Month: July 2008

Every time we walk along a beach, some ancient urge disturbs us, so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war.
— Loren Eiseley

So, I’m back. I had such a great time that I nearly stayed another day, but one thing was pulling me home, and I know I made the right choice. But here is a photo essay of my trip, with a little commentary along the way:

This was the house Aimee’s family is renting for the week – it’s 9 bedrooms and 5 (I think) bathrooms, with a hot tub, a cabana, a big deck on the top, and this beautiful pool:

Saturday we moved our stuff in and immediately headed for the pool, playing with Ben and the other kids. We later dried off and showered, and we were getting ready to go out, when our plans were thwarted because there was no one to watch Ben. So we hung out at the house instead, and I had my first drink of the weekend, which is my new favorite thing:

Here we are on the patio:

Aimee went to bed around 10:30, and I walked across the street to the beach in the dark. I sat down on the sand and stared at the stars and listened to the waves crashing and felt, suddenly, very small. Which was good, because this thing that’s going on that I’m not really talking about feels very big to me and it’s hard sometimes to remember that this is not all there is. I crawled in to bed a little after midnight, tired but happy to be where I was.

Sunday morning, Aimee was up with Ben by 6:15, and she woke me because she knew I wanted to see the sunrise, and I was glad she did.

I went for a little barefoot run on the beach, which was awesome, and then took a nap til about 9. We spent the day at the beach and the pool, and then went down to Beach Street that night to walk around like tourists.

We went to a mirror maze, where they made us wear plastic gloves on our hands so we wouldn’t leave fingerprints on the glass and give away which ones were mirrors. We had a blast – we went through three times, and laughed our asses off the whole time. Here we are in the maze, and we both think we’re looking at the camera:

We walked down to the Boardwalk for a little bit and watched the lightning flash over the ocean, which was very cool. Then we headed to a bar where Aimee ordered a margarita as big as her head and I had something called a Moon Doggie, which was spiced rum, blue curacao, and strawberries in a frozen concoction, and it was yummy.

We headed home exhausted, and I was up again for the sunrise on Monday, although a little later. I saw pelicans dive bombing for their breakfasts, a dead horseshoe crab, some jellyfish, leftover sand castles, and much more.

Then Ben and I hung out for a little bit:

Then I headed to the beach to lay out. I was lying on my stomach, and I lifted my head up for some reason, and all of a sudden, it was like Night of the Living Dead – all the little sand crabs peeked their heads up out of their holes and started skittering around. It was so weird, like the sand was moving. As soon as I reached for my camera, they all darted back underground. Eventually, I was able to capture this little guy on video:

Then, I saw about a million dolphins about 150 yards off shore.

I stood hip-deep in the ocean with tears streaming down my face watching them surface and jump. I probably could have swam out to them, that’s how close they were. And I would have, if I thought they would have let me get close. I like to think that the dolphins would know it was me if I went to them.

After that, I went to the pool for a bit and then showered and got ready to go. We took a few final pictures:

And then I was off. It took me less time to get from the beach back to Northern Virginia than it did to get from Richmond to the beach, which it shouldn’t have, but that’s beach traffic for you. When I got home, I unpacked, and I think Pico wants to make sure I don’t leave without him next time:

Vacation is what you take when you can’t take what you’ve been taking any longer.
— Unknown

Sorry I didn’t post yesterday – I was hoping to keep my daily streak up, at least until today – but I just couldn’t manage it. But here’s what’s happening in my neck of the woods:

My tomato plants are not well. They were so tall, so I cut them back a couple weeks ago, which I know the guy who sold them to me said I could do, but I think I broke them. And my Alyssum never flowered. I still have just a bunch of seedlings, which are nice enough, but I was promised purple flowers, damn it, and I want them.

Yesterday I was off work for an all-day CLE thing on professionalism that Virginia requires all newly-licensed attorneys to attend within one year of being admitted to the bar. I was bored to tears, but at least I got to get home by 4, which was nice. Then I went for my first real training run outside, which, as the running page details, was both better and worse than running at the gym.

Today was back to work. My boss left at 2:30, and since I was the only one in the office today, he told me (with a knowing smile) that I could use my “discretion” as to when I left. Don’t think I didn’t seriously consider 2:31. But in the end, I held out until 4:15, and was home by 5. I could get used to this. I just went for a swim, and now I’m relaxing, waiting for pizza to arrive, and trying to pack for the beach.

Tomorrow morning, I’m headed down to Richmond to meet Aimee and Ben and the rest of her Richmond family, and then we’ll all head east to Sandbridge where they get a house for a week every summer. I’m staying til Monday, and I cannot tell you how much I need this right now. There are things going on around these parts that are really wearing on me, and I just need to be away from it right now, and hopefully gain some clarity and insight and peace. Tuesday might be the day that provides the resolution, one way or the other, but I can’t be positive.

Depending on what time I get home Monday, you might get an update, but you might not, either. Do try not to miss me too much!

There are two means of refuge from the misery of life – music and cats.
— Albert Schweitzer

Does that scare you?
I’ll let you run away
But your heart will not oblige you
You’ll remember me like a melody
Yeah, I’ll haunt the world inside you
— Fiona Apple, Slow Like Honey

I’ve been thinking about love a lot lately, and I want to know:

How do you know you’re in love? When was the last time you fell in love? Was it requited or not? Did you tell the person who inspired the feeling? Have you ever fallen out of love? How did you explain that to the other person? What do you do when you love a person you know you can’t have? Have you ever fallen in love unexpectedly?

You don’t have to answer all of those questions, but I’m interested in whatever you’re willing to share.

There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.
— Ansel Adams

In an effort to be less drama-oriented around here (though, trust me, there’s still a bit of drama going on at the moment), I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite photographs that I’ve taken over the last several years. I hope you enjoy them!

This is part of an arbor in Central Park. I took several rolls of film there after I got my SLR a couple years ago.

This is the waterfall at Coline du Chateau in Nice, France. To reach it, you have to climb about a billion steps (or take a cab – we climbed), but it, and the whole park, are totally worth it.

This is a little cove off the coast of Villefranche sur Mer, just south of Nice. The kids were locals, and they were climbing the rock and then jumping off into the pool below.

I’ve posted this one before, in a Happy Things post, but it’s one of my favorites that I took in France. I read once that “love is what makes two people sit together in the middle of a bench when there is plenty of room at each end,” and this photo is the perfect illustration of that.

A sand dune at Jones Beach on Long Island. I took several rolls of film there too, in the weeks after I got my SLR.

This is also at Jones Beach – I think I got the composition just right on this one. If you’ve been around a while, you might remember that it used to be my header when I was on Blogger:

Here’s an interesting juxtaposition for you – this was the Umbrella shack in April 2005:

And here’s the Snack Shack in April 2008:

And here’s my favorite photo from Jones Beach: