Kayaking

Here in Mathews, it's been raining for forty days and forty nights what feels like forever.  Just when you think it can't get any drearier, it rains some more. Today it's supposed to clear up.  But so far, nope.

It's still overcast.

I took these pictures of the new kayak launch at the court house this morning after a six-mile run.  I needed some pictures of the court green for a blog post I did on the county's visitor site, and while I was there I decided to stop in to see how this place was doing.

One of these  days, it will stop raining I intend to bring my kayak here and do some exploring.  It's a great launching point.

There's a lot of activity in the court house area these days.  In addition to some pretty major improvements to the streetscape, a new pavilion has gone up right near the kayak launching site.

On days like today, it would be a nice place to briefly escape the raindrops while staring towards Put-In Creek. But here soon, the sun will be out again and it will provide a nice respite from the impending heat and humidity that inevitably accompanies summers.

Speaking of heat and humidity, my favorite month, May, is right around the corner. It's my favorite because everything here is so green and warm.  Although it can be stifling hot, it's usually not the same oppressive heat and humidity that June, July and August usually bring.

This year there's another reason to like May, and I wrote about it on the Mathews County Visitor and Information Center's blog.  (Click here.)

Rainbow

Last evening, although there wasn't really any rain in the forecast, we had a little shower on top of the 4,869 other rain showers we've had practically every single day and night since January May 1, 2016.

The difference this time is the rain left behind the gift of a rainbow.

From a distance, the pot of gold appeared to be right on the sandy beach of Cow Point, at the mouth of Queens Creek.

Zooming in, however, the pot of gold appeared to be several feet underwater.

There was not just one but two rainbows visible.

A rare treat indeed.

As usual I have nothing but the excuse of being busy for not blogging lately, but with the school year coming to a close, Daughter's graduation nigh, and work being busier than ever, etc., I've had to pick and choose my priorities.

Daughter is unofficially Valedictorian, and is already starting to receive notification of scholarships--which is welcome news indeed.  We're all very excited for and proud of her.  Graduation is Saturday, June 18, orientation to UVA's School of Architecture is July 11-12, and she's off for good mid-August.

I'll try to post more often once we survive these next major milestones.

Sailboat

These pictures were taken just yesterday seven years ago from Gwynns Island.

For a variety of reasons, I've not had the opportunity to get out and take pictures here lately.

But while perusing old files looking for pictures of Daughter for her graduation ceremony, I realized I have thousands and thousands of pictures that I could recycle for this blog.

(These are leaning a lot to the left, I realize. I'm anything but perfect.)

It's astonishing to me that I've been blogging for over eight years now.  I started in 2008 using smoke signals and hieroglyphics a desktop PC and dial-up internet.

All I did was blink a few times, and now it's 2016.  I am using a laptop (or, as my father would say, a flaptop) and have WiFi at my house.

I still don't know how to use my camera on anything other than Auto mode though.

In nine more years, I'll be eligible to retire officially.

Although I look forward to the option of not working, I'm not sure I want to wish away nine more years so quickly.

We're in the last few days/weeks of the school year, and Daughter is eager to be done with her senior year.  She's looking forward to starting college, and I couldn't be more proud of her.  In addition to working at Merroir, she's working part-time for Hudgins Design Collaborative, a local architecture firm. She recently won a scholastic award of excellence from the Marine Corps for having the highest GPA in her class, and she also won the Excellence in Science award.  Her bio teacher, who presented the award, gave us a copy of the speech, a portion of which is below:

" ...What impresses me most about this student is the fact that her work ethic is not confined to the classroom setting.  I have seen her fist-hand on the soccer field, on the basketball court, and on the trail for cross country.  No matter what this student is doing, she is a relentlessly hard worker and a fantastic team player."  

In entirely unrelated news, we're considering constructing an ark since it's been raining the entire month of May so much lately.  I'm hoping the sun makes an appearance this week, but I don't recall a rainier May than this one.

That's about it from this neck of the woods.  I hope all is well in your world.

