Close-Ups

Above is a close-up of a dead crab near some dead seaweed, on top of some dead pebbles and sand. Welcome to Monday, where I state the obvious about pebbles and use the word "dead" three times in the same sentence.

Here lately on my trips to the county's public beaches, I've taken the perfunctory shots of the horizon, the bay and the surrounding marshes but have suddenly discovered a whole new world at my feet, a world which does not require an exfoliating scrub. Let me just pause for a moment to tell you how much I love the word "perfunctory," probably because "funk" is right there in the middle and it makes me laugh. At this juncture, I'm just checking to see if you're awake. If you aren't, stay tuned, here's a little more to ensure a deep, comatose state of slumber.

Anyway, all of a sudden I've noticed these incredibly beautiful, artistic displays created by Nature and have become obsessed with shooting them. Not with a gun but with my camera, of course. There are other things I may or may not be obsessed with shooting with a gun, but a dead crab is certainly not one of them. Ants, fiddler crabs, houseflies, horseflies the size of buzzards, buzzards, tent caterpillars, spiders, moths, mosquitoes, Mondays, and utility bills are all examples of things I'd consider using for target practice, but this is neither here nor there particularly if you're asleep, and I suspect you are by now.

Furthermore and in conclusion, close-ups of dead crabs, shells and seaweed will likely become part of the repertoire of monotony seascapes and old houses that make up Sleep Life in Mathews.

Welcome to Monday morning Chesapeake Bay Woman style--replete with dead crabs, dead rocks, annoying insects, a subconscious desire to use firearms, and the rants of a person who loathes the start of the work week. If it is 5:30 a.m. or later Eastern Standard Time, you can rest assured I am uttering a few or more expletives while imagining which insect, bill or day of the week I'd like to shoot if I (a) had a gun;(b) knew how to shoot it; and (c) could actually shoot a day of the week and get away with it.

Do you like Mondays? If you do, why? If you don't, how do you make Sunday nights better such that you're not wanting to shoot something dreading the dead-as-a-rock feeling of impending doom known as Monday?

In other news, if you read Saturday's Death of a Silo, you need to check out the exquisite photos taken by Country Girl Kate (go to her Picture a Day section) and Daryl. They're beautiful shots.

p.s. I don't really want to shoot anything other than the bills which require me to work, and I'm not usually this despondent except for Sundays, Mondays, most Wednesdays, the end of summer and the day after Christmas.