Virginia Breeze

When you have thousands of photos around you can always find a few that maybe can be dressed up and taken out in public. So here is a candidate for this Saturday afternoon. Soon to be Saturday evening (second photo below).

How are things going in your area this weekend? It seems rather low key around here. Perhaps everybody is saving up their energy for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend. That’s a pretty big one around this neck of the woods. Helena may not think so but that’s because she seems to be so attached to Great Britain.

Except when she is flying above it in an airplane. And even then she can’t resist diving out the door just to get back in a hurry. I’m kidding of course.

We went to a concert last night at an area shopping plaza. I was taking photos of the band The English Channel when I inadvertently pointed my camera at a building being constructed nearby. And wouldn’t you know it a large and very round security guard had to stick his face in my comfort zone to tell me about the policy of the stores.

You can’t take photos of the stores or the buildings. So much for celebrating freedom and the upcoming 4th. Perhaps somebody can explain that one to me. Here’s a photo of some of the band  and the crowd.  We enjoyed them a lot. And you can see from these photos that many fans were relaxing and enjoying them too.You can see some more photos of the band here on my Picasa Web Gallery.

And there is a lot of sunshine this morning pouring through our living room window as I sit here and try to figure out what needs to go in this post. One of my dearest blogging pals is having trouble leaving comments here. WP Spamfree is leaving her messages that don’t make any sense. If anybody else has had a problem with that please let me know! Use the contact page under the header near the right edge.

I forgot the cord that connects the camera to the computer so I will have to wait until I get back to Richmond to share some photos of the beach. It has been an interesting weekend. Apparently there is a fire burning out of control in the Dismal Swamp down near or below the North Carolina border. If the wind shifts just right you can look out over the water and see. . . practically nothing.

But thankfully a front recently came in and blew all the smoke away so this morning the sun IS shining brightly. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach is very relaxing. And the temperature is very comfortable. Not too hot and not to cold as Goldilocks used to say before she ran away with the bear.

That’s what happened right? Or was that Little Red Riding Hood? What a name for a girl! Gad. No wonder she ran away.

The weekend entertainment theme down here is Elvis. So there are many Elvi running around. None of them are particularly talented from what we can see. Well, maybe the ones that jumped out of the airplane and floated down to the shore line were talented.

But the ones that tried to sing were dismal sounding and blowing smoke when it came to carrying a tune. Most did not even try to sing. They just flipped a switch and lip synched.

There is really so much pretending that goes on at a beach town like this one. Pretend entertainment. Pretend construction. People who are pretending to be one thing or another.

The only thing that is real is the ocean and nature. The birds that skim the water and the fish that nibble at your toes when you venture out there. And the weather of course can be overwhelmingly real when it wants to be.

But the beach is mostly sand that has been sucked through a tube from the bottom of Rudee’s Inlet and then spread around by a bulldozer. I was out there about six this morning taking photos. And every time I do this a strange guy comes up to me and starts asking me if I know this person or that person. I am supposed to know apparently because I’m taking photos. This morning he asked me if you are allowed to walk out on the rocks. He knows perfectly well that you are not supposed to do it. There’s a sign ten feet away that makes the point. So I told him “No you are not supposed to walk out there” and he walked out there anyway with his bag of goodies.

I worked with people like this guy for many years so it’s not big deal playing games with him. But I mention it just because it illustrates what I am trying to suggest about this place. And when we got here yesterday and it was filled up with smoke it just seemed so appropriate.

Smoke and a very large mirror are all around us. The only safe place to be is in the water. Plunge into the surf and suddenly feel like you have merged with nature. Dive deep and stay down as long as you dare.

Late last night I told Beth I wanted to go swimming. And she was not happy about it but she stood on the edge of the water while I waded out into the darkness. The water was warm and mysterious. The waves were fairly large and I was totally unprepared for them when they hit. Still it was a joy to be out there in the darkness feeling the embrace of the ocean. I imagined for a moment being one of those unfortunate souls who are shipwrecked for one reason or another and float away into an endless darkness.

As I looked down the beach at the towering buildings and lights I felt comforted. I would not want to be out in the middle of the ocean with little hope of survival. I want reality but not too much of it. So I swam back to the beach and kissed my wife. I thanked her for putting up with me once again and we went upstairs to sit on the balcony and watch fireworks.

Photos at ten.

One of my longtime blogging friends Helena had an opportunity to go sky diving recently. And she writes about it in her normal entertaining and factual way. I always enjoy reading her accounts of her activities.

She writes very well and then she uses the English language in a slightly different way. Why?

Because she lives in Great Britain! She also loves big cats.

Not big cats like Garfield. Not fat cats. Big, big cats. The kind of cat who would like to have you over for dinner.

They are very beautiful and she has many wonderful photos of them. But back to the part about diving out of an airplane. Sky diving looks like so much fun doesn’t it? Going 120 mph towards the earth and hoping your parachute was packed correctly.

Here tis.

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Do you feel like you could jump out of an airplane?  Have you ever tried it?  If a passenger jet is going to crash why do they not have parachutes for the passengers?  Should they at least have a few for those who might want to take their chances jumping?

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Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~Albert Einstein

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It’s Saturday morning again and it’s time to play the game of life. Remember that I told you on Wednesday that we were going to get here. And we did!

Well. Most of us did.

There are those who were here on Wednesday and have gone on into other realms unexpectedly. They were just like us and doing everyday things a few days ago.

And then something unexpected happened. Here in town we had a small airplane that took off this past week and then for some unexplained reason came back down on a nearby house. The house went up in flames and the person inside was severely burned. Hopefully she will survive. But the pilot and copilot did not.

Across the nation many things like this have happened since the last Saturday morning. And age was not a factor. I’m always assuming that you kick off because you are old and your organs have had enough. But it just is not so often enough to ask “Why?”

And here is the answer I have found.

This place is a school. Class is in session. And we don’t all graduate at the same time. Next month all the kids will feel the joy of being liberated for the moment. They will experience the precious gift of freedom.
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And that perhaps is one of the best lessons they will learn all year. Guard it well my children!

Don’t give it all away the first time you fall in love! Don’t forget to study and find yourself in a job that gives you very little in the way of opportunities to travel or do other things. First learn the game and play it well.

They sometimes suffer in their schools within a school. Because they just don’t get it! Surprise! Lots of adults don’t get it either. They are still in school and not learning very much out here in the big, wide wonderful world.

But there are opportunities to learn everywhere. I recently met a man who is around eighty years old and goes to the gym every morning very early. He still has a pretty nice job and makes a good living. And he is a kind and considerate person. His wife recently died and he misses her terribly.

And one other thing. When he was a child he was in a Nazi concentration camp.

We were having dinner in a restaurant one evening and he suddenly got one of those leg cramps that I complain about sometimes. I sometimes wake up with them at night and start yelling and waking up the neighbors.

I was watching his face when this happened and the pain didn’t register on it. His smooth and friendly expression continued on as he started rubbing his leg and said to us “Excuse me please. I have one of those leg cramps”.

So we are students of life here on earth for awhile. Hopefully we continue to learn as we get older or we are just taking up space somebody else could use.

And our teachers are here as well trying to help us understand and learn.

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