Didn't Know What the Day Would Bring
I was supposed to go to NY today however due to some miscommunication and my needing to cover supervisory call until midafternoon, that didn't happen. The woman was not especially pleased (can't blame her) but she was kind enough to reschedule me for next month.
All of this left me with an unexpected free day at home - and what a beautiful day it was. So beautiful that it had a sense of urgency about it - I mean after all, how many gorgeous spring days does one receive in life in which the temperatures are perfect, there is a gentle warm breeze blowing, and there is no official on-the-clock work to be done? The day felt like a gift, and I was a little afraid I might squander it.
I poked and putzed around a little bit, waiting for the rhythm of the day to find me. One thing I was determined Not to do was to spend it inside cleaning. That's typical Saturday work, but this was no typical Saturday. I cleaned out the inside of my work car some (still needs some solid attention - that may come tomorrow). The wife got up and around and I decided to make a quick recycling trip. Our microwave died during the week and was replaced, so I had the old microwave and all the packaging from the new one to get out of the house. The cardboard all went to the recycling station at the dump and my plan was to take the microwave itself to a recycling company who might give me a buck or two for it - but when I went by there the place was swamped because of earth day celebrations - so the old machine is still sitting in the back of the truck. That may also come tomorrow.
Ended up making an impromptu run to Home Depot for mulch and purple salvia. Eight bags of mulch and nine salvia plants later we were on our way home. Early-afternoon was spent weeding, planting, and mulching in between running over to a friends house to assist with her riding mower. It had gone dead and the back wheels were locked up so we had to drag it across her yard to get it to where we could reach jumper cables to it's battery - all for nothing - the bugger wouldn't start. She came over and hung with the wife (and ate my leftover Portuguese Chicken - of which she very much approved!) while I finished the mulching. I'm happy with how the yard-work turned out - the walk to the front door is now lined with a pretty mulched bed of salvia and heather. Friend left, wife settled in for a nap, and I grabbed up a book and spent a solid hour and a half on the back porch doing nothing but watching birds, reading, and basking like a lizard in the sun.
By then, I was officially off call and free from any work constraints. The wife and I packed up our biggest boy dog and headed to the beach to catch the sunset. Through poor planning, we were on empty gas-wise entering the park and my camera ran out of battery juice way before I was done taking pictures. Also, the dog - while having a blast - was not especially cooperative with having his portrait taken. Nonetheless, we had a truly great evening. We settled against a comfortable sand bank with the dog laying in front of us on a small piece of private beach (bay-side, of course) and watched the sun go down. The wife took the boy to the truck for hydrating and I stayed behind, just sitting in silence and in appreciation of the moment.
Made a few stops on the way home - including picking up a bottle of my current favorite wine during the purchase of which I was carded (yay!), made the bed up with freshly laundered sheets and tucked the wife in.
I've been struggling with a bit of being blue around the edges lately, but a day like today makes its hard to feel anything but deep appreciation for my life. I think it was perfect.
Some recent pictures - haven't had a chance to edit any of these yet at all but enjoyed them as is and figured they aren't ghastly. I got an ego-boost the other day when the local morning news featured one of my shots so now I'm thinking I'm all that and stuff *grin* Just ask the wife.
Red-headed woodpecker defending the coveted center spot against a black bird:
And enjoying sweet, sweet victory:
Yeah, I'm a dog. And this here is a beach. And back there is a fence. Questions?
Island ponies doing what they do best - eating and ignoring annoying humans with cameras:
God, if you are up there....can you remind me again why I ended up with a tongue far out of proportion to the rest of me?
Bay Sunset:
Full Moon on the Rise
All of this left me with an unexpected free day at home - and what a beautiful day it was. So beautiful that it had a sense of urgency about it - I mean after all, how many gorgeous spring days does one receive in life in which the temperatures are perfect, there is a gentle warm breeze blowing, and there is no official on-the-clock work to be done? The day felt like a gift, and I was a little afraid I might squander it.
I poked and putzed around a little bit, waiting for the rhythm of the day to find me. One thing I was determined Not to do was to spend it inside cleaning. That's typical Saturday work, but this was no typical Saturday. I cleaned out the inside of my work car some (still needs some solid attention - that may come tomorrow). The wife got up and around and I decided to make a quick recycling trip. Our microwave died during the week and was replaced, so I had the old microwave and all the packaging from the new one to get out of the house. The cardboard all went to the recycling station at the dump and my plan was to take the microwave itself to a recycling company who might give me a buck or two for it - but when I went by there the place was swamped because of earth day celebrations - so the old machine is still sitting in the back of the truck. That may also come tomorrow.
Ended up making an impromptu run to Home Depot for mulch and purple salvia. Eight bags of mulch and nine salvia plants later we were on our way home. Early-afternoon was spent weeding, planting, and mulching in between running over to a friends house to assist with her riding mower. It had gone dead and the back wheels were locked up so we had to drag it across her yard to get it to where we could reach jumper cables to it's battery - all for nothing - the bugger wouldn't start. She came over and hung with the wife (and ate my leftover Portuguese Chicken - of which she very much approved!) while I finished the mulching. I'm happy with how the yard-work turned out - the walk to the front door is now lined with a pretty mulched bed of salvia and heather. Friend left, wife settled in for a nap, and I grabbed up a book and spent a solid hour and a half on the back porch doing nothing but watching birds, reading, and basking like a lizard in the sun.
By then, I was officially off call and free from any work constraints. The wife and I packed up our biggest boy dog and headed to the beach to catch the sunset. Through poor planning, we were on empty gas-wise entering the park and my camera ran out of battery juice way before I was done taking pictures. Also, the dog - while having a blast - was not especially cooperative with having his portrait taken. Nonetheless, we had a truly great evening. We settled against a comfortable sand bank with the dog laying in front of us on a small piece of private beach (bay-side, of course) and watched the sun go down. The wife took the boy to the truck for hydrating and I stayed behind, just sitting in silence and in appreciation of the moment.
Made a few stops on the way home - including picking up a bottle of my current favorite wine during the purchase of which I was carded (yay!), made the bed up with freshly laundered sheets and tucked the wife in.
I've been struggling with a bit of being blue around the edges lately, but a day like today makes its hard to feel anything but deep appreciation for my life. I think it was perfect.
Some recent pictures - haven't had a chance to edit any of these yet at all but enjoyed them as is and figured they aren't ghastly. I got an ego-boost the other day when the local morning news featured one of my shots so now I'm thinking I'm all that and stuff *grin* Just ask the wife.
Red-headed woodpecker defending the coveted center spot against a black bird:
And enjoying sweet, sweet victory:
Yeah, I'm a dog. And this here is a beach. And back there is a fence. Questions?
Island ponies doing what they do best - eating and ignoring annoying humans with cameras:
God, if you are up there....can you remind me again why I ended up with a tongue far out of proportion to the rest of me?
Bay Sunset:
Full Moon on the Rise