Scenes from Aarons Beach

In spite of all outward appearances, this blogger blog is still alive, although barely. Last week my internet was down for a few days, but it wasn't as if I had any pictures to share anyway. Since then, however, I made a trip down to Aarons Beach one evening and snapped these and several others I'll post later in the week.

Speaking of later in the week, I apologize in advance for whatever more-inane-than usual gibberish may find its way to this blog the next time I post.  More than likely I will be under the influence of heavy-duty pain medication from the surgery I'm having on Tuesday. Although I am looking forward to some mandated bed rest and any excuse not to have to drive 100 miles a day to and from work, I can't say I'm looking forward to the surgery itself.

Assuming everything goes as it should, though, all of this will soon be behind me, and I can get back to life without fear of a gall bladder attack.  And I'll return to complaining about other things, such as my commute and the weeds that are taking over my yard and the ants that are so rampant in my house they are drafting up an eviction notice they intend to serve me any day now.

Have a great week.

Eagle

Wednesday evening, this eagle and I gazed out over Queens Creek as the sun was going down for the day.  He sat silently for a while, collecting his thoughts, before retreating further up the creek for the night.   From the comfort of my deck chair, I watched him fly away before finally surrendering myself and turning in.

May is such a wonderful month around here.  Everything is turning lush and green, and the days are warm but not necessarily oppressive with humidity--yet.  The insects are plentiful, but they haven't worn me down--yet.  (For the moment, we won't talk about ants, against which I'm waging a full-on war in my kitchen, nor will we speak of wasps, who insist on taking up residence in my deck umbrella.  Also, if I see just one more stink bug--inside my house--I may voluntarily check in to Eastern State Hospital.) And the fiddler crabs are out but not holding parties in my garage making their way up into the yard--yet.

In short, life--which these days includes winding down on the deck at the end of the day-- is pretty good.

Just Fine

These were taken a few weeks ago down Redart. I try to make it down there three or four times a year just to check on these boats and the docks to which they're moored.

They were all doing just fine.

Just fine is not exactly how I'd describe my temperament last evening, though.

My workdays begin early and are exacerbated by a 100-mile round-trip commute in a car with 182,000 miles on it. I get up at 5:30, leave the house by 6:15 and sit behind the wheel of a car I hope can last for a solid hour of driving before arriving at work at 7:30, where I sit at a desk in a tiny office staring at an even tinier computer screen.

All day.

Then I return behind the wheel of a car I hope can last just one more hour to get home.

When sporting events are added to that, the days, the miles, the sitting, the hoping, the worrying, the wondering, the not only is my son leaving for college but how will I pay for it moments, and the hours far from home where things need tending to are even longer.

Way, way, way longer.

So let's just say Monday was a very long day due to work and my daughter's soccer game. By the time Tuesday morning rolled around, it felt as if I'd been hit by a Mack truck it were already Friday.

Except it wasn't.

No matter what day I felt it should be, it was still only Tuesday morning, way too early.

The very long story short is Tuesday night when I arrived home from yet another brutally long day, wondering when my car is finally going to conk out from all the miles, to see the very same grass I had cut three days ago high enough for more cutting, and the very same ants I'd tamed on the kitchen counter swarming again, and the very same dirt and dust I'd swept the day before piled even higher on the floor, and the dog and cats begging for attention, and Son (who is leaving the nest soon and whose college tuition I have to figure out how to pay for) and Daughter (who will be leaving in a couple of years herself for another college I have to figure out how to pay for) simultaneously needing dinner....well.

Well.

I walked into the house and unbeknownst to me, the emotional whirlwind of exhaustion + fear + how am I ever going to do all this by myself created a spontaneous eruption of tears that couldn't be stopped no matter how hard I tried.

Later, when I explained to Son and Daughter that too many things were converging at once and that I was absolutely fine, just a little overwhelmed, Daughter hugged me and said, "We deserve to be a little crazy sometimes."

Crazy wasn't exactly what I was going for, but I so appreciate the empathy. And based on how hard we run during the school year, she's right. We do deserve it.

Whatever it is.

Son went out and cut the very grass I was worried about after helping me season the lackluster spaghetti sauce I was attempting to toss on the table as a token dinner, in between sniffles.

