Catching Up

I have a backlog of photos, so without further ado ~~
Philip drove Anna back to college, and then returned to Chattanooga himself, by way of my parents' home.

Philip packed his car to the gills. Anna's car had some repair issues at the last minute, so we'll have to get it to her later. That was a little sad.

I won't expound on all the details, but this was clearly a Philip-To-The-Rescue situation!

On a very happy note, a precious blogging friend (PomPom!) sent me a fabulous package of fun! Complete with monkeys:

And folded in the package was this Very Cool poster of Venice. How did she know that Venice is my favorite European city? That I spent five days there, in my 20s? That my favorite Scoobie-Doo episode is the one set in Venice:  "The Menace in Venice"?  Pom, it is now on my bedroom wall and I enjoy it every day.

Many artistic happies were in this package.

Along with a very creative, cool-idea gift -- a little photo book full of some of her favorite pictures of her favorite things in her home and yard. Great!! I love it!

Last night, after too many evenings without one, I took a bike ride. Cool air and low humidity made for a perfect ride.This photo looks down the Neuse toward its mouth, where it empties into the Pamlico Sound. See the low line of clouds just above the water? See how they begin at a little point on the left? That's the Marines' bombing site, a low peninsula around Rattan Bay. The clouds you see are the smoke drifting west from the bombs they've dropped there.We had a strong wind. I'm glad to know they are practicing.

The water is high right now, very high. This isn't tide that flows in and out each day. (We're too far from the ocean for that tide.) We call this "wind tide." A strong west wind blows the water in, filling the creeks and bays. These boat slips are full to the brim, but not "even over the brim," as Robert Frost would say.

I take that back. Hodges Street, which runs along the town dock, is over-brimming a bit in the setting sun.

I took this photo while standing in the middle of Hodges. The middle of the road humps up slightly, so my feet were mostly dry, but the edge of the street becomes an extension of the Duck Pond when we have wind tide.

Still standing in the middle of Hodges, looking the other way, out to the river. That's a railing and its reflection. The water on this side of the railing is Hodges Street, a puddle. Hodges is only barely a street. It's really Raccoon Creek, and for years the townsfolk dumped their garbage in the middle of it, trying to fill it in so they could have a road there, across the street. I imagine the town was too poor then to afford a bridge. Eventually, the garbage won over the water, and it was paved, and called Hodges Street. That's the story I heard anyway.

We still have roses here.

Oriental has the tamest bunnies. They sit leisurely in our yards, spurning our dogs, nibbling grass. You can walk right past them and they barely wiggle a whisker. This big fellow was right along First Ave. Just as I snapped the picture, he jumped! See him?

He didn't jump far. He moved to the grassy edge. Do you see him?

Happy Monday! We're starting school today!