Heron

This heron was loitering hanging out at the end of my dock one day recently.

Naturally, as soon as he saw me approach--especially with a camera--he became disgruntled.

It's a well-known fact that herons not only despise people, they also hate having their picture taken.

True introverted hermits they are, these herons.

It wasn't too long before he'd had enough.

Isn't it amazing how his coloring blends right in to that old, weathered wood (also known as the dock with missing boards)?

In other news relating to more of those I photograph even when they don't want their pictures taken, I visited Chesapeake Bay Son and Daughter at UVA this weekend.  In addition to eating at some great Charlottesville restaurants, we took a hike straight up the side of a mountain off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  No mothers, sons or daughters were injured in the mile of torture otherwise known as the Humpback Rock hike.  It's straight up in the air, practically a ninety-degree angle from the parking lot, at least that's what it felt like to me.  Regardless of how steep it was, the end reward for all that torture work was a spectacular view and a most memorable experience with my two favorite humans.

(I took pictures on my new iPhone, but I'm too lazy to post them here today.)

And now I'm back home staring out at a beautiful, sunny, fall Sunday afternoon.  Trying to figure out what I can get into next before Monday and the workweek arrive.

Have a fantastic week.

Maria Spadaccini

Last Thursday was Senior Night for the Mathews Lady Blue Devils.

My daughter Maria is one of seven seniors associated with the team.

Her father is an assistant coach. 

It's hard to believe that she's graduating this year.

I know I'm her mother and everything, but indulge me for a minute.
She's a pretty darn great basketball player.  

But there's so much more to Maria.

She was one of only 96 accepted early action to University of Virginia's Architecture School.
16,768 students applied to UVA  (overall) early action.  But only 5,193 were accepted.  And she was 1 of only 96 accepted to the A-school.

It simply amazes me. 

She's beautiful.

She's kind.

She's wonderful.

And I am so very proud.

From the brochure at Thursday's game:

"Maria Spadaccini, #21, is the daughter of Janice Vogel and Thomas Spadaccini.  Maria is a member of the National Beta Club, National Honor Society and the National Society of High School Scholars.  She attended Girls State this past summer, has been on the honor roll every semester in high school and was awarded Junior of the Year last year.  Maria has played basketball for four years, ran cross country for three years, played soccer for two years and ran track for one year.  She plans to attend the University of Virginia in the fall of 2016 and pursue a degree in Architecture."

She also works at Merroir in her spare time.

On behalf of your aunts, your grandparents and your equally incredible brother Sam, way to go! We love you too much * and are so very proud of you, Maria.


*When Maria was only about 3 or 4, she said she loved me too much instead of so much.  The too much has stuck with this family.

**Many, many, many  thanks to Charlie Koenig of the Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal  for sending me the first four photos above.  I greatly appreciate them!

Milford Haven

Over the weekend, after a morning jog down Redart, I drove over to Gwynn's Island

to stop in on an old friend by the name of Milford Haven.

These seagulls were also saying hello to old Milford.

These were taken Saturday from the Seabreeze.

On Sunday I had lunch with a friend at the Seabreeze, which continues to make an outstanding hamburger--a rare treat for me these days.

Daughter upped and went vegetarian on me over a year ago, so I very rarely eat meat anymore myself, because, really, what's the point in fixing two meals when one will suffice?  (I'm all about efficiency.There's also a very fine line between laziness and efficiency.)  

On a day-to-day basis, I don't really miss eating meat, but every now and then a girl just has to have a hamburger, doggone it!  Or else!

And Sunday at the Seabreeze was one of those days.

I am working on an "I MUST HAVE A STEAK RIGHT. THIS. VERY. SECOND!" day.  I think the last time I had steak was...to be perfectly honest, it's hasn't been in 2016.  It's been several months.  Many.  And a craving is just a -brewin'.

But back to Daughter.  Or were we talking about Milford Haven?  Or steak?  Mmmm. Steak. No! Back to Daughter.

