My mother and I walked over to the “farmers market” in down town Manteo today. It was a good walk for me, mom lives about a mile from town, and we got to walk down some of the quiet roads in town. The market did not have much to offer by way of local produce, I did find some local blueberries and cherry tomatoes yum, but I did know some of the vender's and they were local and that is what farmers market’s are about, local people selling fresh and when ever possible local products to the local community. Hopefully there will be more locally grown produce when the local growing season reaches its peak in mid July. I can’t wait for the fresh corn that will be available around July 4^th!

This is a shot of an actress that I think is portraying Queen Elizabeth. She is sitting on the old court house steps down town Manteo

Mom trying to figure out how to use her camera as we wait for coffee at the Coffeehouse in Manteo

Thanks to my new jeep and my neighbors I have been to the beach a lot this year. Each time I’m thrilled to see some type of cool wild life yesterday was no exception

Why are these people out of the water

photo of a bull shark thanks to a search on google

The life guards earned their money in my eyes when they blew the whistle letting us know about this shark. Seems this “little” guy had been moving up and down the coast all day. The guards think it was a bull shark and that it may have been between 12 and 14 feet long.

Sharks are an important part of the ecosystem. They are to be respected and as far as I'm concerned feared but this shark had every right to be where it was, the ocean after all is its home.

Just some folks enjoying the beach

Dolphin's and boats

Wet jeep

I went down with a few friends to Oregon Inlet yesterday and other than the fly’s it was a great beach day (the wind was out of the west and that always means biting fly’s) As you can see from the photos it’s a great place to bring the family. You can only get to this beach with 4 wheel drive and you need to take note of the tide. If you go out at low tide you have to watch out; you would not want your vehicle sinking in the sand when the tide comes back in. Anyway we were treated to pelicans, dolphins and boats so there was always something to watch.

When we got home I did not close up the jeep, big mistake, it stormed last night and even though I had put the roof up and closed the windows I had not put the side panels back on. The storm was so bad that the instrument panel and inside windshield were wet. I woke up at 03:33 this morning to the sound of very heavy rain and thought oh well it’s a jeep. I did not expect a ½ inch of rain water in the back foot wells, but no big deal, jeeps have a plug you can pull and let the water drain out. She is sitting out in the sun right now and by the time I have to go to work she should be dry.

Tropical storm Barry promises to bring much needed rain to the Outer Banks tomorrow but today is just another day at the beach. It’s warm this morning. It was 71 degrees at around 8:30 am today with calm seas and gentle winds those winds promise to stiffen up tomorrow which may improve the waves for the surfer boys & girls. Me I’m hoping for a good rain; my yard would love it. Say what you want about tropical systems most stay tropical storms and they bring much needed rain.

these photos were taken this morning around 8am

Oh my time has passed since I last visited the blogesphere but the weather here has just been too good to be indoors! Any one who made it to the Banks this week or last had to be happy.

My #3 son and I made it up to the mountains last weekend and it was a good trip. I did not have time to take any photos while I was there, it was a there and back trip. We did find time to see Pirates of the Caribbean (liked it) and go to Barns & Noble I also talked to a builder and made arrangements to talk to two architects when I’m up there in July. Man I guess we were busy.

Things here on the yard & garden side are going good (of course that’s not unusual for this time of year). Every thing is just so….. green. I love it!

I will say that the weather on the Banks this past week has been PERFECT. Temperatures in the upper 60’s to 70 with bright sun and mild winds. It has been a pleasure to be out. Work has been slow but of course that will change Friday when the first batch of true summer visitors arrives. I think it will be a good weekend for any who visit.

As good as things are promising to be here at the beach my #3 son and I will be leaving for the mountains Friday for a short (48 hours) trip. #3 son has found the perfect summer job, he will be installing wireless internet. This trip may be the only time this summer he will make it to the mountains and as I enjoy his company and the fact that he likes it up there as much as I; short trip or not we are going.

