This Is Where We Live

WHEN: For the time being
WHERE: Virginia Beach, VA

Today marks the equivalent "halfway" point of our residence in Virginia Beach. Obviously we don't know what God has planned for us as the next chapter of our lives but on paper it's "over the hill" for us from here on out (for good or bad). Although I could go "deeper" with that fact alone, I don't have time to (vacation starts in 48 hours and I have 49 hours of tasks to accomplish beforehand). However, I feel I at least owe the anniversary the acknowledgment, plus I've learned/experienced some new things about our current home this past week for the first time. Nothing that will make you jump out of your chair screaming "Great Scott!!" yet interesting enough to me to be sidetracked from getting out our suitcases out and packed.

Not to beat the drum of my previous post in regards to Charleston but a couple notes on that. If you have ever spent any amount of time in Charleston you have probably seen at least one of these beasts flying overhead.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

This is a C-17 Globemaster, a flying military cargo fortress to say the least. Many of these jumbo jets are stationed at Charleston Air Force Base and the first one off the production line in 1993 was delivered to Charleston AFB. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about that base or these cargo jets other than that I have seen my fair share of them flying in low over downtown Charleston, both times I've visited. In fact, to my recollection, the only time I have ever seen a C-17 in person has been in Charleston. That is, until two days ago.

Stace and I have gone on numerous walks since Spring arrived. During our walk on Sunday, while I was forcing Stace to smell the blooming flowers (she's focused when she exercises), one of these fortresses went roaring over our heads, probably no more than 1,000ft overhead. That's not very high for a jet with a 170ft wingspan and weighing over half a million pounds. We both stopped in our tracks and stared silently as it flew right over us at what seemed like a snail's pace. With numerous Navy and Air Force bases within the metro area I'm not sure where it was headed. Most days we are accustomed to hearing dozens of F-18 Hornets training at the Oceana Naval Air Station that is about 5 miles east of us. But this was a new and exciting sight!

Continuing with the military theme I introduce my second story. As if Sunday's sky surprise was not enough, I was pleasantly surprised to see this floating by outside my office at lunch yesterday.

I know it may be hard to see but it is a Navy submarine (mostly submerged) being guided by a couple of tugs (and escorted by the Coast Guard and some small Navy boats). I jumped out of my chair, ran outside after it, and snapped this shot with my cell phone. Perhaps I should be thankful some sniper somewhere didn't blow my arm off when they saw some nobody running after a sub with some object in his hand pointed at it! I had heard that the occasional submarine will pass by the office but I had never seen one myself. It's the first time I've ever seen one in person. All I'm waiting for now is to see the even rarer aircraft carrier go by that I've heard does happen. Other than that, I think I have seen just about every other kind of vessel imaginable on the harbor in the past 6 months. Naval Station Norfolk is the largest U.S. naval station in the world (i.e. number of vessels) and all Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers and Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarines have been built in Norfolk (Newport News exactly) by Northrop Grumman (the company I currently work for). And given the clearance of my current job, I am able to tour any of the military bases and walk up next to these ships. Yet somehow I have foolishly not done so yet.

And to wrap up this random discourse of cotton-headed ninny muggins nonsense, I present a not-so-glamorous facet of life in Hampton Roads. This article caught my eye today which talks about storm surge risks for U.S. regions; a product of research conducted in response to Hurricane Katrina. The article lists the most at-risk zip codes for property damage as a result of a Category 5 hurricane. Although there are more variables than what appear on the surface, the main point is that the city of Virginia Beach may have won the award. Mt. Pleasant, S.C. (which I unrelatedly also mentioned in my previous post) received the top spot on the list - not something to assume bragging rights over. Out of the top 15 at-risk zip codes in the country, 4 zip codes were in Virginia Beach (and 2 more in neighboring Chesapeake, VA). Our zip code is surrounded by but not included in this list of zip codes. Comforting! I drew up a quick map today to illustrate our condition. We are the blue zip code and the red are the ones that made the Top 15.

