Thursday, February 28, 2013

Three Things




Once upon a time, long ago, back in the days when I actually put some effort into this blog, Thursdays were reserved as the day for everyone to share three things.  These three things could be related, random, important, unimportant--basically whatever happened to be on your mind at the moment. And three was merely a suggestion.  If you wanted to say two things or five things, you were encouraged to do so.

Then at some point, mostly due to the fact that I was spewing forth random thoughts practically every day anyway, I dropped Three Thing Thursday.  Why limit free association/ADD-like blog posts to one day of the week?

Besides, I learned a long time ago most people only come here for the photos.

I have seriously considered changing my blog subtitle to:  "Come for the pictures.  Stay for the insanity. And the inanity."










But as usual, I digress.

My point in mentioning all this is that when I started this blog almost five years ago during a really bad (understatement) time in my life, I tried to blend my weird sense of humor with stories about Mathews County.  Now that I am the mother of two teenagers with busy lives and hectic schedules, I simply don't have the time to devote to coming up with topics and stories.

But I do love taking pictures. And usually, if only a few days a week, I can sit down with absolutely nothing in mind to write about and spew forth a few random words spawned by the photographs or by whatever is going on in our lives at the moment.

Or by the direction of the wind.

Or by something shiny.

Anyway...









Here lately, likely due to the winter doldrums brought on by the months of January and February, I just haven't felt like blogging at all.

However, in honor of the fact that March is on our heels and the daffodils are starting to bloom, I will resurrect Three Thing Thursday, if only for this week.

I'll go first with my random three things.  Feel free to leave a comment with your one, two, three, seven or thirteen things.  Whatever tickles your fancy.

Let's begin.

1.  My daughter announced that she was selected to be co-captain of the Mathews JV soccer team.  Ever since her undefeated JV basketball season, I've felt more than a little let down, empty.  No opportunities to jump up and down and cheer from the sidelines. No incessant Facebook posts talking about how good the team is.  Nada. Soccer scrimmages start next week.  Hallelujah.  I cannot wait. 

2.  My son, a junior in high school who also takes classes at the local community college as part of the Chesapeake Bay Governor's School program, announced that he was selected to go to Boys State this summer. The American Legion sponsors Boys and Girls State to teach about government, leadership and citizenship. Middle Sis went to Girls State when she was at Mathews High School.

2b. (I don't think my name was ever in the running for Girls State in high school.  Baby Sis was overlooked as well. That's OK. We have Middle Sis and CB Son to represent.  Baby Sis and I will handle the half-marathon aspect of this family. By the way, the end of April is our next 13.1 mile escapade, in Nashville no less.  There will be some stories to tell after that trip.)

3.  Just when I think that February is going to suck the ever-lovin' life and every last bit of energy right on out of me, my children make me smile, make me proud, and make me happy.

So there are my three-ish things.

Now it's your turn.

Happy March First Eve.



Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Scenes from Haven





These are from Haven Beach.





Well this is certainly lopsided.  I expect all the water to come draining
out of the left corner any minute now. I wasn't even looking at the horizon, obviously,
I was more focused on the pine tree. (Which also appears to be leaning.)










Ah, this is better, a little more level.


































Blogger is playing all kinds of tricks on me as I write this Monday evening, so I am going to be mercifully brief with any words and try to get this thing queued up before the whole thing disappears into the black hole of the blogosphere.

Click here for a document I found on a quick Google search for Haven Beach.  Although Haven is only briefly mentioned, the article does provide a great overview of Mathews and its attractions.

Enjoy.


Monday, February 25, 2013

Osprey Nest





Here are several shots of an osprey's nest near the public landing at Whites Creek







































We interrupt this post which appears to be about an osprey nest to bring you something entirely unrelated.  We are now shifting gears and changing topics.

My weekend consisted of a stop in Yorktown Friday on my way home from work; dinner with an out-of-town friend at Merroir Saturday evening (the grilled scallops are sensational); and a NASCAR party with some friends from high school Sunday afternoon.

NASCAR party?  Chesapeake Bay Woman and NASCAR are not usually found in the same state much less the same sentence.  However, as with the Super Bowl party I attended, I was not there for the event on the TV, I was there for the free comedy act.  (Also the food.)

