Here comes the Fair!

I got my schedule for working the Big E already and the employee meeting is next Wednesday! It's such a wonderful time of the year. I'm really looking ofrward to it, as usual. Many people plan their vacations so that they can work full-time during the fair. All I do is schedule my senior appointments for the morning so that I can work the night shift at the gate. It's so wonderful just to be there in that joyful environment with all the amazing different sights and sounds and smells, all mixed together in ways nobody would expect to find them. Oh boy!

Beauty of Death

It's hard to tell from the picture, but this tree was terminal even before the men wiaht the saws showed up. What's amazing to me is that the stump is such an incredible vision of beauty. I don't know what a tree doctor might say looking at this view, but I am impressed again by the stunning beauty of the cycles of natural order. I saw this stump a week ago and there was nothing impressive about it at all. It has already moved on to the dissolution stage and is busy making itself part of the earth from which it sprang. I'm so glad I got there when the cut was fresh and the beauty of it was evident.

Almost Fall - not

It seems like the bears just woke up from their hybernation and already we're seeing colors changing. Oscar's been looking for his straw hat and Ginger can't find her coveralls, but they've still got time, it's a long way to October... 'specially if you don't pay too much attention to the way the colors change, or the timing.

Perfect Day

I struggled with the computer for hours, trying to restore the program from the back-up, so I didn't notice that it was ideal weather. When I hung up the laundry on the line, I certainly did feel it, and when I finally gave up on the program and went out in search of corn on the cob, I was completely aware of the perfection of the day. I guessed that the humidity was maybe, 4, but it turns out it was actually 46%. Well, hey, that's good enough for me. I guess the Red Sox won't get rained out tonight!

Changes

It's not even August 15th and some trees are changing colors already. I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised, this maple shows it's red even in the newborn baby leaves. Clearly, the colors lie just under the surface of the illusion of green and it doesn't take very much for the brilliance to come popping up to the surface. I love the whole season changing thing though and wouldn't trade it in for the consistently warm temperatures of the west coast. Been there, done that! No, I really do prefer the changes.

Rain on the Ocean

We had plenty of that last month when my family visited me in Magnolia, and plenty the week after when I was wandering around by myself pretending they were still with me. Still it was hot and my little nephew and I swam out to the pier on the magical day they spent touring the cape and island with me. We didn't even get rain that day until a couple hours after our swim, and we were safely in the gazebo by then watching the thunder storms pass.

Sharing Magnolia

Since my family came to Magnolia last month to surprise me, I have a new and wonderful relationship with my cousin Diana! She was the one that stayed to keep me company on Sunday, when all the rest of them were already flying home. We spent 3 hours on Holly's heavenly back porch watching the birds and critters feed and splash in the fountain. It was the first time I had in this whole lifetime to actually spend some time with her and I'm so glad that it happened. Now, we're like the girls in this picture, sharing the beach, through e-mail all the way across the country! Thank you God for Diana!

Barefoot

I love the barefoot season and even though the season starts out with really tender feet, I love the feel of damp grass, hot pavement and rinsing in the little puddles that form beside the driveway. I can see why little kids and birds are so fond of a puddle. The photographer in me loves to shoot the reflection off the puddles of clouds and trees and such, but my inner child loves nothing more than going barefoot in the summertime.

Gloucester Fisherman

I sat at the foot of this statue with my family just a couple weeks ago. It was 90 degrees and even the ocean breeze was hot, but we were all smiling! One of the nicest things about it being so hot was that when it was time for a swim in the ocean, the water was wonderful to be in - warm on the surface and cooling in layers of about 1 1/2 feed. The other wonderful thing was the van was air conditioned and someone else did the driving. The most amazing thing was that my family was even there to take the tour with me. What a surprise, my very MERRY un-birthday!

Collection

Of course there were the usual number of people combing the beach for fancy shells and beach glass, but I had more success than anyone because I was collecting beach plastic! They say there is plastic floating around the ocean to equal the size of the continental united states, but I rescued several garbage bags full from the shoreline. It wasn't nearly as bad as last year though, so I suspect there had been other collectors there before me. Thank God!

Cape Ann Motor Inn

CAMI - my favorite place to stay... well, in the winter, anyway. I love to stay at Bob & Holly's house in the summer and be on the cape but off the island, out of the noise and traffic of the "summer people" that swarm the island like an ant hill in the heat of summer.
But, in the winter when the island is quiet (and rates reduced) there is no better place to be, for me than ON the beach! I spent my 58th birthday there and the weather was incredibly mild for December, indeed Christmas eve there were surfers out there! But even when the weather matches the season, one can turn off the lights and sit by the big glass doors to watch the surf all night. God bless CAMI and the owners who take such good care of me!

2 Friday's ago

Two Friday's ago I walked down shore road hoping to shoot the full moon that was pink the night before. Instead, I stood in the gazebo watching thunder storms and though I did get down the the swimming pool, it was clear enough that I'd better get home or get soaked.
Two Friday's ago I sat quietly in Holly's living room listening the the downpour. I followed Sophie's fearful attitude and attempted to close the front door, but, people were standing there in the rain - people that didn't belong in Magnolia.
Two Friday's ago they surprised me, travelling all the way across the country, no matter how uncomfortable the journey, stopping by after eating spagetti to sing "A very merry un-birthday" and fill me with so much love, excitement, and gratitude that I couldn't sleep until Saturday morning was almost there.
Thank you family, for pulling that one off!