So, if you want to see ships with really big guns or drown in a hurricane, please, plan a visit soon! We're only here 6 more months, Lord willing, so don't miss out!

Jesse's POW (March 28, 2010)

WHEN: March 28, 2010 WHERE: 4001 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA

See where this picture was taken, here!

Weekend Movie Review

WHEN: March 27, 2010
WHERE: A theater near you!

I have resigned myself to movie "reviews". Apparently nothing noteworthy is happening in our lives for the time being! Although these movies are (I believe) worth mentioning, surely there is no need to blog about them if anything remotely interesting has happened lately. Not to mention I haven't even seen any of these four movies.

The only thing going on around here is an unwanted and unusually cold weekend, consisting mostly of running errands, cleaning the apartment, paying bills, and otherwise preparing to be home in Iowa for 10 days starting next Friday.

So, grab your popcorn, turn the lights off, put on some dirty socks (for the smell effect), invite 4 dozen adolescent couples over (plus a couple out-of-control children), and push play! It's a free ticket to the movies from me to you.

Lights...camera...action!

(all contained videos are available in HD)

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE
Rated: R
Length: 100 minutes
Released: March 26, 2010

All I have to say about this movie (based on the one trailer I've seen for it) is that it should win the Oscar for Best Marketing, 2010. It is advertised as "See the first 2-D movie of the year!"

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID
Rated: PG
Length: 93 minutes
Released: March 19, 2010

I don't know that I would ever really care to see this movie but there is one line in this movie that has made me laugh over and over...and over and over again. Stace could not be more annoyed with me, especially when I make her watch the line over and over with me :) Pay attention to seconds 1:19-1:21 and see what your humor maturity level is.

This video can not be embedded in the blog but is available here.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Rated: PG
Length: 109 minutes
Released: March 5, 2010

I can't help it. I'm a sell-out for cartoons and fantasy adventures...and now they're becoming available in 3D!! If you were unable to see A Christmas Carol 3D in theaters this past Christmas, you have truly missed a great experience. Even if you wait until Thanksgiving (when it comes out on Blue-Ray/DVD) and purchase a 3D-ready TV, there is no substitute for the experience on a 75ft theater screen with a bazillion watts of sound thumping through the speakers. I tried hard to get Stace (and our families) to go again but to no avail. I'm just glad I had the experience once. We even went to Avatar in 3D in January and, personally, that still was not as rewarding as A Christmas Carol. Plus how can you beat Jim Carrey as Scrooge (or any character for that matter)?? Needless to say, I WILL be going out at midnight the day that movie is released to buy it!

So, even though I have not yet seen Alice In Wonderland, I know it will become one of my favorites; just like every other movie Disney or Pixar has put out (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, A Christmas Carol, etc.). Family members: any takers on this movie while we're home in Iowa??


THE LAST SONG
Rated: PG-13
Length: 107 minutes
Released: March 31, 2010

I have saved the best for last. No, I'm not a Miley Cyrus fan but I have become a fan of Nicholas Sparks. Stacie was a fan long before me and has read all of his books and owns at least 5 of them. The Last Song is the latest film based on one of his books; the film's namesake.

Nicholas Sparks was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1965 but has lived and went to school in many other states. Since the mid-90's, Sparks and his family have lived in New Bern, NC; a town of about 25,000 that Stace & I were less than an hour from when we lived in Greenville, NC. It is also the town where Pepsi was first concocted back in the 1890's and home to the world's oldest living married couple (85 years). We passed through the town on numerous trips to the beach while we lived in North Carolina. I remember our first drive to the beach and Stace mentioning all the signs with names of North Carolina landmarks and regions that she had seen referenced in his books she had been reading over the previous years.