One little thing about the cost of gas. It went up 4 cents yesterday to $313 a gallon. I’m not the least bit surprised. I can’t wait to see what kind of profits the oil companies post this year. You would think they would have spent some of the profits from last year on refinery updates. Oh well. I love my Jeep but I will be using it less this year. All trips will be thought out, no short trips to the store. I’m also looking into electric scooters. What would be ideal is to have one that could be charged using solar. I really think that renewables are the future. When I’m living in the mountains I will need a 4 wheel drive but for short trips a scooter would work just fine. This web site is a good source of information related to electric and hybrid vehicles www.evworld.com

They promised us rain today and while it is very cloudy and there have been a few sprinkles there has been no rain. I have been spending as much time as possible in the yard planting and fertilizing hoping that this year’s garden will not be as disappointing as the last years was. Of course if the garden does not pan out this year it won’t matter because next year I will try again. Gardens are always a surprise; all of the flowers with the exception of the pink dianthus in the photo above were planted in years past I don’t even know what most of them are but they came up this year and they are beautiful. There are a few plants that have yet to flower I can’t wait to see what they turn out to be.

Now what?

Well I have one more certificate under my belt so I am now even more certifiable than I was before. Of course the course I took, which is required if someone wants to work in the department I work in, is being updated so many of the protocols we were tested on are not in use or have been updated so I really should retake the course in 2008 but I don’t have to until 2011. What would you do? No more education for me until September, right now I can relate to how the kids feel as the school year ends!!

We have had a lot of weather on the banks this week. Today is cloudy and cool, yesterday was “hot” and partly cloudy. I felt bad for my neighbors who came down from Northern Virginia for the week but that is part of a spring trip, anything can happen weather wise.

To all it applies to:

“Happy Mothers day”

view of the beach near the Avalon pier. the wind is kicking so bad that it felt like I was being hit with a sand blaster

A few weeks back I posted some photos that shows happens with the NW wind. we get flooding. With a NE wind the opposite happens the water goes out and you can see the muck that sits just under the water. The water filled areas are channels.

Another windy day here on the banks. The kids in dare county have the day off thanks to the wind unfortunately this will mean school on Saturday and no trip to the mountains this weekend for #3 son and me but heck we will go the weekend after next. Other than the wind, which is going to calm down by mid week, and a small chance each day of some much needed rain looks like a good week ahead

I have finally found some fellow Outer Banks bloggers. I have put links to some of them on my side bar. Thanks to Ronnie Roach there is going to be a blogging summit this week (May 10th) at the Kill Devil Grill. I don't think I will be able to attend I have a class that I have to be at on the 10th and the 11th. I hope it goes well and that there are going to be more summits in the future.

Last night we got some much needed rain and today we have a blustery wind. The flags are flying straight out and the sound is rough, the waves each crested with white foam. It is not what most people would say a good day at the beach should be but then most people aren’t me. This is a great day to read a book and just relax. I have the window shades open so that I can watch the trees bend with the wind and the clouds speed by allowing brief intervals of blue sun filled sky. Days like this invite people to relax, sit back and slow down.

Last week was one heck of a busy week. My #3 son got his blue belt in TaeKwonDo, work was busy as all get out, my mom went into the hospital (shes fine and back home) and I helped my niece and her family in Norfolk move. Yesterday it felt good just to sit down!!

We did have some nice weather for Bike Week which lasted through last weekend. The motorcycles were everywhere I think there were a lot more bikers this year than last. It seems to be getting more popular. All the business owners I spoke to were happy to have the bikers and no one I spoke to had anything bad to say about the Bike Week event. I was too busy to go check out the bikes but I saw some nice looking bikes on the road. It got a “little” noisy but other than that Bike Week was good for the Outer Banks

I did some errands and some tooling around today. I stopped at the Avalon Pier. The water was a nice aqua blue and the sky was bright. If it did not get so darn hot here in the summer, if the weather stayed like this, I’m not sure I would move to the mountains. Spring and fall the best times of year here on the Outer Banks!!