After all that, everything is back to status woe quo here at Casa de CBW. The ants are on the counter, and the Son is still leaving the nest bills still have to be paid, somehow.

But for now, all is good.

Tomorrow's another day.

Three Things

Sailboats on Queens Creek

On Thursdays if I have energy enough to post, I usually share three (or sometimes more) thoughts which tend to be unrelated. And I encourage you to do the same. The more off the wall the better. Just let your mind roam freely and share whatever happens to be passing through.

Here are my three things:

1. Remember when I went crabbing a while back? (Click here or here  or here if you don't.) Most of the pictures from that trip are posted on my Facebook account. The publisher of Chesapeake Style magazine saw them and asked if she could use one for a future cover. Of course she could! Click here for the on-line version or grab a copy at the newspaper stand of one of our local merchants.


2. Last night when I arrived home from work, there were multiple surprises awaiting me. I absolutely love surprises, live for them even--especially when they don't involve ant infestations or lawn mowers that spontaneously decide not to start when the grass is knee high. One was a package filled with goodies that included two bags of very exceptional coffee. The other involved work being done that I could never complete myself. I am exceptionally fortunate to have very kind, very generous friends. THANK YOU. Just thank you.


3. Friday the temperature is predicted to be close to 100 degrees. I hope to be in the air conditioned Mathews Memorial Library,  the Chesapeake Room in particular, researching something for the person mentioned last week who is piecing together a family puzzle dating to the 1600s. Fascinating stuff. Plus it gives me a valid reason to spend hours rummaging through the microfilm and books at that library, which believe it or not I love . (I am a cheap date very easily entertained. Public libraries are like amusement parks to me.)


That's all I have to report from this neck of the woods. Please feel free to share three, four, six or more thoughts relating to what's going on in your world.  Whatever you want, anything at all.

Sailboats on Queens Creek.  Still.
Just closer up this time.

Mobjack Birds

Flock of Seagulls on Mobjack Dock.
I had a Flock of Seagulls album back in the 1980s.
That was around the same time the woolly mammoth roamed the Earth.

An Assortment of Water Birds, Mostly Gulls
Whenever I see "assortment" I always think of Whitman's Chocolates.
Which of course makes me think of Forrest Gump and, "You never know what you're gonna get."

Cormorants
I'm not sure what it is about these birds, but they refuse to acknowledge your presence.
They act as if you're not even there.  
This can be aggravating to those who are patiently waiting to snap a photograph.
Also, there's something about the name cormorants that bugs me, not sure what.
Maybe it's that the word "ants" is embedded in their name, and ants and I do not get along well. 
At all.

This concludes today's glimpse into Chesapeake Bay Woman's troubled mind Mobjack Bay wildlife as well as the lesson in free association and stream of consciousness.

Feel free to leave a free association comment of your own.

Or feel free to use the word free way too many times in a sentence.  Whatever you want. 

Most of all, have a great weekend.

*******************

p.s. Click here for Chesapeake Bay Mother's account of the singing group she belonged to back in the days of bobby socks and WDDY radio in neighboring Gloucester County.

Ant Wars

View of Queens Creek.  And the arsenal for the War on Ants. 

Once upon a time,
in a land far away,
in a tiny little county
on the Chesapeake Bay,

lived one ant,
two ants, three ants, four,
ten kajillion ants, sixteen bazillion ants,
ants, ants galore!

There also was a Woman
named Chesapeake Bay
whose ant frustrations
were impossible to allay.

She killed and she sprayed
and she set out those traps.
And the ants,while they laughed,
said snidely, "We're not saps."

Just when she thought
she would never live ant-free,
she was contacted by Terro,
a most wonderful company.

Terro sent her an arsenal
that squelched that ant laughter,
and Chesapeake Bay Woman and Terro
lived happily ever after.

Without ants. The End.

Ant Season runs from January through December February through the summer in Mathews County. Terro Anti-Ant Experts (aka Terroists) suggested that in some areas of the country a single approach such as setting only indoor traps is not enough, and a multi-faceted approach must be employed.  The solution that works best for me is a combination of the following:  plenty of indoor liquid bait traps; several of the larger outdoor traps set around the perimeter of the house and near the doors; and tons of spray all around the doors, window sills, electrical sockets, baseboards, plumbing fixtures and armpits.

