The Month of September

Hello everyone.  Are you having a good month so far?  We just returned on Saturday from six days at the beach; it was a much-needed break for us.  

         What a year this has been here -- in some ways not much better than last year.  I hated to have to write this, but we lost Duncan week before last.  He took a very sudden turn for the worse, and in just a couple days' time, he was on death's doorstep.  He started having seizures on Sunday, August 29th, and the next day, we took him to the vet to be euthanized.  He was still eating on Sunday, but Monday he stopped eating and drinking, and we knew what we had to do.  I had gone to Hendersonville, N.C., for just a few days with my mom, and when I returned, Duncan was already starting to worsen.  This happened so quickly, or so it seemed to us.  But I've discovered over the years that Scotties are such tough little dogs, they don't give in or show much sign of sickness until the very end.     I should have known that the specialist would not have made a misdiagnosis; they so very rarely do, I believe.  But Duncan had shown amazing signs of continuously getting better with no sickness at all for several weeks, that we let ourselves believe he was going to be okay.  This was very hurtful to us, but it's all part of life.  I didn't want to write about this earlier because it seemed like a small thing compared to the 13 marines who lost their lives in Afghanistan and their poor families.  Such a senseless tragedy; we have let so many people down -- our allies, our military men and women in harm's way, and our civilians still trapped over there.  What a disgrace.      

     

This getaway did us such worlds of good.  Duncan died on that Monday, and the rest of Hal's work week was very stressful.  He's trying to train his replacement over the telephone, which is probably not the best way to train someone (and not easy for the trainee either, I imagine).  Having a change of scenery to the coast, or to the mountains, always seems to rejuvenate our soul.  Because the beach house has no wi-fi, we were forced to unplug and just be.  One day it rained most of the day, and we sat on the screened porch and watched and listened to the birds.  We even saw a couple of redwing blackbirds, which we don't normally see at home.  We read, listened to music, watched a little TV, took naps, and ate good food.        

Inside the Fishy Fishy Cafe in Southport.  It's always 5:00 somewhere.  😉 😎   

This sign gave me a good laugh.  😄   

      

View from Fishy Fishy Cafe looking toward the Intercoastal Waterway and the Oak Island Lighthouse in the distance.     

         

      

This is the time of year for beautiful sunsets at the coast; we've seen some real beauties in October.   

   

Before sunset, while we were waiting for our meal, we saw dolphins out in the water.  I wish I had brought my zoom lens; as it was, I was able to capture them as small specks in the water.   

I cropped this picture; it's not the best, but you can see the dolphins in front of the marshes.  Hal said there must have been a pod of them because they were quite active.  It was such a treat to see them -- I get so excited when they make an appearance.  We've seen them in the same area around this time of year in the past.           

   
Caswell Beach looked the prettiest I've seen it in awhile.  When my in-laws first bought the house there, the beach was fairly plain.  Since then, the town has planted these lovely sea oats, and also put up a pretty ocean fence.  The dunes have also shaped up beautifully over the years.                

    

   

Here's a section of the ocean fence on the left.  These morning glories had cast their vines across the sand in all directions.

         

   

In some spots, the vines were growing in a criss-cross pattern.      

Mother Nature did not disappoint on this trip.  If you see something in this picture that appears to be small planes or helicopters, it's actually dragonflies.  I've never seen so many dragonflies, ever.  I think they must be attracted to the sea oats, because that's where we saw the most of them.   

   

 I cropped one of the dragonflies from the previous picture.

        

           

   

   

Love the shape of this dune.  That sky could not have been more perfect for taking pictures; it was like a giant artist's canvas.

      

One of the holes that the sand crabs hide in...

   

I've never noticed these green plants with the pods before; I'll have to try and find out what they are.  

   

We were so thankful to get this time away; it was the first real vacation we've had since the beginning of COVID-19.  I've been reading about some of your trips this summer, and I'm sure you were as glad for a change of scenery as we were.  It would have been nice for our son to join us for a few days, but he couldn't really take the time off from work.  

   

This past week, we noticed that the light is starting to have that indefinable change that signals fall is on its way.  I LOVE IT!  Fall is the most wonderful season, and the quality of light in autumn is the best.  It's soft and golden, and a welcome relief after summer's bright, hot sunlight.  How about you?  Are you ready for fall?  

   

Thanks so much for your visit, and I hope you found something of interest here today.  

All the best,