Another Month of Craziness

A weekend at the lake with good friends!

Photographing a wedding (my friend Niki, who I have known for 21 years, married her husband, Tim, in a Catholic ceremony, after having married him years ago in California.)

My sweet boy turns 9!!!!!

A visit from our nephew, Harrison!  Look at that cute face! 

Fostering a sweet little punkin' of a pup, named Turnip!

We came to vacation in Florida for three weeks, and Meg learned to swim right after we got here.

Playing on the playground at Destin Commons....

Working a puzzle before bed....

Watching a family of dolphins play below the pier...

And of course, watching out for "tar balls".

And while I'm on the subject of oil, let me just say that the media should be completely ashamed of themselves for what they have done to the people of the gulf coast this summer.  The oil has hit the beach where we are, but there is so little impact for vacationers that I don't really believe there is any reason people would have chosen to stay away this summer if they had known the real state of the beaches.  Tar balls, for the record, are hard black rocks that wash up in the surf.  They are about the size of a golf ball, or smaller, and they are NOT sticky.  There have been a few tar balls in the water (very few, maybe I've seen 15 since I've been here for almost two weeks) that are dark brown and those are a mushier consistency.  If you squeeze them, they do leave a filmy residue on your hands, but if you don't pick them up, there is no issue.  They are few and far between so they are very easily avoided.  The water is turquoise blue (as you can see in the dolphin photo) and the sand is as white as ever.  Don't get me wrong, the small crowds are great for me, there's no waiting at any of the restaurants and the low occupancy is what allowed me to afford coming for three weeks (for the price of one week.)  But still, I know that there are people here who are struggling to pay their rent and keep their businesses open and the media is completely culpable, in my opinion, for what they have done to drive business away from here this summer.

If anyone still reads this blog, I hope you're having a great summer too!