In Mathews you can get Terro at Moughons (aka Sutton and Kline).

Disclaimer:  Chesapeake Bay Woman was not paid one cent to endorse Terro. She just feels very strongly about its ant fighting capabilities--but only if you use the multi-faceted approach described above. 

May the Terro be with you and the ants be gone.

View of some Mathews County daffodils.  And products from my BFF Terro.

More From Williams Wharf

Here are some more shots from Williams Wharf.  Starting off broad, they narrow in focus with each picture.

(You likely would have figured all that out if I hadn't mentioned it. Sometimes I think all I do is state the obvious, especially at work.  However, you'd be surprised how many people wouldn't know the obvious if it bit them square between the eyes don't see the obvious and thank me when I point things out to them. Because I'm unable to discern who can see what, I always err on the side of Explanation Overkill.  Let's return to what was supposed to be a brief blog post, already choked out by Explanation Overkill  parenthetical nonsense.)

Sometimes when I come home from a photo-taking journey I wonder how it's possible to take so many pictures of the same place. A fifteen minute spree can produce hundreds of shots.

The answer lies in all the zooming.

(My poor, tired, addled brain, which only received 4 hours of sleep last night, is now playing Aretha Franklin's "Who's Zoomin' Who?" as background music.  What a great song. I might be sleep deprived, but I still know good music even if I'm the only one who hears it  when I hear it. Click here if you want to take a trip back to 1985.)

This one's my favorite of all, but I wouldn't like it as much without the background music from Aretha Franklin context of the photos above.

Have a great day.


p.s. The ants have returned, and it's hardly even March.  I'm preparing for heavy warfare and am reasonably confident I have just the arsenal to defend my house once and for all against this killer mutant Mathews brand of ants.  Stay tuned for details. 

Tuesday Trio

Last week the Mathews cross country team had a meet over in Lancaster, which is across the Rappahannock River just past Kilmarnock.  

("Just past" is a relative term which around here means "just keep on driving, you're not even close.")

This beautiful home stands in a soybean field just before you get to Lancaster High School. I had pulled over on the side of the road, as I always sometimes do, to take these shots from the car.  

Lancaster evidently isn't accustomed to Chesapeake Bay Woman sorts of photographers, the sorts who are extremely paranoid prone to spontaneous roadside stops to take pictures of the lovely scenery.  

They are a very, very suspicious bunch, these Lancasteronians.  An older gentleman gave me a very solid stare from his pickup truck as he drove by.  In the meantime two ladies in their nearby yard paced nervously, one hand over the mouth, the other on the hip, staring.  I felt certain that they were all plotting a siege it was about time for me to put away the camera and head on up the road.  

Anyway, the cross country meet was very successful, and the team has had an outstanding season thus far.  The next two meets (on Wednesdays) will be held at Beaverdam in Gloucester.

In other high school related events, last night I attended a PTA meeting to discuss various fundraising efforts.  As the meeting was coming to an end, the ladies seated at my table started chatting about this and that. All of a sudden, faster than a Sunday shopper trying to get in and out of Food Lion before church lets out,  the topic went from the prom to fruit fly infestations  and the various concoctions and methods that have led to their successful annihilation.  I confessed to waving a white flag a long time ago since the fruit flies have actually set up shop in my icebox (aka refrigerator). Seriously.  Just ask the PTA ladies.  

While most were discussing the effectiveness of vinegar or bleach on the insidious insects, one very clever parent-- a newcomer to Mathews--described her own surely-soon-to-be-patented fruit fly trap.  She places a piece of banana in the bottom of a glass and covers the top with a coffee filter.  Then, when enough are collected, she takes the whole thing outside and shoots it with a machine gun.  

OK, I made up that part about the machine gun, but that's what I would do if I had a machine gun.  And knew how to use it. Even so, the flies would still be back in my house, pointing and laughing.  

No, she takes them outside andshoos them towards her neighbor's house  turns them loose.  I, for one, was very impressed.