Well it was a great day here on the Outer Banks so good in fact that I wanted to ride down the beach with the jeep top down. After calling everyone I could think of I was able to get a daughter of one of my friends to go with me. we went down to Oregon Inlet, let the air out of the tires with a pressure gauge given to us by two young men 'take them down to 15lb's and you can go any where" they said as they waved to us and headed on their way. We went all the way down to the point where we saw about a dozen folk’s horse back riding then we turned around and found a spot to park so we could look for shells.

After we left the inlet we went a little further south to a nature preserve where we took in the view and met the snake pictured above.

Throughout the day we met some of the nicest folks. From the boys who gave us the pressure gauge and the folks we joked with while filling our tires at the Oregon Inlet fishing station to the volunteers at the preserve everyone just seemed to be in a great mood. Must be spring.

"6 degrees of Seperation" & "The Butterfly Effect"

A few days ago I was watching a Kevin Bacon movie and saw a commercial that featured the lawyer the movie "A Few Good Men" was based on. I smiled and thought "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon". You see a few years back my #1 son was a stage hand in the community theater production of “A Few Good Men”. The lawyer Mr. Don Marcari who the movie was based on was there to answer questions and that is how I met him. He answered a few of my questions. When you apply the 6 degrees of separation rule it could be said that because I met Mr. Marcari I am 2 degrees away from everyone he comes in contact with. I think it’s safe to assume he has met Mr. Tom Cruse so I am 2 degrees away from Tom Cruse and 3degrees away from everyone he comes in contact with. Its amazing to me how interconnected we humans are.

For the past few days I had been avoiding the news because I knew that the media would be capitalizing on the Virginia Tec tragedy and I just did not want to feed into it. While driving yesterday I did turn my radio on and was pleasantly surprised to find that NPR was tactfully interviewing people who knew the victims. They related stories of a wide variety of good people. One woman from Floyd Va told of a music student she knew. While I was listening to her I realized that I know a person who works at VA Tec. in the engineering department and my stomach sank. The person I know is fine but again look how intertwined we are. A woman from Floyd; were I’m going to be moving is on the radio and someone I know works at the school where this terrible thing had happened. It is a small world.

What this post is trying to convey is that we are all connected in some way to everyone else. If we accept this then maybe we can influence those around us. I have introduced “6 degrees of separation” now let me introduce “the butterfly effect”. Every action no matter how small has an effect on the whole. An example of this is that if a butterfly flaps its wings in Africa, this causes the air to move, this movement of air builds into a thunder storm, that storm goes off the coast of Africa into the Atlantic and forms into a hurricane ect. ect. If we perform one kindness to another, open the door for someone, give a stranger a quarter when there short, let someone pass us on the road, just a little kindness then maybe they will pass this kindness on. There is no guarantee that the receiver of the kindness will pass it on but the stranger who did not need your help but saw you help someone else might be inspired to pass on a kindness of his own and maybe by that kindness someone will be touched and rethink an action that could have lead to a horrendous act.

My prayers go out to ALL the students and staff of Virginia Tec.

This is why houses are built on pilings.
There is a canal back there somewhere.

going out?

Parking lot of the only bar on the Island
Its a real dive but if you have the right frame of mind and the right
company and don't expect too much like food it can be fun

The Outer Banks got something it needed yesterday, a steady all day rain. Today we have bright skies, brisk wind and sound side flooding. I live on a small island behind the Wright Brothers Memorial called Colington. There is only one road off and as you can see from the photos when the winds come hard and steady from the west it floods. Thanks to the wind the kids in Dare county have one more day of spring break.

