I just like this picture. I bought this plant last year I think its some type of poppy; it came back on its own this year in a patch of patinas that came back on their own. It's kind of neat to be surprised by your flower garden. Marigolds also came up on their own as did some other flowers that I can't remember the names of. Oh well enjoy.

When I got back from my visit to the mountains my garden was very stressed. I watered and fertilized the plants the first day back and then I proceeded to water every day after that. We have very sandy soil here at the beach and even though I have tried to condition the soil by adding organic material it still dries out fast. I knew what it needed was a good soaking rain and that's what we have had the last few days. There is something about the green after a good rain. The plants seem to glow from within. Thank god for plants.

mountian morning 

mountian morning 

the court, what a mess

Some times I am truly amazed at what those responsible for interpreting our laws come up with. To allow a government to take a persons property and give it to a developer so the developer can make money so the government can collect taxes goes against the very beliefs that this country was founded on. Individual rights and freedoms are the cornerstone of our countries belief. To take away the right of ownership without a true public need is wrong.

The recent decision by the Supreme Court to allow municipalities the right of expanded eminent domain, while passed by a majority of justices was by no means a mandate. The Justices JUSTICE O’CONNOR, THE CHIEF JUSTICE, JUSTICE SCALIA, and JUSTICE THOMAS join, dissenting. Justices O’Connor and Thomas wrote excellent dissenting arguments. I am including a quote from Justice Thomas’s argument I think it sums the decision up nicely.

THOMAS, J., dissenting

“Something has gone seriously awry with this Court’s interpretation of the Constitution. Though citizens are safe from the government in their homes, the homes themselves are not.”

Visit the supreme courts web page and look up recent decisions, Kelo vs. City of New London. It is a long read but worth at least a look at.

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/

Zeke and the cows

I just got back from a week in the mountains. This trip I took my #3 son and my dog Zeke. Zeke found the cows fascinating. He would sit for the longest time and just look at them. More later.

Off we go again

Tomorrow my youngest son and I start on our first trip to the mountains this summer. We will be spending a week in Floyd county Virginia. There will be no computers, no TV, no phones, no washer or dryer, no house to clean, no bills to pay no job to go to. My son says he will bring no gaming apparatus. I am going to Barns & Noble in Christiansburg and pick up the two Star Trek books I ordered so after long days of tramping around the property building a winding walkway from the barn area to the home site I can sit back and enjoy a mindless reading exercise. Star Trek is my Harlequin romance.

If all goes well the weather will be the best it could be, 70 degree days and 50 degree nights. If we can fit him in the Jeep we will be bringing Zeke one of our dogs. A week in the mountains with good weather a Jeep and a dog. Oh heaven could not be better!

One of the nice things about green beans is that they start to produce quickly. These were planted the first of May. The delicate purple flowers are beautiful to look at and the beans they produce taste so good.

 

driving Miss Cindy

For the past 8 years I have been traveling 60 miles from my home in Colington to my job in Elizabeth City NC. To some this drive may seem a bit much but to me it offers an hour and fifteen minutes of peace and reflection, time I appreciate even more now that I drive it only once a week.

The past few years has seen a lot of growth here in Dare County NC. It has become crowded. The roads are busy with people trying to get to and fro with undaunting determination. There is no such thing as a relaxing ride that is unless you have to go to Elizabeth City.

My weekly ride to Elizabeth City takes me through Currituck county farm land. At this time of year the farmers plant their fields with corn. By the time July comes around they will be harvesting sweet corn. In September the corn will be drying up and by October it will be harvested for grain. I have been watching this cycle for the past 8 years. I find this familiar sequence of events calming and I hope it never changes.

and so it begins

The tsunami I alluded to at Easter has struck the Outer Banks. The wave of people and the things associated with them have flooded our roads. The beach is packed with folks wanting to escape to a place of sun, fun and beaches. They pack their families in an assortment of vehicles and come on down to spend a whirl wind week together. Every week for the next 3 months this wave of people will come. Every Saturday and Sunday will have bumper to bumper traffic. The stores will be over flowing. This is Christmas for the merchants on the Outer Banks. This will make them or break them.

