We had a bit of a blow come through last night. It's kind of invigorating watching a storm as it approaches. The air becomes thick and it gets almost hard to breath then all of a sudden the wind picks up and you feel the hot humid air rushing against your skin. As the wind increases in speed you see the clouds roll in then the air turns cool and accelerates past you like a freight train. You gotta love it!

I have always liked storms I just never tried to take pictures in them. A digital camera makes that a lot easier. I tried for the longest time to shoot individual bolts of lightning but to be honest the lightning wasn’t that impressive this time. For the most part it hid behind the clouds hiding from me like it knew I wanted to take its picture. After awhile I just set the shutter to stay open for 15 seconds and these are some of the photos I got. Not impressive but fun to try for.

Mood swing.....

I tend to think a lot. I try to keep my thoughts positive but lately that has not been easy and since I seem to relate to the world through picture and song (events bring songs and pictures to my mind and these in turn affect my emotions) lately this song has been playing around up there so I decided to post it. I hope the people of world stop doing the shit their doing!!

"The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead"

Peter Pumpkinhead came to town
Spreading wisdom and cash around
Fed the starving and housed the poor
Showed the vatican what gold's for
But he made too many enemies
Of the people who would keep us on our knees
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
Who'll pray for Peter Pumpkinhead?
Oh my!
Peter Pumpkinhead pulled them all
Emptied churches and shopping malls
Where he spoke, it would raise the roof
Peter Pumpkinhead told the truth
But he made too many enemies...
Peter Pumpkinhead put to shame
Governments who would slur his name
Plots and sex scandals failed outright
Peter merely said
Any kind of love is alright
But he made too many enemies...
Peter Pumpkinhead was too good
Had him nailed to a chunk of wood
He died grinning on live TV
Hanging there he looked a lot like you
And an awful lot like me!
But he made too many enemies...
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
Who'll pray for Peter Pumpkin
Hooray for Peter Pumpkinhead
Oh my oh my oh!
Doesn't it make you want to cry oh?

Crash Test Dummies

morning coffee on the deck
these wont make it past the next few minute's

It is starting out to be a nice day on the Outer Banks but it looks like a hot one so I need to get some outdoor work done early but as I was sitting on the deck enjoying my morning “cup” of coffee and contemplating what all had to be done I started to admire my hanging baskets. This year I made my own baskets using cherry tomatoes as the plant and it worked great. The biggest problem with putting plants on my deck is that it faces west and the afternoon sun is brutal. Theses plants require almost a gallon of water each daily but it is well worth the work to me; besides how hard is picking up a hose and watering some plants. You wont see many red tomatoes on these plants because I eat them as soon as I see them!

Today was a great day on the Outer Banks. It has been hot but not the oppressive hot of last week. As you can see from these photos it was a busy beach day. I can’t remember when I have ever seen the beach so crowded. Perhaps the damage done to the gulf coast caused people to come to the Outer Banks or maybe the economy has caused folks to travel closer to home either way its busy this year.

A flower in a bunch of lily pads, my friend says they only last one day.

Fog rolling in over and around the Buffalo, Isn’t that just beautiful?

Zeke and the deer. He just loves to sit high on his perch and look down on the road and fields below.

I got back from the mountains yesterday after spending 6 nights and 5 incredibility relaxing days there. I sure felt the heat and traffic as soon as I hit the beach. No one seemed to give TS Beryl any notice and with clear skies and hot temperatures I can’t blame them. Today the only sign of the storm was Jim Cantore from the weather channel. He seems to show up any time there is even a hint of a storm. Last year a friend of mine actually got his autograph, Oh well. Other than the occasional band of rain the day has been clear and hot perfect beach weather if you like that kind of thing.

This time of year I pretty much stay inside during the day coming out early in the morning and late in the evening. I firmly believe in beating the heat but next month I will be forced to venture on to the beach; my cousin and her kids are coming down and when someone travels 380 miles to the beach you can bet they are going to go to the beach and I will be “dragged” along!

In my back yard I have a cloths line I don’t know why I have it I haven’t used it in ages.

But this year it did not go to waste.

Working in my yard I kept hearing this chirping sound. I knew it was the sound of bird chicks but it sounded so close. I looked in the tree and did not see any nests so I kept on working but the sound did not go away. Then it hit me the sound was coming out of the cloths pin bag. I knew it had been a while since I used any of the pins but I did not realize how long it had been. I hope those little guys make it. Mom and dad did not place the nest in the wisest of spots. This is the dog’s yard and the dogs have noticed the sound also. I will keep an eye out but when these guys start to fly there could be trouble.

*I wated untill all was quiet to take the photos, I was trying not to upset mom or dad.

Weather on the Outer Banks is a bit overcast but the temperature is mild and the air is breathable. last week it was very hot and oppressive, very typical weather for July here. Tomorrow is promising to be nice with a high only around 80 and plenty of sun. the tourist that are leaving will be thankful for good weather on their way home and those that are coming will look forward to the week ahead hoping that it stays nice. Me I'm going to spend the next few hours sleeping, I worked last night and we were busy (a lot of the folks I met weren’t having the best of vacations). This afternoon some friends and I are going to the movies "POTC" is finally out.

Took a quick look at the news, this article seems to me to say wake up and look for those alternative energy sources. Oil prices ease for 2nd consecutive day - Yahoo! News

I must be getting old. Yesterday I went to a party like I do every July 4^th. It was great party, not too many people, a lot of laughter, a lot of food and just plain good fun. The party had all the normal party things including swimming in my friends “pool” which just so happens to be the Albemarle Sound. Well folks after 4 ½ hours of that I was tired and I laid down for a power nap in preparation for the trip to the beach to watch the fireworks. I awoke at 9:15pm to the sound of boom-bang, I had missed the trip to the beach but all was not lost sitting on my deck I was treated to a fireworks display courtesy of many neighbors and their back yard light shows.

Of course a really big fire work went off yesterday. The space shuttle Discovery set “sail” at 2:38pm on independency day. Good luck to the crew; wish I were with them (physically!).

happy 230th birthday America

Last night we had an early fire works show courtesy of Mother Nature. The lightning never really showed its self it just lit up the clouds in shades of pink, yellow and white. The light show lasted about an hour and was followed by a cold wind and rain. From time to time a flash of man made fire works sent up by folks eager for an early beginning to the 4^th of July celebrations would brighten the sky. Today is the 4^th of July the birthday of our nation. Happy 230^th birthday America