It’s been a busy Easter/spring break here on the Outer Banks but some of us know how to enjoy the great out doors. This “herd” of deer were grazing around the landing strip behind the Wright Brother Memorial

beach at Kill Devil Hills NC

students at the Wright Brothers Monument KDH NC

Touch of spring

Things are picking up a bit here on the Outer Banks. It’s been a nice spring, not near enough rain but mild temperatures and sunny skies have made the great outdoors a pleasure.

• For the past few years I have been planning my move to the mountains. I have been saying that in 3 years, in 2 years and now next year I will be selling my house and building a new one in the mountains. Next year will come sooner than I think so I have put together a list of things that need to be done before I try to sell my house. The kitchen counter will need to be replaced because one time when my #1 son was at home ill he moved my grow lamp out of his way. When he did this he put it bulb side down and burned a perfect round hole in the counter. I could not get mad the kid was very sick I was just glad the house did not catch fire. I have to replace one of the inside doors. One day when I was not at home my #2 son started bugging my #3 son and a fight ensued, they have my fiery Irish blood, #2 son ran into my room and #3 son hit it with his fist the fight ended right there and then but the hole remains. There are other little reminders of the kids like the piece of door trim that marks the kid’s height as they grew, that will be removed and come with me. I long ago got rid of the “bath tub” ring that seemed to form along the stair walls and doors but the walls will still need to be painted and just about every light switch plate will need to be replaced. The switches themselves will need to be cleaned with a tooth brush. There are a lot of little things that need to be done, a piece of trim replaced here updating a light fixture there. Any little thing I can get out of the way now will help reduce the stress when the big things get done next year.

• I have one attribute that I am happy with. I like learning new things and I’m willing to try anything as long as it does not cause harm to others or their property. I’m not always successful but what the hell I’m game I’ll give it a go. Well I am learning how to back a trailer and it aint easy. I know that the folks in the office down at the club house must be shaking their heads as I pull my trailer forward and then back it up again trying to remember that I must turn the wheel right to turn the trailer left. I am trying to figure out if it is it easier to look at the side view mirrors or should I use the rear view mirror.?Do I put my hands at the top of the steering wheel or should I try placing them at the bottom? I have done research on how to back a trailer. I have had people explain the mechanics and I understand what has to be done but it is not a natural action for me. It took me a while to learn how to use a rudder on a sail boat even though I knew what had to be done it was hard to do it. I will get this trailer backing down; today I was able to back it in, two days ago I had to disconnect it and push the trailer in by hand. I have 25 bags of leaves to take to the maintenance yard tomorrow and I will be backing this trailer in one way or the other.

Yesterday was a good day on the Outer Banks. I spent the first half sleeping (I worked the night before) and had planned on spending the second half getting all the indoor stuff done thus freeing up today. When I got up yesterday afternoon it was just too good a day to stay inside. My #1 son came over and took the girl dog for a run so I decided to take the boy dog for a walk on the beach. It was a bit busier on the beach than I thought it would be so the boy had to stay on the leash but he still had a good time. I will say it’s hard to snap pictures while holding a leash.

I saw this this morning an thought it was great I could see my mother doing this; Wii game console bowling over U.S. retirees - Yahoo! News

It’s been a week since I took possession of my Jeep and what have I done with it except to go back and forth to work and run errands? Nothing. Last week I asked my #1 son to go with me to the beach, he said it was too cold for him and suggested I wait until “it was worth it”. I have tried hard to raise my kids to be reasonable, to think before they acted but damn it I wanted to take my jeep on the beach! I did not care that it was cloudy and windy last weekend but the #1 son just kept pointing out why it was not a good time to go. I guess what convinced me was when he reminded me that if I took the Jeep on the beach I would have to clean it. Humph….. I hate it when the kids are right.

If all goes well this weekend the boys and I will be off to the beach in south Nags Head this coming Sunday. Remember you need a permit to drive on Nags Head Beaches.

It’s a great day here on the Outer Banks. I have had some of the windows and doors open. I have taken all the plants outside and placed them in a sheltered warm place, soon I will be able to put them in their more permanent summer places. I love this time of year.

