In With The New Year

From the Time Machine, Kenn writes: If this attempt at pre-publishing actually works, this will post at 6:55 in the morning (eastern standard time) on January 1, 2009. And if all goes according to plan, at that point Kim and I will be all bleary-eyed and hot. Not as a result of partying all night, but as a result of being on a plane all night, on a nine-hour flight from Dallas to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buenos Aires is at the edge of the tropics, and January 1 is the height of summer there, which is where the "hot" part comes from. Or at least, most of it.

We’ll be out of the country for about four weeks, with several days in northern Argentina, a couple in Tierra del Fuego, and then a long voyage by ship to the Falklands, South Georgia Island, and the Antarctic Peninsula. If possible -- if we can connect to the internet for less than a million dollars -- we’ll attempt to post some bird pix from Argentina, or maybe even from the ship, if the satellite hookup works. But it’s possible that we won’t be able to post anything to the blog for four weeks.

Since we don’t want to lose any of our loyal readers, we’re attempting this thing where we’ve pre-scheduled a number of posts to appear while we’re gone. They won’t be quite every day (but some days might have two). I probably won’t do anything blatant like posting lots of pictures of Kim birding in a bikini (although you never know ... ). We might do things like posting photos of sexy birds, quiz questions with fabulous prizes, or our secret directions to a Carolina Parakeet nesting site. You never know.

It’s possible that I’ve screwed up the technique and that all of our carefully scheduled posts will come spewing out at once, crashing the system. If so -- well, live and learn. But please check back often to see if that has happened. And we’ll be "live" again by the end of January, if not before.

Our very best wishes to all of our birding friends, including those whom we haven't met yet, for a rewarding and hopeful and prosperous new year.