Out West

One of mine and Emily's jaunts ~

Appalachia

And then, here am I. Part of a vastly beautiful and slowly decaying world.











What shall we do next?

Wilmington

I have a definitive kinship with Wilmington. It started during the training trip this time last year, and it has done nothing but grown this go-around. The work is satisfying, the company brilliant, the food insatiably satisfying...and the brooding river sets the scene for all. There are coffee shops and carriages, used book stores and Italian gourmet shops, art galleries and weekly wine tastings. I've never seen a place where you so easily become enmeshed in the scene.

This week has been so needed. My coworkers/friends and I have talked about books, movies, politics, current events, trivia, philosophy, travel, parks, archives...so stimulating and outside my usual scope. I must remember to be larger.

Ahhh...

Back in Wilmington, NC. One of my favorite places ever. What do you think of my room two streets up from the Cape Fear River?

Time traveling...

An acquaintance of dad's asked him to paint a picture of his house. It just so happens it is a fabulous old antebellum house that I have wanted to see for ages. We were able to go and visit and take photos. It was like going back in time.



The old slave quarter is still intact, and the fellow has restored it inside.





Outside he had 80 acres of golden tobacco and an old shed overgrown with ripening grapes.





There was even a wonderfully friendly dog named Speckles! It was a delightful afternoon.

Birds

There has been a plethora of bird life this weekend. I think they are feeling the change in the air, heading toward fall. A gaggle of geese flying overhead woke me on Saturday, then later I saw a dove sitting on the edge of the goat's water bin, having a drink. Toward dusk a whole group of turkeys were silhouetted against the distant hillside, and explosions of flying birds in the air look like fireworks with their aeronautical skills, plunging and diving and rising. I love to watch them all.

Buddies

This is an example of one of my afternoons...")