Mad Calf Lane

Over the weekend, after one of several trips to Market Days, Middle Sis and I rode over to Gwynn's Island, where I fell in love with this sign.

Am I the only one who wishes her mailing address was Mad Calf Lane?

Anyone?

With a view like this, what's not to love.

Middle Sister

Mad Calves Sisters

After such a beautiful weekend, this week has been nothing but steady rain.  Thanks to a leak in my antiquated automobile, the water evidently messed with the electrical system and caused the interior lights to spontaneously turn on, which is particularly embarrassing, not to mention challenging, when driving in the dark on a long, early-morning commute.  The weird thing about that--not that that isn't weird enough--is that one of the lights spontaneously turning on ordinarily doesn't work.

Anyway, although we needed the rain, I'm all done with it.  Enough.


Dear Miss Sunshine, 

Please come back here where you belong.

Thanks.

Love,
CBW

Bethel Beach

Yesterday I went to Bethel Beach for a jog.  

Ordinarily I run the wooded back roads of Beaverlett, but we're still in the throes of hunting season.

And, although Daughter and I made sure to eat our good luck black-eyed peas on January 1, I didn't want to push that newly accumulated good luck by trudging through a heavily wooded area dotted with bright orange caps and pickup trucks.

So I drove to Bethel Beach, parked the car, snapped a few photos
and went for a leisurely four-mile jog in the direction of Onemo post office.

There wasn't a ripple on the bay, not a hint of wind.

I suppose this could be considered the calm before the storm.

Later on it started to rain.  

One of those cold, super depressing dreary rains.

I'd much rather have snow.

~~~~~~~~~

Have a wonderful weekend.

Jetty

This weather-worn jetty lives just off Gwynns Island.

I took these back in August and am showing them now 

because Saturday was spent in Newport News (aka "town") 

procuring a Holly Ball dress for Daughter.

Sunday all we saw was rain, rain, rain and then rain.  

Plus a little more rain.  Sprinkled generously with rain.

All of the above equates to no opportunity to take pictures.

Which is OK.

 I needed to see these shots which include some basic 

ingredients to happiness: water and sunshine.

Happy Monday.

Stormy Weather

These are pictures of my yard and dock during what has been the longest spell of dark, dreary, rainy, windy weather we've had in quite a while.

During this time, I've also been out of work due to the government shutdown.

At first, it was OK. 

The dreary weather combined with no place to be forced me to focus on things that needed 

doing, like cleaning out a few closets, organizing my desk, getting caught up on paperwork, etc.   

Now I'm entering week three of no work and week ten thousand two of gloomy rain.

I'm ready to leave the county country.

Bora Bora is sounding particularly wonderful, although I still don't have a passport.

There's not much else to report from here.  

Dreary, boring days filled with inactivity is about it.

They say we may see the sun by the middle of the week.

I'm not sure when I'll be going back to work.

I hope things are better in your neck of the woods.

They'll be better here too, at some point.

A little sunshine would really help.

Blue Skies

It's been raining nonstop forty days and forty nights for what feels like forever, all week.  We were spoiled by a very nice September that brought very few (if any) storms and many days of blue skies and sunshine.  This week, the week I've not worked due to the government shutdown, I've wondered if maybe I should be constructing an ark, which would be better than cleaning out closets, catching up on laundry and organizing my office area. My skill set is as suited to ark building as it is closet cleaning, and building an ark sounds way more fun.

The tides have been unusually high, and there is standing water in the dining room everywhere.  Because of the flooding, the Mathews schools were dismissed at noon yesterday.  They'll decide by noon today whether to cancel this evening's Homecoming festivities. (I believe the chances of a Homecoming parade and football game are as likely as my building an ark returning to work. But I could be wrong.)

Anyway.

In honor of the sun and blue skies, which I hope return soon, I bring you these pictures from brighter days.  The first four are from Bethel Beach; the rest were taken not far from there, just off Old Garden Creek Road.

Have a wonderful weekend filled with blue skies and sunshine.

And send some of that sunshine my way, would you?  Thanks.