The usual suspects, Alda and Catherine, were there, but Catherine also brought her two sisters who are equally animated and lively when it comes to conversation.  When I came home last evening, I was absolutely exhausted from all the laughing.

If someone could please point me in the direction of a reality TV producer, I would sincerely appreciate it.  In the mean time, I need my son to teach me how to use our old video camera for the next time that cast of characters gets together. Those spontaneous, unrehearsed, and absolutely hilarious comedy routines cannot be believed unless they're witnessed firsthand.

Anyway, it was a great weekend.  I hope yours was too.

Welcome to the last week of February.

(Thank goodness.)


Friday, February 22, 2013

Serenity Now






Take a deep breath in..keep going..more..more..

Focus on the blue...hold it.












Release...take a deep breath out. 

Focus on the serene stretch of blue.










Relax and have a great weekend.



p.s. CBW is not a yoga instructor.  She just 
pretends to be one plays one on the internet.


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Leaning





Yesterday, after an aborted attempt at jogging due to frigid temperatures, I drove down Lilly's Neck.

For those of you unfamiliar with the lingo, Lilly's Neck is a narrow point of land that juts out between a couple of creeks, as opposed to someone's actual neck.  

I felt it was important to clarify that, because even though I know what a neck is (in this sense), I still find the terminology humorous because I tend to think of the literal translation first.  

We also have a Tick Neck that makes it almost impossible for me to think of anything other than a tick having a neck.  Which of course to the best of my knowledge they don't, unless all the pulling and twisting on one that's lodged himself in good produces something akin to a neck. 

I don't know.

(Dear Readers Reader, sometimes I exhaust myself with my tangents.  So it's not just you.  It's me too. Definitely.)





Do not adjust your dials.  In this rare instance, the camera was perfectly level.





During my little jaunt to Lilly's Neck, I discovered this delightful little shed leaning to one side.










For some reason, I want to say the shed is listing to one side rather than leaning.  But one time, in a conversation, I was describing a boat that was listing, but I also considered saying tilting. Either of which would have been fine. However, the unfortunate result of my indecision was "The boat was lilting."

To the best of my knowledge, much like ticks not having necks, boats do not lilt, they list or perhaps they might tilt.

Sometimes they lean.

But we can be reasonably sure they don't lilt. Unless they "sing or speak rhythmically with a fluctuating pitch" or "sing or play in a lively, cheerful manner" as the dictionary says beside lilt.

Ever since this event, I've always been cautious when saying something's listing lest it come out lilting.









Who here is old enough to remember the Lilt home permanents for hair?  Anyone? Who here was the victim of a really bad perm in the '80s to the point that the image staring back in the mirror was often mistaken for a poodle instead of a human?

Who here wonders how a post that started off about a cockeyed shed has drifted so far off course that it has already covered ticks, necks, fluctuating pitches, and bad home hair treatments-- all in the matter of a few paragraphs?

But wait.  There's more.







Actually, my confusing tilt with list to create lilt reminds me of a story my mother tells about a Gloucester High School Spanish class where the teacher called on her for the translation of a certain word.

My mother wasn't sure whether to answer town or city, so both spilled out of her mouth in the form of one merged word that was a most unfortunate response for a timid teenager.

T (ignoring the rest of the word) + (ignore the C) ity = Mortification.

It's simple math.

Clearly this ailment of Word Merging Malfeasance runs in the family.

Let's retreat carefully from the recesses of Chesapeake Bay Woman's deteriorating brain and return to the blog post, which is really trying to progress in spite of its author's transgressions digressions.


This is a zoomed-in of the shot above. In case anyone is still  reading.



Anyway.

Once I determined this lilting leaning, tilting, sideways shack was in fact doing all that and it wasn't me holding the camera lopsided, I became mesmerized and couldn't stop taking its portrait.

From all different angles and distances.

















The End.


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Collapsed






Here are more photos from Monday's trip to Williams Wharf. 








































For more information on Williams Wharf, click here.