In 1915 my grandparents boarded a ship and came to the US with their 4 children, leaving Ireland behind. I am an American but I salute my Irish roots.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

· Well it’s hard to believe how fast time is passing. I have been told that as one grows older time passes faster. I have asked my sons about this. My youngest son just says “go to school every day, time will slow down” my oldest says “get a Monday to Friday job, the week will take forever and the weekend will fly by”. Most kids I talk to that are dependant on others to get where they want to go say some times time is so slow that an hour can seem like a day. When I talk to older folks I have found that for them it really depends on how mobile they are. Those that are dependent on others say the day goes by very slowly. They look forward to meals on wheels and the occasional visit from any one, the Avon lady, the home health nurse a family member even a visit to the doctor becomes something to look forward to. Older folks who are blessed with good health a close family and/or wheels will say that time seems to fly. So it seems that if a person is able to come and go as they please, has relatively good health and some type of activity they like time should seem to pass quickly.

· I have had my jeep since Wednesday afternoon and I will say I like it. There was no doubt that I would. The jeep is one of those things that will be fun and useful especially when I get to the mountains. I had a tow hitch put on so it will be able to work and it’s a Wrangler so it will be fun. Riding on the beach or the back woods and fields in the mountains will be fun. Of course I was raised Catholic so there is a big cloud of guilt over my Jeep (I love the sound of that “my Jeep”) it only gets 15 to 20 miles to the gallon and I have not had a vehicle that was not fuel efficient since I had the Delta 88 in 1978. I’ll have to come up with some way to “make up for it”. Switch to energy efficient light bulbs, recycle, and use less non-recycled products. Just be more conservative in other ways. Yea that’s it I’ll do penitence.

I have also learned a few things that should have been obvious: when riding in a Jeep with the windows down and if you have long hair don’t forget your hair tie or your comb. The wind blown look is not pretty. There is no trunk so you can’t put as much stuff in the back. That’s it I can live with those disadvantages.

I have not been able to get out on the beach yet. I had hoped to go out today but the weather may not cooperate. I would like my oldest to go with me. I have not driven on the beach in awhile and I think it would be wise to go with an “expert” the first time.

· I was skimming through the news on Yahoo, it’s the same-ol same-ol but I did find this one interesting article: Droid R2-D2 to collect mail - Yahoo! News

Well I did it. For years I’ve wanted to. It’s been my mid-life crises dream but I could never “justify” it, but last Friday I did it. I bought a Jeep. My #2 son crashed into my Focus last month then the brakes had to be replaced and I have this feeling that it won’t be long before the clutch needs replacing and besides I was going to buy a Jeep next year anyway, and it will be soooo much more fun going to the mountains in a jeep and I do live at the beach and if you live a the beach you should reeeeally have a 4 wheel drive vehicle…………….

Photos when I take possession of the thing, it’s at the dealership waiting on its tow package.

I cant believe I did this........

It’s hard to believe how coooooool it is outside. As you see from these photos it is a bright day but the wind is kickin out of the northeast at a good clip. The surf report says that the surf Nazis to wear at least 5mm gloves and booties, after all the water temperature is in the 40s and so is the air. Personally I would not even think of entering that water but then I’m not young any more and I don’t surf. My #2 son and a few of his friends are on their way to Florida surf boards in tow. The boys of summer are looking forward to the “waves and babes”. I hope they have a good time but I pray they stay out of trouble.

Spring has sprung among the chickweed in my pots

The calm after the storm.

This morning started out with torrential rain and wind. The girl dog would not go out until I got the umbrella and went with her. The weather has changed much since this morning we are looking at 70 degree temps and clearing skies. Nice day to be outside!! See Ya!

Yesterday was a good day. I spent more than 5 hours in the yard raking and burning leaves and cutting and trimming tree branches. It was hard work but there is something to be said for hard physical labor. There is a feeling of quiet and peace that comes over me after a day of hard physical labor. Food tastes better and sleep comes easier.