To the every day people this is a season of mixed blessings. Just like the visitor, those who live here year round and the students who come for the summer want to enjoy the beaches and water ways but they must work. Many must work 2 jobs because just like the squirrel gathers nuts for the winter they must put as much as they can away for the winter.

My older boys love summer on the beach. For them its surfing, sailing and hanging out at the beach with the gang. It’s the girls that visit and the local ones that blossom with new tans and bathing suits. It’s boating all day on the sound that ends with marsh island bond fires at night. Ah to be young in Babylon.

When I first moved to the beach 25 years ago I too enjoyed the summer but now I much prefer winter and it was not until yesterday that I realized why. I was at a party, not the first of the season mind you, when I resized this is what the summer here is about. There will be parties at friend’s houses and beach bonfires. There will be grass to cut, a garden to tend. There will be vacations to go on. Family will be visiting. Summer is a whirl wind. I truly enjoy my family and friends, my yard has always been a pleasure for me, vacations are great, but to compress all of that and the “normal” every day living stuff into 3 months just seems like too much. No matter summer will proceed as it always does, fall will come and things will quiet down then blissful winter will return.

Enjoy the summer. Peace

addendum; This is memorial day weekend the beginning of summer for many but more important its a time to celebrate those who gave all they had. Raise a glass and salute the people who gave it all for us and our country!

This is bud. He is 12 years old and lives with my X. It 's always nice to see him. 

just another

*Another week has gone by like grease lightning. Its Sunday again and what a nice morning. The clouds are scheduled to come this afternoon about the same time as my company but oh well lets enjoy the morning!

*I have been soooo busy. I just don’t know where the time went. My son is trying to buy a place of his own so I have been doing his leg work so he does not miss any work. Things are not looking good for him. The prices on the beach are so sky high that he will most likely have to look else where. It’s sad when the young cant afford to live where they were raised.

*The yard is looking ok. I love working outside. There is nothing like the feeling of pure physical exhaustion.

*Not much has caught my attention in the news this week. I don’t care for news that centers on the death of little ones. Congress and the senate are still acting in the interest of the republican and democratic parties and not the interest of the country as a whole. God I hope the next president can bring this countries political engine together!

Little is being said these days of the 1800 that have died in the Middle East since the “wars” have began. That count keeps going up and its no longer front page. I went to the site with the coffins on it. My heart just sank. More has to be done to get that area stable and get out of there. We never should have gone there and now we can’t leave.

Inclusion

Excitement is building at my house. The future event is included in many Conversations. When the boys friends are over you can see the excitement in their eyes. The faces of the 15-22 year old “men” light up at the mere mention of the event. “Miss Cindy are you going?” “It’s going to be great!” I tell them yes but I will go early to avoid the rush. Their reply is how lucky I am they can’t go any earlier they have to work! And so goes the anticipation of Star Wars.

These young men, children to me, grew up on it. A space cowboy saga that has expanded over nearly 30 years and at least 2 generations. Moms and dads of my generation have a topic in common with their children. I’m going to enjoy this common thread. I’m going to enjoy the excitement these young men exude over the topic and their willingness to include me in their conversations. I’m going to see the movie and then compare notes with them. I going to relish this fleeting time of inclusion that will be over once the wave are stoking and the girls of summer are back.

Just a few words

I lied to my youngest son today. I told him I was sorry that he had school. It seems that in an announcement stating that because of the CHANCE of sound side flooding and high winds school COULD be cancelled. Well the coastal low is here and he is at school. I’m sitting in front of this computer typing a blog entry drinking coffee and listening to Radio Paradise. I’m glad he is in school I have few of these mornings to myself left this year, the kids get out of school June 2^nd, and I don’t want to miss any of my alone time!!

