OH, I'M STILL HERE, yes, indeed. Just nothing much exciting to report.

I mean, not excitingly exciting.

I do have this that pleases me and stirs my blood a little...

...seeing how valiantly my flowers strive to give their finest performance in the face of impending doom. The prognosis isn't good. We've already had two nights with predictions of "possible frost" and Saturday night the forecast is for a low of 37degrees. I'm concerned.


So I talk to them every day now, my blossoms. I use their pet names.

I've nurtured you through your tender new weeks and helped you to fight off the aphids. I've watered and mulched and deadheaded...

And you have done me proud! You thrived,  forgave me for the times I was a slacker, put off the watering because it was just too hot outside.



See how you flourished!



You know I'll be thinking of you, I'll grieve your loss, my "Blue Heaven"




...and you, my "Potted Sunshine"


through all the long months ahead I'll miss you.


Thanks for the memories!



...

...

NATIVE AMERICAN #l: Hey, you know today's a holiday.

Native American #2: Yep, we should have a party.

N. A. #1: Yeah, cause aren't we just tickled to death that what's-his-name happened upon this "new world" and decided the real estate looked good!

N. A. #2: Well, there's that saying, um, we got from somewhere, "finders keepers, losers weepers" and we did get some compensation for the land, after all.

N. A. #1: Oh, true. Booze!! Aren't we the lucky ones! And then we were privileged with all those exotic new diseases, too. Plus, we got to stop eating all that buffalo. Heck, don't you think getting buttered popcorn is worth giving up the free meat?!

N.A. #2: I was thinking of all those great colored beads. (Pause) Of course, the best part was most everyone getting to re-locate...see new parts of the country.

N. A. #1: So you don't think we sorta kinda maybe got screwed with that whole Columbus deal?

N. A. #2: Geez. Get with the celebration. Don't you know, it's the great American way:  If it doesn't look good, forget the past!


(just a little conversation in honor of Christopher)

...

JUDY COLLINS, please sing your song for me...
I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
from up and down, and still somehow,
it's clouds' illusions I recall...




...I really don't know clouds at all!


And there you have it. As enticing as it was to think I might be viewing the coast of Portugal from my spot on the deck of Shishe's beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, even my foggy morning brain knew that it simply couldn't be true.

A long, low bank of clouds on the horizon had done quite a convincing job with its illusion.

The sunrise was lovely. It was unusual. And for sure it's one I will recall.


...

Today---wishing an extravagantly beautiful birthday to Shishe!




RIGHT THIS WAY...stepping back into the story of my twenty-hour stay at the ocean, which occurred a week ago today. The sun was heading down the sky and the ocean birds were populating the beach. I wanted to populate it along with them, contemplating (briefly and not very seriously) the idea of sleeping on the beach.




A much better idea was to sleep on the deck...



.where I'd be able to hear the ocean waves and look up at the stars. But first: A dinner of shrimp and pasta prepared by Shishe and Sveta (that charming young woman at the table), and a long evening of sitting by the fire (note that portable fireplace; it's beautiful when filled with bright, crackling activity). I then crawled beneath blankets and went to sleep swinging gently in the hammock.

Was this just a dream? It was deja vu, once again sleeping out in the open air, being lulled to sleep by the rhythmic sounds of water on a shoreline. And once again, there was Orion, standing with sword at side. This time it was he, and not the moon, looking me in the face when I opened my eyes very early in the morning. He seemed bemused by the fact that I hadn't thought to put as many blankets beneath me on the hammock as I piled on top myself. Oh yes, I was cold. Too cold to sleep well, but sleeping just well enough that I couldn't rouse myself to re-arrange the blankets.

Still, there was the gentle sway of the hammock. And, there were the waves crashing on the shore.

And, then...my second vision, in less than a week, of the sun rising!




The sky lightened, and, as I raised my sleepy head to view the horizon, something seemed very odd. Land ho! What kind of crazy continental shift had moved Europe within viewing distance while I slept? Was it something in the wine last night? To what phenomenon could I attribute that strip of land on the horizon?



(to be continued)



...don't you love a cliff-hanger, Reader Dear?!
...

...

OH JOY! A TEENY-tiny vacation!

Last Saturday, October 4, 2008. En route to the funeral of Aunt Eats (known to the rest of the world as Edith). A stop-over of almost twenty hours at the home of Shishe, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Several hundred steps from the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 6:00 pm:


Ah.........................................


If the above is worth a thousand words, what's it worth if I add sound and action?





And then I add another! Virtual wordiness!











Can you get a mite, an itty bit, an iota of the beauty of this golden hour on a frabjous autumn evening at a castle by the ocean?





(to be continued)

...