Even though it's no longer Ant Season, I was all set to launch into my ant infestation woes and the miracles of Terro, but it was time to go home.  Maybe next time.  

Only in Mathews.

Three Things

Welcome to Thursday, also known here as Three Thing Thursday, where we share three random thoughts.

Ready? Let's begin.

1. The photo above, which I definitely may have posted before, dates back to June of 2009. A sailboat was moored just off Gwynns Island and I was admiring the view from the beach. The more I stare at this, though, the more I feel there should be water spilling out of the lower left corner. It's more than slightly off kilter, much like the photographer.

2. This week, because I had nothing better to do, I took a completely different route home from Williamsburg where I work. There are only two possible ways - across the York River at Yorktown and down 17 or through West Point and over the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers. The typical York River/Rte. 17 way is shorter mileage-wise, but here lately due to mutant drivers construction and mutant drivers, it's been taking about 15 minutes longer than usual.

By taking this alternate route through West Point I arrived home 5-10 minutes earlier even though it's about 10 miles longer distance-wise. However, due to being a mutant driver a creature of habit, I probably will stick with the shorter, more tedious route. Don't ask me why. No doubt it's the same reason I stuck with dial-up internet as long as I did. To get to the bottom of these mysteries would require a trained psychological professional some deep introspection.

3a. Does anyone want some CATS white raspberries? I have a cluster of bushes which, after being all docile and polite for 4+ years, have suddenly taken over my back patio off like wildfire. I can't pick them fast enough, and they're absolutely delectable.

3b Warning: Picking white raspberries can be harmful to your psyche health because ants, wasps, chiggers, ants and ants also love white raspberries. When you've lived for nigh on 10 years in the same house as insects, reaching a hand blindly into a thorny raspberry bush teeming with creepy crawlies will make you scream and seek a trained professional can be challenging.

3c. Speaking of ants and aren't I always the folks at Terro have finally sent me the silver bullet--at least it's working for the time being. Details will be forthcoming.

Now it's you're turn to share three (or more) things. Whatever you want, anything at all.

Three Things

This relaxing scene is from last weekend's camping trip over on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay. I contemplated wading out to that little boat and taking it for a spin, but only for a second.

Anyway.

Today is Thursday, which means it's Three Thing Thursday, where I share three things and you share three things.

1. When did June arrive? Have we skipped some years months? Wasn't it just Christmas? Easter?

2. In any case, if it's June that means it's time for me to focus on Blog Fest 2010, July 15-18, when bloggers from all over the map will descend on little old Mathews County. Over the weekend I'll try to concoct a Blog Fest-related post, but the bottom line is--if you're interested in coming, just e-mail me at ChesapeakeBayWoman@gmail.com so I can get your information and keep you up to date on what is happening and the schedule of events, which of course we haven't figured out yet.

3. I am thrilled to announce that the very kind people at Terro, who make all sorts of ant annihilating products, have offered to send me some free samples of various ant-killing products since my liquid bait traps no longer seem to be enough to stop the influx. Oh, how eagerly I await this package. Hopefully it will arrive before the ants stage their coup, which they're slowly building up to every hour of every day that passes.

Now it's your turn to share three things, whatever you want; anything at all.

As long as it's not covered in ants.

Camping

Above is a shot of the Chesapeake Bay from Aaron's Beach in Mathews County. On the other side of the bay on the Eastern Shore, the Chesapeake Bay Family camped this past weekend.

I survived!

There's been no time to download and upload and load and unpack and pack and all that stuff, so I don't have photos yet (or a functioning lower back).

I do have a mathematical equation to kick off the week.

See if you can solve this addition and subtraction problem.

Ready? Begin.

Butterscotch pudding for breakfast
Because really, why not?
2 showers, 4 days
1 broken bicycle chain
1 community bathhouse
Minus any toilet paper by Day 3
No natural disasters!
No trips to the E.R.!
1 delightful sunset viewed from rafts while floating on the bay with son and daughter
1 putt putt golf game which daughter didn't win, so subtract any possibility of fun for the remainder of life the afternoon
1 uninvited raccoon eyeballing the smores at the campfire
0 ants!
18,692 people from another planet New Jersey and Pennsylvania stuffed into two small tear drops swimming pools
1 dead fiddler crab at the camp site
0 TV + 0 internet + 0 video games + forced family interaction
4 days of listening to Teenager Music
0 vegetables in 4 days, unless you count french fries and I do
0 fruit in 4 days, unless you count wine, and I do

When added up, this represents a priceless weekend with my two favorite kids--and an ardent desire for a shower which doesn't require flip flops.