At that point, the only movie I had seen based on Nicholas Sparks' books was The Notebook (2004). Two movies had been released prior to The Notebook that were based on his novels that I had not seen (Message In A Bottle, 1999 and A Walk To Remember, 2001). I liked The Notebook, mostly because it was sweet (not just a "chick flick"), well written, and had good acting; the components that make most movies great and people want to see them. But I have since developed a new affinity for his movies that goes beyond scripts and acting.

At least since The Notebook, all of his novels (and therefore movies) have been set in the Carolinas. This became very apparent in his next movie entitled, Nights In Rodanthe (2008). Rodanthe is a small village in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and much of the movie was filmed in the Outer Banks, including a landmark house in Rodanthe. I had first seen and photographed this castle-of-a-house in May of 2008 (seen below), a couple months before the movie was released and before I had seen any advertisement of the movie. You can imagine the interest it piqued in me when I saw this house in the movie trailers weeks later. Stace and I went to see it in the theater in September 2008. We were amazed to see signs and landmarks of the Outer Banks in the movie that we ourselves had seen living there for just a year. Perhaps best of all was a typical green highway sign with three North Carolina cities and their distances listed. One of these cities read: Greenville, NC - the very city we lived and were watching the movie in!

The house Nights In Rodanthe was filmed at (seen May 2008).

Just last month, Stace and I went to the most recent Nicholas Sparks movie Dear John. The novel was based and the movie was filmed in Charleston, SC. We both love the charm of Charleston; that natural charm the Carolinas have and that is especially potent on the "Carolina Shore". There's something special, undefinable about the Carolina coasts and culture that is unlike any other place. I love a beach ANYWHERE, don't get me wrong, and a lot of my time on the beach in North Carolina was spent doing hard labor. Still, images of the wave-beaten beaches, the expanses of open marsh and tidal flats, the crowded palmettos and towering loblolly pines, dunes crowded in sea oats, the unique southern architecture, and Spanish moss hanging from live oaks...hold a special place in my heart. There are few places on the North Carolina coast I have not been to. Not living there anymore makes images and movies like The Last Song even more sentimental to me. Look out Steve, I'm getting in touch with my feminine side ;)

Carolina On My Mind

Crashing Waves

WHEN: 12/16/07 WHERE: Oregon Inlet, NC - - - - - WHEN: 7/24/08 WHERE: Ocracoke Island, NC


Marshes and Tidal Flats

WHEN: 6/18/08 WHERE: Hammocks Beach, NC (CENTER)
(LEFT)WHEN: 5/26/08 WHERE: South Nags Head, NC - - - - - WHEN: 7/9/08 WHERE: Wrightsville Beach, NC (RIGHT)





Palmettos

WHEN: 11/19/07 WHERE: Charleston, SC - - - - - WHEN: 4/5/09 WHERE: Charleston, SC

Loblolly and Longleaf Pines

WHEN: 2/10/08 WHERE: East Carolina University, Greenville, NC - - - - - WHEN: 6/18/08 WHERE: Carteret County, NC

Sand Dunes and Sea Oats

WHEN: 8/8/07 WHERE: Fort Macon, NC - - - - - WHEN: 9/29/07 WHERE: Coquina Beach, NC

Southern Architecture

WHEN: 4/6/09 WHERE: Charleston, SC - - - - - WHEN: 4/6/09 WHERE: Mt. Pleasant, SC

The building on the right is the Boone Hall Plantation just outside Charleston. It appears in the movie The Notebook and is the most photographed plantation in the country.

Live Oaks and Spanish Moss

WHEN: 4/6/09 WHERE: Boone Hall Plantation, SC

This is the 3/4-mile driveway leading up to the planatation. The live oaks lining the driveway were planted by the first owner back in the mid-1700's. I'm convinced it appears in the movie's video trailer (below).

On the heals of Dear John is now the latest movie by Nicholas Sparks called The Last Song and it is coming to theaters this Wednesday. Even though I have not yet seen this movie I imagine it will be my favorite of his yet. Why? Because the novel is set in Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington, NC. Wrightsville Beach is the site of my thesis study area - the place on the North Carolina coast to which I am most closely attached and familiar with. I first visited Wrightsville Beach in 2004 over spring break with Stacie's family (while Steph and Travis lived in NC). I returned there many, many times over the 2 years we lived there and could not believe this movie was based there.