She was accepted early action to the University of Virginia's School of Architecture and continues to amaze me.  We're nearing the end of basketball season, and she's done an incredible job on the court as well as the classroom.

More on all this in a later post.

Right now all I am thinking about is a nice, juicy, salty steak.

A Tale of Two Travelers

Once upon a time, Chesapeake Bay Woman and Daughter left Mathews County at 7:30 one Thursday morning and arrived at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg exactly six hours after they departed--even though the trip should only take five hours at most and should never have included a trip to another state called West Virginia.

But Chesapeake Bay Woman,  who is getting old who hasn't been to Tech since the 1980s, was stressed about lots of things up to and including the fact that her tire pressure light had been on since the 1980s last week.  So instead of focusing on the super simple directions that she'd studied the night before, she put herself on autopilot, left the directions in her pocketbook, decided against GPS since it was so super-easy, and drove towards Clifton Forge, which she visited often in her college days.

The only problem is, Clifton Forge is nowhere near Virginia Tech.

So, when CBW, intently studying the tire pressure light that seemed to be getting brighter and brighter, eventually looked up and saw the Welcome to West Virginia! sign, which was nowhere on the handwritten directions inside her pocketbook that she still hadn't pulled out, she started to sweat bullets and began a full-on panic attack, to which Daughter merely replied, "I have the iPhone.  Turn here, take this road, yes, we're two hours away, but this will be an adventure."

Serenity now.

After many different iterations of self-beratement (IDIOT!  You're  an idiot, CBW!  You have an uncommonly good sense of direction ordinarily, you have a GPS and an iPhone and you looked at the map last night.  How in the world did this happen? A blindfolded toddler could get from Mathews to Blacksburg!  You know how to get to Tech.  This trip was not supposed to include a visit to West Virginia, idiot!) and many, many stressful miles through one cow pasture after another, they finally re-entered the proper state--Virginia--and arrived at the proper destination--Blacksburg.  They sprinted towards the visitor center just as the doors were closing on their meeting.

After the meeting, which provided an overview of the school and their admissions process, they took a tour led by Meaghan.

Meaghan in front of Burrus Hall

While Daughter clutches her Tech paraphernalia and listens to Meaghan, Chesapeake Bay Woman
identifies with the young lady on the right, who is wondering when anything will ever be easy in life and, more importantly, when's lunch, since we haven't eaten all day?  Also, I'm dying of thirst.
And I need a nap. Is any of this asking too much?

Meaghan is very enthusiastic about Tech.
She graduates this year and will be going to grad school in Florida.
She's sad to be leaving Blacksburg.

Daughter does not appear to be at all frazzled by her mother's detour to West Virginia even though she hasn't eaten a crumb of food all day, and it's well after 2:30  here in this picture. 

Here, towards the middle of the walking tour--on what was a particularly warm day--
Daughter starts to feel the effects of malnutrition and dehydration
the lack of food and water. And the unscheduled trip to West Virginia.

After the tour of Virginia Tech, the two piled back into the car and drove another thousand couple of hours to Charlottesville without an unnecessary detour through another state.

In Charlottesville, they met first-year-student Son for dinner Thursday night, met with admissions officers Friday morning, and then went with Son to the downtown mall for lunch.

These are the remnants of our appetizer of roasted shishite peppers.
I'd never heard of them before, but I will be having them again.  Delicious!

After lunch, Daughter and Chesapeake Bay Woman bid farewell to Son and plopped back into the car for the journey home that included snail-pace traffic and a torrential downpour outside of Richmond.  In spite of everything, including the tire pressure light that is still on, the party arrived home in Mathews safe and sound and without another word about the never-ending cow pastures of West Virginia that were never, ever supposed to be a part of the trip.

The End.

Road Trip

These were taken Saturday 

on my little excursion to Gwynn's Island.

It was a gorgeous day.

