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 the blogs in the blogroll here is Pumping Your Muse Prompts and it is a collection of photos and simple writing assignments.  I recommend it to those of you who are interested in writing more and exercising your imagination while you do it.

For example this morning I chose to do an exercise about a parked car and was asked to focus on emotion, smell and sound. In keeping with my present dark mood I set the scene before dawn in a rundown city area.  And here is what happened!

He sank down in the seat of his Chevrolet and waited for the morning light. He had spent most of the night in the bar up the street and only left because he felt uncomfortably close to an altercation with the stranger in the corner booth. Why had the man approached him as he was leaving? What did he want?

His car was strewn with empty Budweiser bottles and the smell of spilled beer and cigarettes mixed with the sharp odor of gasoline. The car wouldn’t start. He had flooded the feeble carburetor.

And suddenly his mind was flooded with fear as he saw the door of the bar swing open and the man burst through it and head down the sidewalk in his direction. The street was silent except for the sound of his purposeful walk.

“I need some help” he thought. But there was no one near and the hulking shadow under the street light continued in his direction.

“I am lost” he whispered to himself and he once again checked all the locks on the doors. But the sudden loud report of glass cracking into hundreds of tiny islands desperately hanging together came a second later.

“I should get out of the car” he said and suddenly rage filled him like a spark that threatened to turn the interior of the fume filled vehicle into a ball of flame.

He reached across his body with his violently shaking hand and released the lock. And with his left hand he pulled up on the handle. His feet hit the pavement and his weary frame suddenly weary no more stood up to meet his assailant.

He picked up the rock embedded in his windshield and thought about heaving it in the direction from which it had arrived. But a rock is a feeble weapon when pitted against a rather large handgun.

And this he could see as it was raised in his direction.

“What have I done?” he thought as light began to color the lonely street of this old and often violent city. “Why did I come here ?” and the answer came not in words but in the flash of the gun and a loud sound that somehow was all mixed up with a brief moment of pain as the street, his car and the shadowy figure now just a few feet away all exploded.

And suddenly he was looking down on a man lying in the street next to a green 1975 Chevrolet while another man turned and ran down the sidewalk.

He turned and looked in a window across the street because he heard a baby crying. And he suddenly knew that the small child was hungry and afraid and wanted his mother. Because he dreamed of ghosts in the night.

The child’s dream was disturbed as the light crept through the tattered shade of his bedroom window and he wanted to be held by his mother who was just coming out of the bar across the street.

She screamed as she saw the body of her friend lying on the pavement over a dark stream moving towards the gutter and the parked Chevrolet.

And slowly lights began to come on up and down the street as residents held their heads and turned their weary bodies towards a familiar sound and the beginning of another day.

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You can start something like this and really not know where it is going for awhile. Just put yourself in the scene as an invisible  bystander or one of the characters.   Imagine somehow you dropped out of the sky and there is this unfortunate man sitting in his car.   What is he thinking?  What is going to happen?

I probably took this exercise somewhat far afield but no one is going to grade this thing.  We are not in school anymore.  Please let us not bring our teachers home with us!

I couldn’t help but notice that Jordin was in the news yesterday. Apparently she went with President Bush to Africa and while she was over there she sang The National Anthem. Anybody who heard Jordin sing The National Anthem knows that she nailed it and probably will become associated with it in a way that Kate Smith was associated with God Bless America in her generation. I saw a few of the NY Giants shed a tear over it or maybe they were just thinking about the upcoming game. Or not. We know how that turned out.

Jordin sang lights out and the next thing we know she is singing in Africa after a ride on Air Force One.

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http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/?hpid=news-col-blog

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And the President had this to say about Jordin ( Where have you been Mr. President?) :

“Raising awareness about malaria means that she has got great compassion and a big heart.”

And that’s the truth. Some may say that my fascination with Ms. Sparks stems from her gorgeous visage or the wonderful notes she can hit without half trying. But I am here to say that my fan-cination goes much deeper than that. Jordin is a wonderful old soul and American Idol was simply a vehicle for her to be upon her way into the hearts and minds of young people around the globe. Because we all know how much they can use a great role model. And this young lady is she.

My only mood swing comes as I think about the President. It certainly is “Good to be the King” as they say. All he has to do is pick up the phone and ask for the girl who did such a great job singing at the Super Bowl. And there she is with her bags packed and ready to go! I’ve been trying for months now to get her to go out to dinner with us. I even put in a word upstairs to help the Giants with their Super Bowl aspirations.

Nothing! Well maybe it’s not that bad. She is starting her tour with Alicia Keys within spitting distance of Virginia Beach. So The Big Guy did answer one of my prayers.

And there is still time. Grab a feed if you want to see how this turns out. Oh, I know, you think you ALREADY know how it turns out! Well let me ask you one simple question my all seeing friend. . .

Who did YOU think was going to win the Stupid Bowl? Here’s Jordin singing at the big game

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More Jordin Sparks

http://davidnotes.com/2008/02/01/1154/*

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Vote for Jordin in this years BET AWARDS SHOW

HERE  !!

This is where you can write a message of support

for Jordin and she can see it.  Vote for her too !

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I am having a good time with this photo. The ducks, the moon, the star and the lights all make it interesting for me. The branches reaching out into the darkness add to it and the color brought to the scene by the soon to rise sun make it one of my favorites.

I wish I had spent a few more minutes here taking many more photos. But how do you know? I am not experienced enough to know when I have something that needs to be photographed further.