Nothing new to report this time, even politics has settled down for now. The Daily Show had very little political satire last night. I’m sure that will change with the pres going to Europe. Bush can’t help but mess something up. I am looking forward to the results of the evolution debate happening in Kansas. That will be good for some laughs. I don’t support beach renourishment and that along with the tax decrease which is really an increase due to the property reevaluation that was done are the local hot topics. Things seem to be the same every where. I think I’ll go paint a room!

Not to leave on a sarcastic down note here are some words from one of my favorite musicians/poet’s.

If we have faith in human kind,
And respect for what is earthly,
And an unfaltering belief in peace and love and understanding
This could be heaven here on earth.

Tracy Chapman, Heaven here on earth, Heaven CD

Well it has been a long time since I blogged. I have just been so busy doing little things that I have not had the time. Today is rainy and I can only stroll through the garden not work in it so I have the time to drink coffee and blog.


*This week I put in the tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers and green peppers. I can't wait for fresh green beans with tomatoes and basal! The strawberries are flowering (yum). The flowers in the garden are allowing for some nice simple flower arrangements to bless the dining table and I will have roses soon. Oh how I love spring

*I was just asked by my middle son if he could move back in. Seems he is having a problem with his roommate's cat. And this was starting out to be such a good day.

*Rain or shine I will be helping my neighbor replace his irrigation pump. I've done this a few times for myself so we will have it done in no time. Of course replacing the pump means rain every day for the next week.

*Last night while listening to A Prairie Home Companion's "News from lake Wobegone" it came to my attention that I have been depriving my 15 year old son the privilege of mowing the lawn. I decided that starting today I would deprive him no longer, I would give him the privilege of mowing the front lawn. It's raining. (Best laid plans of mice and men).

Well the trees are that great light green color of spring the air smell good and the weather is pleasant even with the rain. I can't sit for long this time of year so until next time.

May

I've never mentioned May in my blog, but she was my son's cat. I went into my bedroom this morning around 10:30 and I found her dead. She was just laying there and I could tell right away she had gone but I got my stethoscope anyway and listened for any sign of life. She was still warm to touch and limp when I picked her up so I knew it had not been long.

She was a pain in the ass in the morning if her food bowl was not full. If you went to pet her she thought it was play time and she was rough. She never drew blood but you could tell she wanted to. She was a cat. She came when she wanted to the rest of the time you were wasting your breath calling. She will be missed

May was only 5 years old, she died young. It was hard telling my son he loves his cats and he took it hard.

Life is uncertain. No one knows how long we will be here or how long the things we love will be here. All we can do is be a kind to each other and treat the animals dependent on us well and hope life is good.

Spring is in full force now. Pollen has given my gray car and all the outdoor furniture a yellow green sheen. My plants are begging in tiny voices that only I can hear to be let out. The house exterior has been professionally cleaned of the green slime that seems to grow over the winter. And I have a list of projects that just keeps getting longer.

I love this time of year. This is the time to turn the garden again and plant those tomatos and green peppers. Its time to get first planting the green beans in the ground. This is when the roses begin to take off and the fragrance of flowers begins to fill the air, just little whiffs here and there nothing strong. Just a hint of what is to come.

This time of year the inside of my house is an embarrassment. I don't like house work in the first place so if I have to choose between dusting and raking, raking is going to win out! Give me the hammer, mower and lawn tools. Let me enjoy these fleeting moment of spring before the heat of summer comes and makes being outside a chore.

A view from the Buffalo 1993

I have been trying to keep my writing in the here and now but after visiting Fragments from Floyd http://www.fragmentsfromfloyd.com/ and Blue Ridge Muse http://www.dougthompson.com/ I could not help but regress. This is a photo taken in 1993 on top of Buffalo Mt. and those are my boys.

What a way to end the day. Three friends by the fire chit chatting.