Geese

The weather on the Outer Banks was a bit blustery this morning but these Canadian geese seemed to have faired well. This photo does not give an accurate rendering of how big these animals are nor does it show how beautiful they are. Each year their well known V formation and trumpeting voice are another sign to those of us who live here that the seasons have changed. Although in the 25 years I have lived here I have never seen it, I have been told that at one time the sound was full of wild geese, duck and swan as far as the eyes could see.

this is what happens when I have time to think

Justice And Independence '85 Lyrics

John Mellencamp

He was born on the fourth day of July
So his parents called him Independence Day
He married a girl named Justice who gave birth to a son called Nation
Then she walked away
Independence he would daydream and he'd pretend
That some day him and Justice and Nation would get together again
But Justice held up in a shotgun shack
And she wouldn't let nobody in
So a Nation cried

CHORUS
Oh, oh
When a Nation cries
His tears fall down like missiles from the skies
Justice look into Independence's eyes
Can you make everything alright
Can you keep your Nation warm tonight

Well Nation grew up and got himself a big reputation
Couldn't keep the boy at home no, no
He just kept running 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round
Independence and Justice well they felt so ashamed
When the Nation fell down they argued who was to blame
Nation if you'll come home we'll have this family again
Oh, Nation, don't cry

CHORUS

Roll a rock across the country
Everybody come along
When you're feelin' down, yeah, yeah
Just sing this song, yeah yeah

I have been listening to Mellencamp for over 20 years but the album Scarecrow was the first of his albums I ever bought, yes it was an album. I remember how his lyrics expressed how I felt at the time. I had begun to mature and the old rockers just did not “speak” to me. I liked their music but I was drawn to the likes of Mellencamp and Springsteen. I had children in 1985 and had begun to be concerned with US and world issues. To be honest the political atmosphere then like now scared me. As I was listening to my old music I was again moved by what the artists had said in the past. Things have not changed much in the past 20 years. Some of the players have changed but the game is still the same and the American people are the losers.

Today I am at home, awake and nobody knows it. They think I worked last night and that I am now in my bed fast asleep. no one knows that I was called off last night due to low censes and that today I am cleaning my house to the sound of loud rock and roll music and enjoying every minute of it.

There is a certain satisfaction that comes with a good deep cleaning. I like getting into that zone. There is something to be said for being alone, allowed to think uncluttered or for that matter cluttered thoughts that are you own. Allowing your self to listen to music the way it was meant to be heard, in this case loud.

I can guarantee you that at 3pm the phone will start to ring. Kids will start to come home and my time to myself will come to an end and that’s ok, but as soon as I finish my oatmeal brunch I getting back to cleaning and listening to loud music; 3pm will be here before I know it.

Music thanks to Discover Music - Pandora
I was turned on to this music sight by Fred First of Fragments from Floyd

Today started out sunny but as time wore on the clouds came in and now we have rain. I spent most of the day on dog duty. I have 2 large dogs and I can’t walk them together so I take them one at a time. Today I decided to take them to the beach so they could run; unfortunately there were too many people for them to run so they were restricted to a 30 foot rope (rope is tied to his collar, choker is for the lead) . Anyway Trip the girl dog went to the beach when it was sunny and Zeke the boy dog went as the clouds came in. Both times I was fortunate to see lots of pelicans skimming the water and on one occasion two dolphins could be seen (First photo far right). My next Tec toy is going to have to be a camera with a longer lens.

Only 2 more months of winter, spring officially begins March 20^th however if the temperatures could stay like this all year I would be very happy. It’s been kinda like Goldilocks and the Three Bears not too hot not too cold but you know that old Poppa bear Winter is going to show up any time now and things are gonna to change. I keep eying the patch in my side yard that I loosely call a garden wanting so badly to put something in it but knowing it’s not time. This happens every year here on the Outer Banks. It never gets really cold until the end of January beginning of February. Being surrounded by water helps to even out the temperature. If only the summers weren’t so hot.

Midnight flights of thought

As I was preparing for bed tonight I began to think about words. I know thinking about words is not the most normal thing to do before going to bed. Maybe it has something to do with the five hours I slept this morning after working last night and that I am preparing to “make” myself go to bed. My mind is not ready to shut down so flights of thought pass through. So if you wish join me on my journey.

