Virginia Is For Families

, originally uploaded by Davidlind.

Well I have installed a StumbleUpon Button. Don’t be cautious about using it! And why not get one yourself? We don’t have to go through the SU toolbar to do these things.

Let me know if you write a post about Halloween. Then we can trade links via our Halloween posts. That’s what I’m trying to describe in my AHDH way.

If you post a photo about nature let me know. We can exchange links about things we photograph in nature.

And then we can Stumble some things too.

Here is a photo that tells a story. Have a nice evening.

And check THIS out.

This is a photo from last year about this time. I took it at Maymont Park downtown and thought I would put it up again. Apologies to those who have already seen it. We are still waiting for some autumn color around here. The temperature is supposed to be mid 80’s this afternoon.

It’s a cheerful photo and one that reminds me why I enjoy photography so much.

And photography is important here. I’ve written a little about economics and politics lately but that’s not going to be a regular thing. I don’t know enough about it and it’s kind of depressing as well.

Poetry is important too. The Boss Poem is just a simple little thing and it is being viewed now over three hundred times per day. It’s not StumbleUpon either. It’s search engine traffic and people are apparently concerned about their relationship with their boss.

That’s not surprising. Job concerns have to be high on a great number of lists these days.

Lots of activities may be cut back. But we can all still blog can’t we? We can write prose and poetry. We can take photos and we can offer encouraging comments to each other.

Taking photos is a lot cheaper when you don’t have to develop film. And everyone already has a computer. Maybe dial ups will make a comeback though.

Maybe the photos should be smaller and fewer to the page.

I don’t know. But the weather is terrific and it’s relaxing to run out into nature somewhere and start looking for the beauty wherever she may be.

It’s a recipe for dealing with the emotions that accompany changing times. Document the changing foliage. Take photos of the clouds.

Update// Well this explains all the readers. . .

Boss’s Day (also known as Bosses Day or National Boss Day) is a secular holiday celebrated[citation needed] on October 16 in the United States. It has traditionally been a day for employees to thank their boss for being kind and fair throughout the year. The holiday has been the source of some controversy and criticism in the United States, where it is often mocked as a Hallmark Holiday. Recently, sites like Hallmark have recognized the holiday with a contemporary spin

from Wikipedia

Children laugh long and play under the sun

While waves crash around their happy actions.

And I was out there for a short while too

Watching a babe who was lithe and dark tanned.

When the ocean quite fast zeroed in on its man

And knocked me sideways onto my tender can.

Tumbling around in a large playful wave

I suddenly knew I should try to behave

And struggling emerged from a watery grave

To rest my poor bod in some inviting shade.

“Dear Father”

“Lay us down now

Let us rest for awhile

May the heat heal somehow

And improve our profiles.

The sound of children

Splashing nearby

Mend our souls and make us sane

Before we try to swim again.”

“Amen”.

It’s safer watching them from here.

The radar’s working well this year.

It seeks and finds brief suits defined

Curvaceous thighs victorious smiles. . .

I think it may be time to go

Back to my liquid filled furrow!

But now I feel the need to rest

Sleep slowly does my brow caress

The sound of booming waves assists

And soon I’m gone in dreams of bliss.

Dreaming I’m  a little boy

Perhaps of three or four

Playing on the water’s edge

Watching someone smile my way

A presence lovelier than any

Love eyes

You know from your own birth

Those gifts

From God that fill the earth.

She suddenly laughs and tenderly asks

“Did you love the wave I sent your way

My present to you on this wonderful day

As your thoughts were wandering

So very far away?”

Her eyes danced with fire soft starlight too

And her voice endless chimes did excite.

Her image shimmered as morning dew

In a changing gown of pure light.

Then the ocean stilled

As the waves ceased their motion

And all on the beach

Gathered round in devotion.

WHAT?!!

I awoke with a start!

Ran down to the shore

Dove into the water

Looked around for her alter.

No longer hunting for someone fair

With delicious body and long golden hair.

But seeking the love that keeps us alive

And wanting the source of the waves and our lives.

*

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More poetry from Davidlind

Love’s Aging Moments

For all the different loves there are
I find this one to be by far
The one that keeps me up at night
The one that brings us most delight.

It calls to me each time to climb
The tree of passion fruit divine.
Although I sometimes fail to see
The bending grass that waits for me.

And yes I sometimes fall from grace
And land upon a softer place.
These things they seem to come and go
Like antlers on a dear old foe.

I wish our love could always find
Aphrodite and her shrine
Upon the ocean’s frothy shore
So I could dive and fall no more.

Read more. . .

*

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.