Bonus Question: What are the odds that with 18,692 campers spread out over 600 or so acres I'd be a mere two campsites down from three people I work with? Anyone?

The math portion of this post is now over.

How was your weekend?

Three Things

Welcome to another edition of Three Thing Thursday, where you share three things and I share four three things.

1. The photo above is from a section of Aaron's Beach which has eroded in the past year thanks to a few major tsunamis storms. Not long ago, you could walk unencumbered from this spot over to that patch of white beach, but alas now you must wade through water.

2. Today is the last real day of school for the Chesapeake Bay Children. There are a thousand other things we must attend, including sports banquets, awards ceremonies and I haven't worn a dress since the early '80s other events which require not my standard uniform of jeans formal attire.

3a. Ants. I must retract--or revise--my previous statements of love and adoration for Terro, although I'd still like to be their spokesperson if they'd please come out to my house and take care of these things once and for all. Of course Terro doesn't make house calls, they just manufacture the poison and the traps which cause normal, non-mutant ants to swarm and then die.

To be successful in the 23076 ant zone of a zip code, Terro must ooze freely from the shower heads, the sinks, the fire extinguisher, the HVAC unit, my pores, the electrical sockets, the kitchen cabinets, the sliding glass doors, the bathroom tiles, my tear ducts, the bathroom closet, and the garden hose. When this happens, I might have a fighting chance against these killer ants.

3b. If you want to read something extremely horrifying humorous, go back to Mrs. F With 4's comment on yesterday's post. She weaves quite the spider's web story and never ceases to make me laugh.

Now it's your turn. Please share three things or four things, ten things or more things.

As long as you're not sharing insects, just share.

Three Things

Welcome to Three Thing Thursday, where we share three (or more) random (or related) things. Whatever you want. Anything at all.

I'll begin.

1. The house above sits patiently on a corner on the way to Haven Beach. It's also on the way to Aaron's Beach, but this particular day I was headed to Haven.

Just so you know, I deleted about another two paragraphs relating to this opening statement because it rambled on and on. On and on. Although I personally found the content amusing, I thought it best to just delete it and move on to the next subject. You're very welcome.

2. Last night I sat down to sip some $4.99 Fish Eye Merlot with a screw cap to read the Gazette Journal. Perusing the Glimpses from the Past section, I came across something which forced me to say something I've not uttered in this lifetime in a while:

"Well bust my buttons and buckle my shoes!"

There in plain print was this:

"50 Years Ago
Thursday, April 14, 1960

...Miss Mary Ann Jones, daughter of Mrs. Bernice Jones of Gloucester, was crowned Queen of the Daffodil Ball held at Gloucester High School on Saturday evening, April 9. The ball is an annual affair sponsored by the Gloucester Lions Club."

Miss M.A.J. is Chesapeake Bay Mother and Mrs. B.J. (nee Streagle) was my grandmother.

3. Thanks so much to all of you who comment here-- I truly, truly appreciate it. Although I don't always have time to say so, just know that I value and appreciate the time you spend visiting here and commenting. The comments really make my day.

3b. I would like to officially state for the record that Mrs. F. with 4, who comments here regularly, never ceases to amaze me with her hilarious remarks. I cannot thank her enough for making me laugh on such a consistent basis.

This is also a personal plea for her to please find her visa (she's from Canada) and make the trip here for Blog Fest in July. As long as she leaves her ants (with carvable rumps) behind, everything should be delightful. Actually, to demonstrate how much I'd like her to visit, I'd even welcome her mutant-sized ants with open arms if it meant she would come to Mathews County, Virginia, for a visit. Now that I've discovered the wonders of Terro, I can utter that sentence without wincing.

Now it's your turn to share three (or more) things. Anything you want.

Happy Thursday.