all my life’s a circle

So it’s not hard to see from the sidebar that I’ve been a spotty blogger in the past, never sticking with it for very long. It’s actually worse than it looks, this is the third or fourth blog I’ve set up in different places. I quickly lose interest and stop, never wanting to give up the time to post – i tend to ramble or just admire my own words – vain I suppose, but what the hell is a blog for anyway. If I wanted short I’d Twitter (I don’t). So I start, stop, start again, stop again, start again, etc.. What’s going to make this time different? I don’t know that anything will, but for some reason I keep coming back to this so what the hell, let’s try again.

If I’m going to do something different this time I guess it’s – NO THEMES and NO EDITING. I’m going to do what I like. Those self-imposed constraints have gone a long way towards making me lose interest. I’ve always tried to make my other blogs be about something, Work, family, hobbies, commentary, always something that kept the content related. Not this time. It won’t be stream of conciousness, and there are some things I like to repeat, like ‘lyric of the day’ or sharing my photographs. But for the most part it’ll be whatever’s on my mind at the time. I also tried to censor myself in the past, people I know don’t always like my opinions or how I express myself, or I was worried that it might impact my professional life, so I edited. You know what? I have strong opinions and emotions and I really don’t care anymore if you, or my family or my bosses like them or not. I also like to curse, it helps me think, it helps me vent, it relieves stress, and most of all I like it and I’m good at it. So if that kind of language bothers you then get the fuck out of here – I know, cheesy, but I couldn’t resist.

Most of all I guess I just want to enjoy this. I like to write and I’ve heard I’m pretty good at it. I don’t want to write a book or even stories, but I do want to write, for myself. Maybe it’s a journal, maybe some of it will entertain you or piss you off or make you sad or make you happy. Maybe it’ll bore you to tears. But it’s for me first, you second, and a distant second at that. I really do hope people will come around and want to come back, I know I keep on doing it.

thunderstorms at the beach

June, July, and August – not my favorite times to be at the beach. Too hot, too humid, too crowded. But we come anyway, to get away from the day to day routine, to relax just a little bit. And I come for the thunderstorms. The summer weather down here almost guarantees late afternoon or evening thunderstorms - monsoon rain, lightning that fries your retinas, and thunder that shakes the walls. Oh yeah, and the wind too – 30 to 40 mile an hour gales of cool air providing a short respite from the oppressive tropical heat. As soon as the clouds pile up and the wind starts to stir I like to sit on the porch and just watch and listen. Tourists scatter, and until the thunder booms you can hear them clattering over the bridge off the island, clogging the road back to whereever they’re parked for the week. The birds disappear, the frogs go quiet, and the gators go deep into their ponds and creeks. The golfers look for shelter and the bottom drops out.

Waves of rain blow down the fairways, the trees sway dangerously close to toppling over, and your ears pop with every peal of thunder. Strobes of lightning freeze the scene, only to be replaced a few seconds later by a new one. Other people talk about nature’s fury, but for me there’s peace in the chaos of wind, rain, light and sound. The only thing better than an afternoon thunderstorm is a nighttime storm.

Because of where we live down here once the sun goes down, if we turn off the lights our porch is almost pitch black dark. You sit in the dark, only able to guess at what’s going on around you. Then the lightning bursts across the sky, and you’re surrounded by literally millions of tiny sparks as the raindrops reflect each bolt. It’s almost like looking into the night sky from the middle of the ocean, the only light coming from he raindrops and lightning.  I can clear my mind and just listen and wait to for the next flash.

The storms are too short, usually less than 30 minutes. But each one is completely unique tiny vacation. There’s not a lot of reasons to come to the beach in the summer in my opinion, but 1 good storm can make the entire trip worthwhile.

my brother

 

This is my younger brother. I’ve probably harassed and abused him more than I should in the past, and I probably will continue in the future.  But… my favorite from all of my photos.

lyric of the day #7 – a re-entry

OK, been away a long time this time. No excuses, doesn’t really matter why. So I return with a lyric that to me packs emotion and imagery into a few words. I think that’s a definition of art.

the only thing that’s keeping me
from staying here is leaving
the only thing that saves me from it all
is i’ll be gone
and just when i could trust 
in all the things that i believe in 
i had to pack it up and move along 
and i’ll tell you boys my work is never done
so like a sweet and salty gypsy kiss I’m gone 

“Carnival Song”  - Jeff Black

photo – Aspen

Vacation and family real life issues have kept me away for a few days. But just to touch back in, here’s a shot I took while I was in Aspen a couple of years ago. This creek ran behind the hotel, and the array of colors was surprising for April.

photo – more sunset beach

By now it maybe becoming obvious that I like Sunset Beach, NC. For a lot of reasons, but mainly because it’s one of the few non-commercialized beaches around. So it’s quiet, family oriented, and a great place to go to just relax. It’s also extremely scenic. At the east end of the habitable part of the island is a great view of the marsh between the island and the mainland. This is shot from the back of the dunes into the marsh from the last beachfront house on the east end.

photo – Sunset Beach

This shot was taken by my wife – from the pier at Sunset Beach NC. This is almost a mandatory photo to take if you visit here, but I haven’t seen many turn out quite this well. Her eye is obviously better than mine!

 

photo – the Intra-Coastal Waterway

Shot from the single lane swinging bridge in Sunset Beach, NC. This is low tide on a still, clear January afternoon.

lyric of the day #6 – the Friday song

“We’re gonna lay around the shanty mama, and put a good buzz on”

“The Shanty Song” – Jonathon Edwards

There was, and still may be a radio station around here that plays an edited version of this song every Friday afternoon at 5, to get the weekend started. The video sucks, because there wasn’t a real one ever made, but the song is perfect for starting off the weekend or a vacation.

lyric of the day #5

“Well I’m a happy boy, a happy boy
Oh ain’t it good when things are going your way – hey hey!”

“The Happy Boy Song” – The Beat Farmers

Just a stupid, silly, funny song from a really good band – ENJOY