If anyone's interested in renting a vacation cottage on the East River within a comfortable walking distance from where these were taken, I found this (click here) in a random Google search on the wharf.  I had no idea there was a vacation property so close by, but I've seen this place from a distance on one of my many jogs down Williams Wharf Road. The screened porch pictured on the website looks divine.

It'd be a great place to relax and collapse, like this old section of dock.

(Don't collapse into the water though, especially this time of year.  Brrrrrrrr.)




Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Back Home






After a fun filled weekend that took Son, Daughter and me to downtown Washington, D.C., Monday was a very welcome lazy day thanks to the federal holiday.









The trip to DC is worthy of a blog post itself, however I didn't take my camera on any of our outings so there are no pictures to share, only memories of fabulous restaurants within walking distance of our hotel and shopping malls the size of Canada.

(Tyson's Corner has really expanded since I lived up there thirteen years ago. Also, they waited for me to move back to Mathews before incorporating a restaurant that pushes sushi out into the dining area on a conveyor belt.  Endless amounts of sushi. I didn't have any this time, but instead ate at a place where the first thing the hostess asked after we were seated was, "Do you want to switch out your napkin from white to black?"  When I politely inquired as to why I would want to do that, since I'd never been asked before, she explained that it's a personal preference. Some people ask for black linen to avoid white lint on their clothes.  I told her my white napkin was just fine and thanked her for her concern. I then wondered why they don't just do away with white napkins and only use black, but I was too engrossed in the mouth watering menu to worry about it any longer.)







Anyway.

We had a great time and having Monday off allowed us time to transition back into the Mathews way of life, which does not include sushi, Vietnamese restaurants, complimentary Amaretto at the end of a very fine Italian meal, and Trader Joes within walking distance.

It was a rough transition but one we made nevertheless.








Monday afternoon I took Daughter to her first soccer practice. She's trying out for the high school team. I  brought my camera thinking I'd go for a run and snap some photos after dropping her off.








I achieved the photo snapping but failed miserably at the running attempt.  It was just too darn cold.

These are from Williams Wharf.







I don't ordinarily let the cold stop me from running, because after the first mile I'm sweating no matter what.  But I just didn't have it in me and once I started taking these the motivation to do anything other than drive home and curl up in front of the Cooking Channel quickly subsided.

Before I go off on yet another tangent and tell you about my new favorite cooking show (My Grandmother's Ravioli), I'll end this by saying we had a fantastic get away and enjoyed having an extra day to recover and transition back to our reality.

I hope your weekend was great.


Friday, February 15, 2013

Road Trip




















The only reason that grass is green is these were taken back in October 2012.
Right now all the marsh grass is brown.

























Son, Daughter and I are embarking on a little adventure this weekend, the first of probably several trips to visit colleges.

By the time Friday night hits, if you include my commute to and from work--and I do-- I will have driven over five hours (more if there is traffic) and who knows how many miles.

Hope your weekend is a good one.



Thursday, February 14, 2013

Run-Down








This lovely old house lives in the middle of a field on a back road in Middlesex.










On my way home from Merroir on Saturday, I was able to slow
down long enough to snap a few shots as the sun was setting.





















Today I had every intention of telling a story of an unusual recent incident,  however technical malfunctions (aka technical incompetence) prevented me from loading a picture without which the story is meaningless.

(I'm not too sure about that last sentence, it doesn't sit well with me. I feel certain my high school English teacher would keep me after class if I turned that in. Or mark it all up in red.  At least I'm aware of it even if I don't feel like making it better. What you may not know is that there were three other versions that were far worse.  I'm just tired of trying.  That I obsessed over it this much is a little disturbing. Also, when the parenthetical sidebars of a blog post are lengthier than the actual intended blog post content, it may be time to reconsider the topic or the blog post or at a minimum change the title to "Utterly Random, Incessant, Mindless, and Pointless Internal Chatter." Speaking of bad sentences, let's forget I wrote that last one. )

Where were we?

I took these on the way home from Merroir the other day and absolutely adore this run-down house.

The End.




Tuesday, February 12, 2013

More Merroir






























































Since all I have to say today is, "Here are some more pictures from Saturday's visit to Merroir," I'd like to direct your attention to my mother's recent blog post which describes my parents' hilarious foray into snow skiing.

Click here to read all about that.