A Small Change of Plans

Hurricane Arthur has indeed delayed my planned beach week on Hatteras Island.  I kind of saw that coming, and although I'm a bit disappointed at missing a day or two of the beach, it's been nice to hang out at home after spending a great deal of time on the road lately.

I never made any real plans for this July 4th holiday as I assumed I'd be heavy into packing and preparing for my journey south.  So tonight I'm watching the rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air from the comfort of my living room.  As the greens, whites, reds and blues fall across the DC skyline to the sounds of John Phillips Sousa I can hear the explosions out my window.  Perhaps they are from the very fireworks I'm watching- I'm not sure, but it sure feels like I'm almost there.

Small Town Fun

In small town Bel Air the 4th of July starts out with a variety of events at the local high school.  There's a little something for everyone- whether it be pie eating, frog-jumping, or a watermelon eating contest.  Later in the day, people line Main Street to watch the parade floats and bands as they pass by.  After the parade everyone makes their way back over to the high school to spread a blanket and get ready to watch the fireworks show.  Kids run around with sparklers glowing and neon necklaces of all colors. After the last traces of fire and smoke disappear from the skies above people gather their belongings and head on home. 

Hoping For The Best

The weather was hot today.  I've lived in the Mid-Atlantic all of my 52 years and today's hot wasn't much hotter than the worst I've ever experienced, but still it was a scorcher.  After finally gearing up for my morning 3-mile walk I headed out the door at about 9:30am.  Even though I was able to stay on the shady side of the street I was drenched in sweat by the time I made it back to my door 45 minutes later.

There's a storm by the name of Arthur brewing off the coast of Florida. Usually a storm so far south wouldn't mean too much to me. Arthur may bring some rain this way but by Saturday the temps that are hovering in the high 90s today should fall to the 80s.  Apparently we're in for quite a nice weekend.

Too bad for me I'm scheduled to spend all of next week on the Outer Banks of North Carolina-the same place that Arthur is most likely to make landfall.  Tonight I hear that mandatory evacuations have been ordered for the very same town that I have paid to lay my head on Saturday night. There's not too much I can do about Mother Nature from here so I'll just chill in the air conditioning, keep an eye of the forecast and hope for the best.

At Your Service

With not one thing on my to-do list today I took advantage of a content and sleeping cat and had a bit of a lie-in.  By 8:00am my furry friend had slept long enough and was ready for me to rise and prepare his breakfast complete with a first course of tasty cat treats.
I have learned that a hungry cat can be quite relentless when asking for breakfast so I didn't waste too many more minutes enjoying the comforts of my bed.

While the dark roast brewed in the coffee maker I served up a Fancy Feast for my furry friend.  An appreciative low and long meow signaled his happiness with the offering as he put his head down to the silver bowl and began noshing away.

With breakfast served I moved to the couch with my cup of coffee and tuned into the morning news show.  Before long I watched as my enormous cat lumbered back up the stairs on his way back to bed ready for his first nap of the day.

Landscape Lullaby

Most of the day was spent traveling north on Interstate 81.  Even a good 8 hours of sleep wasn't enough to keep me from being lulled to sleep by the rolling green hills and impressive mountains that were found in every direction I cast my eye.  Fortunately, I wasn't driving.

Post Game

After five games and two days of lacrosse in Nashville Mary's team had the tournament championship t-shirt in their hands and smiles on their faces.  The team didn't face much competition the entire weekend,  but did get a good game out of their last opponent of the tournament.  There was a great deal of pushing and shoving along with a few yellow cards, but at the end both teams came together to shake hands and offer "good game" greetings.

The parents on the sidelines were much more vocal in the last game as they played unofficial referee for every minute of the 30 minute game. They certainly didn't agree with every call made but in the end their smiles were almost as wide as those of the players on the team.

Within an hour of winning the championship Mary was fast asleep in the back seat as her mother/aunt entourage drove east on Route 40 to make our way back home.

Way Back Then

While sitting on the sidelines of my niece's lacrosse game today I noted a pink can sitting in the cup holder of a canvas chair to my left.  I did a double take.  It couldn't be.

"Is that a Tab that you're drinking?" I asked.

"It sure is!" was the reply.

What followed was a solid three-minute conversation of the good ol' days of Tab; the only diet drink there was before the rollout of Diet Coke.  The two of us reminisced about way back then and other drinks that have faded from view like Fresca.  We also decided that knowing so much about something like Tab or Fresca most certainly dates us a little.

I could describe the woman who sat next to me on the field as middle-aged, but I won't.  You see I too was a pretty big Tab drinker back in the day.