It starts something like this: my two favorite words are epiphany and conundrum. I like the way they roll off the tongue and out of the mouth. I like there definitions:

epiphany

• 2 : an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being
  3 a (1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) : an illuminating discovery b : a revealing scene or moment

conundrum

1 : a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun 2 a : a question or problem having only a conjectural answer b : an intricate and difficult problem

I had and epiphany and it was quite a conundrum. That sentence is an oxymoron. And so the mind continues to throw out words. Rocephin is my favorite sounding word. It’s not a word whose definition gives it character. Rocephin is an antibiotic I just like the way the word sounds. Rocephin. The next flight of thought is that of language and how privileged the human animal is to possess such a variety of languages. How privileged the human animal is to be able to produce so many sounds. How privileged the human animal is to be able to communicate on so many levels. How privileged the human animal is. And with that last thought I’m going to bed hopefully I will not dream of words I will just sleep my brain having already fired its neurons in a haphazard manner through my flights of thought.

January 20, 2006

It’s a nice day on the Outer Banks. On my way to the grocery store I stopped by the beach. As can be seen by these photos it was a good day for fishing. As I was leaving I had a short conversation with a lady dressed in business cloths. Smiling she said “Where else can a person take her lunch break walking on the beach”

• One of the more colorful characters on the outer banks has passed away. Commissioner “Mac” Midgett of Rodanthe on Hatteras Island died on Sunday the 17^th. If they gave him a good Irish wake there would be a lot to say. He was drinker and a fighter but he loved the outer banks and served it well. I think he will be missed. I know the local government channel will be a lot less interesting. I raise my glass to Mac Midgett may he rest in peace.

• It’s a blustery/rainy day on the Outer Banks. My middle son is off work and in the basement building a cat amusement center for his girlfriend. My oldest will most likely get off early he does survey work and if it’s too inclement they will knock off early. My youngest son who has semester finals today and tomorrow was lamenting that he would have to do the mile run inside, today’s test are in weight lifting and shop. Tomorrow will be in English and Geometry

• I’ve had a touch of mountain fever. I get it every year about this time but I’m going to Naples Fl in February so I decided to skip the January mountain trip. The fever returned with gusto yesterday after talking with a friend who lives in Hillsville, VA, and calling a farmer I know to check on my camper. My friend said she came down because a wind storm had come through knocking down trees and causing power outages. Rather than sit in a dark house with nothing to do she came down to the beach. That story should have made me glad not to have gone up there but it just made me take out my building plans. How nice it would be to sit in my cabin with a warm fire and a good book. Sigh…………

• This one is too good to pass up William Shatner of Star Trek fame sold his kidney stone for $25,000 to benefit Habitat for Humanity. I have always liked that man. He will try anything and seems to have fun doing it.

News - Shatner Sells Kidney Stone for Charity - Netscape Celebrity

First "snow"

Last night at work while I was getting report, one of my coworker’s commented that Mrs. So&So said that it was going to snow. Well all I could say was that it was not cold enough to snow but I decided to check it out anyway and since my job is wired to the web I typed in Weather.com and sure enough Mrs. So&So was right. It was going to snow. At around 11:30pm security walked by and told us that the snow “was really coming down out there”. Well I right away said “I’m taking a break” and off I went to the loading dock to see the snow. Now folks I love snow. I like the way it smells and tastes and I like the way it feels against my face and I was a bit excited. That excitement was short lived. The snow was wet and very fine and the temperature was just above freezing. This was going to be nothing more that a nuisance. The snow was very wet so the bridges and overpasses were going to have slick spots on them and I was going to have to scrape the windshield before I went home in the morning. Never the less it was a cause for excitement here (we are in the south folks if this had been a school day school would have been at the very least delayed). This was our first taste of winter.

a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work

Had to do some errands this morning. You know go to the bank, pay some local bill, buy some 2 cent stamps, by the way I got the last sheet of 20 from the Kitty Hawk post office. I guess with the cost of fuel and since they haven’t raised the price for a few years it has to be done but… well here I digress. Anyway as I pulled into the bank in Kitty Hawk I looked at the ocean and saw dozens of boats on the horizon. The ocean was calm with a single fisherman on shore but you know with that many boats out there that the fishing must be good. These are not the best photos my camera doesn’t do the long shots that well.