Stace and I at Wrightsville Beach in May 2009.

VERY sadly, however, the filming of the movie had an unfortunate lot. To make a long story short, the state of Georgia beat out North Carolina for the film rights to the movie (at the LAST minute - ironic?) so the movie was filmed in Savannah, GA instead. It breaks my heart to know that a movie was to be set and filmed in my study area, only to be scrapped at the last minute. The film would have been littered with the sights of Wrightsville Beach that I have come to know so well. Even still, I know I will enjoy the movie and will likely own it some day, just like we do every other Nicholas Sparks movie. Below is the music video/trailer for the movie, The Last Song. If you don't want to see corny acting by Miley Cyrus you may not want to proceed. But if you want to see more charm of the "southern shores" then press play. Oh, and please turn off your cell phones. Thank you!

Spring is HERE!!!

WHEN: March 20, 2010
WHERE: The Northern Hemisphere

It's not just meteorological, it's official. Spring is here and it is BEAUTIFUL!! I don't really know where to begin, with all that Spring has brought with it this weekend! The warmth, the sun, the aromas...the possibilities!

 

Friday was my last day working in the trailers outside at work. It was bittersweet as I had about the best seat in the "house" out there. We move back in to the renovated building tomorrow and I will miss looking out my window at the ships going up and down the harbor. Thankfully, Friday went out with a bang - one of the busiest days I've seen on the harbor (blame it on Spring). It was sunny and 72 on Friday and there was spring fever on the harbor; from the Navy, to international shipping lines, to tour boats, to pleasure boaters. The harbor was alive. Perhaps what was most exciting about it was a container ship I had discovered online months ago. The name of this ship... the "Maersk Iowa". What had caught my eye was its homeport: Norfolk, VA. Maersk-Sealand is the largest shipping company in the world, with its own terminal in Norfolk; visible 2 miles down the harbor. I figured eventually it would be in Norfolk and I was going to go see it when it did! I saw Iowa on the marine traffic radar first thing when I got in to work and could hardly believe my eyes.

Maersk Iowa (958ft) in Norfolk Harbor on Friday

The Navy cargo ship, USS Wally Schirra (689ft), passed by while I was at lunch as did several tour boats throughout the day; including one flying a pirate flag. It was a entertaining last day on the water.

Friday night Stace and I walked to Schlotzsky's for dinner and enjoyed the "last day of winter" (good riddance)!!

 

Good morning Spring!! I had to put our Virginia plates on our Camry before I could enjoy the pleasures of this first day of Spring. The plates really (legally) should have been on over 3 weeks ago but for multiple reasons (including laziness) I have not done so or been unable to. I drove the Camry to Ace Hardware (with the sunroof open and windows down of course) to get the necessary parts to mount the plates. As I was pulling out of the parking lot a lady pulled in to the spot next to me driving this...

Having attended East Carolina University (Pirates) and still living within a region familiar with the school, I inquired from one open window to another, "Did you go to ECU?" She laughed and said she gets that a lot. Her answer was 'no' but instead offered a simple, "We just really love the water". I liked this stranger already! She continued to explain their affinity for life on the water while I glanced at all the pirate bumper stickers plastered on the windows and bumpers. Ironically, I had just installed our plates of similar expression on our other car last weekend (see below). Virginia has over 600 license plates to choose from, including many universities from across the country.

As I write this blog (Sunday afternoon), the plates are still not installed. Priorities. What?

Stace and I headed off to the beach to join the congregating spring crowds. I brought my bike to travel the 3-mile boardwalk while Stace sat on the beach reading her book. When we left our house for the beach it was 76° but out on the water (which is around 49°) the temperature felt about 55 (without the wind chill). The wind made bicycling less than enjoyable and Stace hypothermic (at least she thought so).