I have neglected my back yard the last few years and it shows. There are a lot of little things I have not done inside my house either. Calking and painting, a loose piece of trim here an old “needs to be replaced” fixture there, little things that get put off. This year I will be doing a lot of “up keep” both inside and out in preparation for next year when I put my house on the market. This has been a good house for me. When my X and I separated I found this house. It was not perfect but it was new and in my price range, later I found out it was built by someone I knew personally. I was guided by whoever or whatever it is that guides fools and idiots to this house. A well built energy efficient home within walking distance to my old home, allowing the kids to easily go back and forth, but in such a location that my X and I rarely cross paths. I have been fortunate when I need something fate often steps in and offers me a choice and for the most part I choose well. I have everything I need and lot that I don’t.

Yesterday I also watched 2 good movies, “Gone With the Wind” and “Casablanca”. TCM had its annual “31 days of Oscar” and yesterday they had these two back to back. I don’t think I have ever seen the beginning of “Gone With the Wind” I always come in during the part when Ashley (said with a thick southern draw) tells Scarlet that he will be marring Olivia and Ret Butler pops up from behind the sofa. It’s a great movie. I pointed out to my son that the little girl that played Ret and Scarlet’s daughter is in her 70’s now. “Casablanca” is a good movie I don’t call it great I think Humphrey Bogart has done better but I like it. Humphrey Bogart was a good actor he played the sullen, conflicted man very well. As a kid whenever one of his movies came on TV I did my best to watch it. He was not a “good Looking” man but he could act.

Well I’m off to the vet for mom’s cat’s recheck. Of course before I can get to the cat to the vet I will have to get the cat. She runs and hides as soon as I step in my mother’s house, she still seems to have some animosity towards me. I guess it has something to do with 2 weeks of stuffing a pill and a dropper full of medicine down her throat and ear drops in her ears. Go figure…..

It’s a cool day here on the outer banks. The temperature is around 40 degrees with a light north wind. From my vantage point here at the computer it looks like a there will be a fight between sun and cloud but no rain is called for today. If you look at the calendar spring is a little over a month away but I feel as thought I have spring fever already. Its hard to get on task today, I have to study for ACLS, but Radio Paradise is playing some very mellow music that tied with my hot coffee and relaxing view does not lead me in the study direction, so as I watch the sun light up the houses around me I’ll think about studying , maybe.

Well it’s been an uneventful couple of weeks for me here on the Outer Banks. Weather has been cool to cold but the winds have been light and for me it’s the winds that make the cold hard to take. Sunrises and sunsets have been very pretty check out this site OBX Connection - Weblog he take's a daily trip to the beach and almost always has a sunrise shot, what I miss is the pounding of the waves on the shore there just has not been much of that this year

Things at home have been same old, same old. The boys have been doing fine; me I’ve been working quite a bit but that has started to slack off, thank god! I have also been, I’m sorry to say, wasting a lot of time on a Zelda game. I’m not as good at the puzzles as I use to be but damn it I will finish the game and I’m not going to use the cheats (much). In between work, the Zelda game and moms cat (from Colington to Manteo every day to give a cat a pill oh joy joy) I have been working on learning how to use 3D design software. I going to be building a small home up in the mountains with in the next 18 months and I have my floor plan the way I want it but I would like to have a 3D walkthrough just to have an ideal of how it will “look” & “feel”, so I found a free 3D program Artifice DesignWorkshop Lite and I’m trying it out. Now I bet there are some more user friendly programs out there but this is free and what else do I have to do, its winter. This will open my minds learning center’s a little. So far it’s not been all that hard but it has taken me a BIT longer to get through the tutorials. The brain has not had to work on this kind of stuff in quite a while but it is nice to use the computer for something creative, something other than surfing the net and as a photo and music storage device. Well its off to the 3D tutorial!