Did a little panorama of the Wright Brothers Monument. It’s just a good day to be out.

January sunset

I had hoped to get a sunrise on the beach shot this morning and then the sunset on the sound this afternoon but I slept in late today. Any-hoo the sunset was nice and I wish I had been in that boat. It looked like they had some fun.

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. The temperature was in the low 50s and there was only moderate wind. You will see me mention the wind a lot because it’s the wind not the temperature that determines how “cold” it is here on the Outer Banks. It was a good day to be outside. I did some yard work and just enjoyed the fresh air.

Today is another gray day on the Outer Banks. Again the wind is up a little and the sky is over cast with a temperature in the mid 40’s. The UV index is 1. Last night I was talking to one of my coworkers who moved to the Outer Banks from up state New York. Awhile ago I had asked him why he moved here, I always ask people that. His response was that in the winter the sky was always gray where he was from and he wanted the sun. At the time I remember saying that he was in for a surprise, winters on the Outer Banks are also gray. When I asked him last night how he liked the “sunny” winters he responded “well it may not be sunny but at least I can walk outside in a tee shirt”.

Sunday he should get his sun.

This morning there was a hint of sunshine but a front seems to be coming in and with it fog and a damp coolness to the air.

Gold, Panacea, Longevity

The levantre (wind) increased in intensity. Here I am, between my flock and my treasure, the boy thought. He had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have. (The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho)

A few months ago my youngest son said to me “Mom you have to read this book its great”

When I questioned him on what the book was about he tried to explain but finally said he could not give me an explanation that did the book justice and that I would just have to read it.

Well as is so often the case I did not read the book at that time, I had the holidays coming up. I was working a lot of days (nights). I had journals and magazines I needed to catch up on not to mention I still had not finished the trim around the new flooring I had put in last year. I just did not have time to read.

Before Christmas break I was talking to my son’s English teacher and told her how impressed my son had been with the book’s she had picked out for the class to read and how much he liked that particular book. Well she asked me if I had ever read it. Of course I had not and of course she offered to send it home with my son so I could read it over the holidays. I knew I would not have time but I accepted anyway. There was no way I was going to say no to an English teacher.

The two-week Christmas break came and went and still I had not had the time to read a 175 page double spaced book with an introduction by the author.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was grand-mom day. I was taking my mom to Wal-Mart and then to her doctors appointment and then to run some errands. I had no intention of going into Wally-World. I planed on sitting in the car for the 2 or so hours that she was in the store riding the little motorized shopping scooter. To pass the time I planed to catch up on some reading. I figured I would start with the book. I finished 75 pages in the first 1-½ hours. I started out speed-reading but slowed down and even reread parts of it to be sure what I read sunk in. I liked the characters, I liked the writing style and I liked the story and I thought to myself: the next time my son is so adamant about me reading a book I will do it sooner rather than later. I still have 25 pages to read and I hope the end is not a letdown but even if the end is not great the journey has been. I recommend that any that read this rant read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

(To me the partial paragraph at the beginning of this entry explains the basic plot of the book)

January 1, 2006

Day 1 2006 is at this time 16 hours long. I have not had time to reflect on the past or think about the future. That will have to wait. Last night at midnight I had hoped to watch the ball drop on Time Square but patients needs come first and I missed the ball by 1 min 30 seconds. I did not take it too bad after all Chicago would be celebrating an hour latter and I knew I would catch their fireworks. 1 o’clock came but more meds had to be given and fluids had to be changed. California was next, surely I could catch those fire works but it had been a very steady night and the girls and I were taking a break, doing a little chitchatting and to be quite honest I forgot to look. This year I did not get to watch the ball drop On Time Square or pop the cork on the alcohol free “champagne” but I did spend it with some great people doing something I love to do so I guess that’s a good way to start the year. Reflection can wait.