs, “jay-jay,” but also use a single call and more than two in a sequence. Known for their intelligence, Blue Jays make a wide variety of other sounds – from calls that sound like a rusty pump handle squeak or a bell or a rattle to mimicking other birds and even human voices. They often make a call like a Red-Tailed Hawk, which ornithologists have heard them use to alert other members of their flock that a real Red-Tailed Hawk is in the area. Blue Jays are usually silent when flying and sing out when perched.

In addition to vocal communication, Blue Jays also use body language to get their messages across visually. When the Blue Jay’s crest is low or slicked back, it signifies a more peaceful state of mind. This appearance is usually associated with interactions with a mate, sitting on eggs, feeding nestlings or hanging out with other members of the flock. Crest up means a more aggressive mood, such as when calling or in times of conflict with potential predators.

Blue Jays have strong and complex families. Couples often mate for life, and mates stay together year round, even though they only produce a single brood each year.

When they are courting, Blue Jays often chase each other, and the males sometimes bring gifts of food to their prospective partners. They also exhibit head-bobbing during courtship and when fighting.

These birds build nests high off the ground – 10 to 25 feet up – in hardwoods or conifers. The males do most of the gathering of twigs, grass and mud while the females do most of the actual building. The nest is usually lined with tiny roots.

Mom jays lay between two and seven bluish or light brown spotted eggs. They sit on the eggs for 17 to 18 days, and the nestlings, which are totally dependent on their parents when they hatch, leave the nest in about three weeks.

Blue Jays aggressively defend their nests and have been known to attack animals many times larger than themselves, such as hawks, cats, raccoons, opossums and even people who get too close.

These birds are sexually mature at one year and are long-lived. The average lifespan for a wild Blue Jay is seven years, but a tagged bird was found to be 17-1/2 when it died. In captivity, Blue Jays have lived to more than 26 years old.

Blue Jays are partially migratory, meaning some fly south to escape the cold, and others stay put during winter.

One interesting fact about these birds is that, despite their brilliant blue color, their feathers are not actually blue. Instead, when visible light strikes a Blue Jay feather, all colors except blue pass through, so it looks blue. If you crush a Cardinal feather into powder, the powder is red; however, if you crush a Blue Jay feather, the resulting powder is brown because its light-reflecting ability has been disrupted. And speaking of differences between Blue Jays and Cardinals – which are about the same size and shape and also are common visitors at backyard feeders – Cardinals have been adopted as the official state bird in seven U.S. states. Blue Jays? Not a one.

But that doesn’t seem to bother these very social birds. In fact, the official name for a group of Blue Jays is a “party.”

The Blue Jay's lowered crest indicates a relaxed state of mind

Some information for this article came from the Cornell University’s All About Birds, Audubon Guide to North American Birds, and the University of Michigan’s Animal Diversity Web and Bird Watching HQ.