Heron

Well, here it is the last day of May, and all I have to say is, where has the month gone?  

It seems like there was one sunny day, when I managed to see this heron across the creek.  

And then the rest of the days it rained.

(Please disregard the strange object in the upper left corner of these two photos.  Not only am I a self-taught photographer, I still haven't mastered use of my new camera, which is immensely smarter than I am.)

Yes, the month of May flew by in a blur of wind and rain interspersed with a day or two of the normal sunny, warm, gorgeous clarity that is typical this time of year.  Whether it's due to the rain or I don't know what, we've noticed the stinging nettles have arrived much sooner than normal.  There are tons of baby nettles lounging about in Queens Creek.  They normally don't make an appearance until late June.  Farm-grown oysters are growing at a very rapid pace, and there are way more snakes than usual for whatever reason this year.

Aside from those casual observations from this unscientific observer, life is whizzing by at break-neck speed.  I am looking forward to something settling down soon, but until it does I take solace in staring out the back window at sights such as these for instant blood-pressure-lowering relief.

Put In

A new addition to the bustling, happenin' downtown Mathews Court House scene is a kayak launch on Put-In Creek.

The launch is conveniently located next to the fire department, at the site of the former water treatment plant. There's plenty of free parking available.

(All parking is free in Mathews.  Every inch of it. We have some very interesting parking around here, too.  That should be a topic for another time though.)

One of these days I intend to borrow a truck and take my kayak down here.  As it is, my little Kia Forte isn't quite equipped to handle the transport.

Here lately, I just haven't had time to do anything, really.  Every spare moment seems to be taken up with this or that. I didn't realize just how much this or that there would be after both of my children left for college.

But there's plenty of it.  

This past week, I drove 100 miles round trip each day on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday for my normal work commute.  Wednesday I had to take a work-related jaunt to Northern Virginia: 300 miles round trip.  Friday was Daughter's birthday, and she wanted to come home for the weekend.  Tack on another 300 miles, give or take.  That's almost a thousand miles in one week.  That's crazy.

Yesterday, Middle Sister, Baby Sis, their respective boyfriends and I went to the Yorktown Wine Festival on the Yorktown waterfront.  It was hot and humid loads of fun, with live music and lots of wine to be sampled. (Standouts included a chocolate wine and a jalapeno pepper wine.)

My  next weekend trip is in a few weeks, so I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a "normal" amount of time in the car in the near future.  Normal for someone who lives in Mathews and works an hour away, anyway.

Happy October! Christmas will be here before you know it.

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.

Aaron's Beach

These were taken earlier this summer from Aaron's Beach.  I'm very negligent in my photo-taking duties, but it's been a whirlwind summer that doesn't seem to be letting up.  This is Son's last week at home before returning to UVA, and his 20th (!!) birthday is Thursday.  Daughter is gearing up for her senior year and the whole college application process.  And my work continues to pull me in multiple directions.

Also, our neighbor Sydney died last Friday.  Sydney has been our close neighbor since before I was born, and he was my father's good friend.  His passing is just another reminder that time is passing all too quickly, and our time to enjoy this life is neither guaranteed nor unlimited.

I've been doing my best to enjoy what spare time I have, which has resulted in no pictures and no attention to this blog.  I have been enjoying a lot of the local music scene and have probably seen more bands this summer than I have in my whole life.  Middle Sister is also doing her best to drive me crazy keeping me busy in the evenings, and we try to get out to eat about once a week after work, which is nice.

So, there's lots happening here lately, but at some point I'll venture out to take some new pictures.

I hope all is well in your world.

Gazing

These were taken back in 2011 from the public landing at the Seabreeze and although I've posted them several times before, I never tire of gazing at them.

I did a lot of gazing at the water this weekend.  The weather Saturday and Sunday was spectacular.  Saturday a friend and I ate outside at my favorite restaurant Merroir, where the food was outstanding and the views relaxing.  Sunday I spent a lot of time on my back deck soaking up the sun and watching the boats parade up and down Queens Creek.

This week will be another busy one for me.  Work is becoming more hectic, at home the grass needs cutting, and on Friday I drive to Charlottesville to retrieve Son, who has successfully made it through his first year of college.

Time continues to fly by at record speeds.

So I don't feel at all guilty for slowing down when I can and staring off into the water when the opportunity presents itself.  It's therapeutic.

Homecoming Parade, Part II

These are the remaining shots from last Friday's Homecoming parade, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

This week is another busy one, with Daughter's cross country meet at New Kent 

today, and Middle Sister's high school reunion (30th) this weekend.

Time continues to fly by.