The weather hasn't been so gorgeous this week, thanks to some cloudy, overcast skies that spit out a little rain here and there. Daughter, who has been on Spring Break all week, and I are heading west to visit Virginia Tech and Charlottesville.  Although it will be a lot of driving, I'm looking forward to our little escape.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Bethel Beach

These are from yesterday's brutally cold trip to Bethel Beach, where I started and ended an hour-and-a-half run.  Next weekend, Baby Sis and I travel to the Outer Banks for another half-marathon. Although I'm not looking forward to the run, I am most definitely looking forward to our little adventure.

Speaking of adventures, Saturday my mother, daughter and I traveled to visit my son in Charlottesville.  He's doing well and regaled us with stories from all the Halloween parties the night before.  We ate a delicious lunch here, went shopping for essentials coffee, laundry detergent, chocolate candy, chips and salsa, and enjoyed catching up.

The weather turned blustery and cold Saturday night and Sunday.  Although we might see a few warmer days this week, it looks like the seasons they are a-changin'.

November is here.

Just Us

This picture of Daughter was taken last summer during a spell where Son was off at This or That Camp for an extended period of time.  We were practicing doing different things to take our mind off the fact that we missed him.

This week we find ourselves doing sort of the same thing, looking to each other to figure out our New Normal now that Son is happily and safely off at college.

He really couldn't be happier. And we are all thrilled for him.

We, on the other hand, had a very rough day on Saturday.  It's a very long story that involves a tearful goodbye with my parents first thing; a mixed bag of emotions on the ride to Charlottesville (he was exuberant, I was a nervous wreck, Daughter didn't know what to do); a hasty drop off and departure (because there really was no need to linger); and one of the worst drives in the history of all my years of driving.

Daughter started crying as soon as she said her goodbyes, and we both were wiping tears and sobbing all the way from Charlottesville to Richmond, where we met my sister for dinner.

Also, when we got to Richmond, I became physically ill.  Yep.  Ill.  The stress of the day, the lengthy build-up of emotions, an overload of caffeine that morning (that included three cups of coffee and 1.5 energy drinks), plus the hour of driving and crying all swirled together to cause me to get sick.

After a nap and some food later that evening I was fine.

But when we arrived home officially, the tears flowed again.

Son's doing great.  Daughter is already taking over his bathroom and some of his space upstairs.

Eventually we'll adjust to this new norm.  At least I know Daughter will.

For me, it's going to take a little longer.

Dropping him off was one of the hardest things I've had to do thus far. And, in two short years, it will be Daughter's turn.

If I am still blogging in two years, I predict my last blog post will be Drop Off Day for Daughter.  That will be the day they finally haul me off in the padded wagon. For good.

I hope everyone else's weekend was better than mine.

I need another vacation. And possibly some prescription medication.

Or something.

Taking Flight

The Statue of Liberty in the background is as good a start as any to
a blog post dedicated to my son's departure for college.

Dear Son, The road to liberation has not been necessarily easy;
there have been a few bumps along the way.
But, for the most part, it's been a  wild, wonderful, glorious ride.

As you graduate to this next phase in life, remember you have a sister who adores you.

(Sister, while happy for you, will have an adjustment of her own this year.)

You have worked so hard to get here, the steps leading to what should
be some of the best times of your life.

I'm proud of you for so many things.

I cannot even begin to list them all.

Your grandmother (aka Nanny) was there when you took your first breath.

Your aunts couldn't love you more.

Grandaddy, after whom you were named, always says, "He's something else, that Sam."

Your family adores you, plain and simple. We're here for you no matter what.

And your mother, well, she thinks you're the sun, the moon and the stars.
Please try not to forget her.
Thank you.

Don't forget home, either.  There's no place like it--although right now all you need to know is it will always be here waiting for you if you ever need a safe haven, a soft pillow,
and unconditional love.

Congratulations on reaching this major milestone, you are entering one of the best stages of life.  

I can't say it  enough: I'm so proud of you and love you with all my heart.  

Always.