Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Oh, She Was Mighty

First there was the calm before the storm.

We gazed admiringly at everything, just in case . . .

. . . then brought our tomatoes and hot peppers inside.

The kitchen felt like a greenhouse. Or farmer's market.

We picked all the ripe tomatoes off the plants that were too big to bring in . . .

. . . Oh, we were ready.

And then we waited . . .

When you're waiting for a Hurricane to hit, it's important to have lots of wine and lots of good food.

On Sunday morning, we do what we always do during storms: gather with the neighbors on their (bare) porch.

And then Mistah, our neighbor Frankie and I decided to take a walk to see what Irene had wrought.

Tree down.

Another tree down.

Oh dear.

There were limbs and leaves down everywhere, and although it was windy at our house, it was way windier out in the world.

Just a-blowin' . . .

Oh dear.

And then we reached the Thames River. The River was choppy gray and awesome; sometimes it's as still as glass.

As we walked south toward the mouth of the River and the confluence of the River and the Long Island Sound . . .

the waves got bigger . . .

. . . and the wind got fiercer. Even Frankie's hair got mussed.

And then the River started looking not like a river at all.

We went to a party at this house 2 summers ago and the water did not look like this.

The Thames River does not typically have breaking waves.

Mistah was having a fun time frolicking, although I wanted to head back home. I did not want to be those people you read about in the newspaper:

"Three found dead after being hit by a falling tree and a downed power line . . . "

"They were nice enough people, but boy were they dumb."

So we started walking home.

Oh dear. Look how that tree pulled up the whole sidewalk.

I am not a big fan of the downed power line.

Tons of peeps were out and about, checking out the damage.

I was always about 10 steps ahead of the boys.

"Whyever did this tree fall down?"

Something's been industriously eating its insides for eons.

And . . . off I walked.

True dat.

Later in the day Mistah hopped in our neighbor Keri's car and they headed to Ocean Beach. Like the friendly Benzo ahead of them, they discovered it closed. With the most awesome sign ever.

Oh dear.

Ocean Beach, from the Neptune Park side.

The peeps checked out closed Ocean Beach by walking along the Neptune Park seawall.

"Two found dead after being struck by a rogue wave . . . "
"They were nice enough people, but boy were they dumb."

And there she was. Our symbol of safety out at the mouth of the river. Ledge Light. Fazed not at all.

This guy was particularly exuberant taking photos of the proceedings.

You recognize the rocks, right? That's where Mistah and Jacquie's kids do their annual photo shoot.

And this the view from where we sit on the beach, day after day, all summer long.

The surf was pounding, and the boats were floundering . . .

. . . but Ledge Light remained calm, strong and true.

A Beacon of Light and Safety in a Hurricane.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

summer stream of photo consciousness

I looked through the contents of my camera card yesterday, and the whirlwind of summer flashed before my eyes. With only a few days remaining before the kids go back to school (cue angel choir), there is still so much I haven't told you about!

Clicking through those photos was a trip down a lane of moments, all strangely spliced together into some sort of asymmetrical documentation of a summer well lived. 

There were countless photos from random beach days
There were photos of impressive holes and tunnels in the sand, and my girl giving me that look

There were great photos of a dance party at our family reunion 

And photos that captured favorite moments from days at the races

There were photos of conversations on the ferris wheel
A well timed snag of this speedy moment

There were lovely, as of yet unshared photos on my camera from our trip back east

Like this classic. This treasure.
And this whole story has yet to be told! Hi Jennie!

There were some excellent recent moments on the camera, too. 

That's my boy back there!

And look who went next! The one with the look
I had fun perusing these adventures through my little camera window.  I also had terrible pangs of regret for the untelling of so many stories, what with this perfect platform from which to do just that. But the pictures tell a bit of the story, and now they are out there in the ether to perhaps inspire a narrative for another day.

Of course, there was no shortage of godawful photos on that camera card. The almost-moments.  


Like the almost action shot in the batting cage

And the almost-moment of capturing my two kids looking particularly gorgeous. This one looked away
This one closed the blue eyes I was aiming to catch
There are some photos that are bursting with fodder. He's driving the boat! With his eyes closed. And a cocktail.
And here's where I discovered how to use the front camera on my phone for self portraits! Aren't I good at it?
The look.

Ummm

It's been a really good summer.