Well a lot can change in a day. Gas went up 15 cents a gallon, the temperature went up almost 20 degrees and I was FORCED to change over to the NEW blogger. Oh well . I think I will go back to working on my taxes. I took a break from them to relax on the computer and found I had to open another NEW account just to access my blog. Now I know I should not complain after all I don't pay anything to use this service but damn it I was perfectly happy with the way things were!!

One week ago we had a dusting of snow and the coldest temperatures of the season

You can’t tell from these photos but today is even colder and unlike last week there is no warm weather reprieve coming tomorrow.

Brrrrrrr rabbit!

Speaking of rabbits (guinea pigs & mice) what was my favorite super bowel moment last night? http://www.ifilm.com/video/2819648

• It’s been awhile since I have written but my goodness it has been a busy January and with the weather we have had no need to stay inside. We finally have a touch of winter on the Outer Banks. It’s a little bit cool but the wind is staying low and the sunshine is out so it doesn’t feel bad. I have had spring fever as of late. I went out and bought herb seed I’ll plant then in a few weeks, ah fresh basil.
  

• My boys and I aren’t big sports fans. I follow the Worlds Series and keep the TV on for the Super Bowl but I could not tell you the names of any of the players or any of the game stats still from time to time like to watch a game. I like to see form and order made from what appears to be chaos. The speed and accuracy that ball players can throw a baseball or a football is amazing. Even though I don’t follow any sport I feel that sports can teach young people a lot about life and I always encouraged my sons to participate. I loved watching my older boys play baseball and soccer but these are team sports and unlike my older boys my youngest had no interest what so ever in any team sport and believe me I tried all that were available in the area. My last option for him was the martial arts. Dare County offered TaeKwonDo at the rec-center so I asked him to try it out that was 3 years ago; this week he went to his first competition. He had been unwilling to attend a competition in the past, there are two a year, but I think he will be one of the first to sign up the next time. He had a blast and I must say I was impressed. There was a lot of power at that competition I saw a 12 year old female black belt that I would not want mad at me. The kids ages 3 to 17 were in total control of themselves while having a blast. There were adults competing and they were impressive but it is something to see a kid do the things these kids can do.

I can’t believe it’s the 14^th of January already. Here on the outer banks we like most of the eastern United States are in the mist of a very mild winter. Working in the yard the other day I noticed that some of my bulbs had started to grow. I commented to one of the guys at work that the ocean was very flat this year and he told me el-ninio was to blame “elninio brings warm weather but it also makes for no waves and no snow so that means no surfing and no snow boarding at least within driving range from here.”

Time has flown this past two weeks. January 3^rd saw the addition of a bouncing baby boy to the family. My niece and her husband had a son so I spent a little time with them. This good weather has brought out the “gotta do yard work” side of me so I’ve been out side a bit. Work has been steady all this good weather has brought a lot of folks to the Outer Banks. But I have definitely wasted a bit of time this past 2 weeks you see my #3 son bought a new Zelda game and I’m addicted to it.

I don’t usually play video games because if I get into one I find it hard to put it down until I finish the game. I have always had an affection for the Zelda games, and the Sonic games and the Mario games and the Jak and Daxter games…… oh well I like cartoons, speed and puzzles so shoot me, anyway these games are my weakness but if it were a normal winter sitting under a lap blanket with a controller (wireless yea!) would not be all that bad after all who wants to go outside in 40 degree temps with cloudy sky’s and 30 mph NE winds. Under those circumstances there is no guilt to playing the games but when the winds are calm, sky is clear and temperatures are nearing 70 sitting in a chair playing games for hours on end is not good. Oh well, today I am going to get the basement cleaned, rake the side yard and do a few loads of laundry then I know it will be back to Zelda but hay its winter right!

Sunrise New Years Day 2006
Kill Devil Hills NC

Happy New Year
YouTube - sunrise 01-01-07 Kill Devil Hills NC