Stace's "wind-block" I built her :)

Even still, we stayed for 2 hours and enjoyed as much as we could. Virginia Beach is not what I'd call an in-demand Spring Break destination but yesterday sure didn't seem that way. There were thousands of (mostly) pasty-white bodies, sporting bikinis and other garb not fit for the elements of a frigid beach.

 

The official high was 78 on Saturday and not any semblance of a cloud was to be seen all day. We spent the rest of the day at home, reading on our deck and watching 'New Moon' - the latter being the low point of the day :)

The day was missing something though. Well, besides a Willy Wonka ticket in my king-size Snickers. I'm talking competition. I'm talking March Madness! But I will be the last one caught watching basketball. Even as the UNI Panther's game against Kansas began, I was busy sorting the 160 pictures I took this weekend and beginning work on this blog. Stacie, not surprisingly, was locked to our computer watching every minute of the game. I say computer because all we saw broadcast here was the Old Dominion vs. Baylor game (ODU is the main university in Norfolk; the team UNI beat before the tournament began). The game was streamed live online and we watched (I listened) every minute of the game. I told Stace from the beginning of the day that UNI would play great against Kansas but still lose by less than 5 points. I couldn't dedicate my time to a game like that. Not with a blog to write, people! (Sad. Blogging has become my new biggest waste of time...and I have no shortage of other things that could assume that spot if permitted).

You all know how the game ended, but let's just say we didn't care about decibel levels with our screams of excitement. Take THAT annoyingly loud and inconsiderate neighbors! Living in apartments has made me a firm believer of 'two wrongs make a right'.

We are probably among only a handful of people (at best) in a city of 2 million that are alumni and fans of these "University of Northern Iowa Panthers". We had to show our Panther Pride today somehow. Logically church was our first chance to show off our pride in a public setting. I pulled out my dusty UNI t-shirts and we both wore one to church. We ran a few errands on our way home as well and I caught a couple of prolonged glances our way. I have kept out my UNI shirts to wear throughout the week at work. Hopefully they will be of the same celebratory use after the next round on Friday.

Interview back at the McLeod Center this morning.

Today promised to be another gorgeous Spring day! Everything one would associate with Spring was on display today. The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun was beaming what felt like its brightest, all matter of bird calls filled the air, and the air itself was filled with so many inviting aromas. Lawn mowers and weedwackers were out on their first swing of the season and fresh-cut grass was a welcome scent. So were the endless number of flowers and blooming trees. There were even the occasional annoying bugs flying through the air (and apartment) which I found bearable given the amazing week we have been having. The average temperature the past four days has been 73 and I think I may have seen one cloud. We are due for thunderstorms tomorrow but I can accept that after a weekend like this one! Not to mention I get to start work in a brand new cubicle tomorrow then fly home to Iowa in 12 days.

I leave you with these images of Spring. I could get used to this!

Jesse's POW (March 21, 2010)

WHEN: March 20, 2010 WHERE: Virginia Beach Fishing Pier

See where this picture was taken, here!

Spring Break: North or South?

WHEN: 3:05 p.m. Local Daylight Time, March 18, 2010
WHERE: Norfolk, VA | Naples, FL | Chaska, MN

As thousands have embarked, are embarking, or are preparing embarkment for spring break this year, most have had to first ask WHERE to go. The answer to this question is usually aided largely by the climate of the destination. Logically, this means going south; and usually, the farther the better. Somehow, Stacie & I have gotten that concept reversed. My first spring break (i.e. during college) in 2003 was spent in the Florida Keys and the mountains of North Carolina. Ironically, Stacie was in southern Florida at the same time (with her family) but we did not see each other. The following year we spent the break in North Carolina with her family, visiting Steph & Travis. Stacie went back to North Carolina the following year with her sister Jennie, while I skipped out to work at Hy-Vee instead. Oh joy! In 2006, Stace and I decided to go north for spring break, to the tropical paradise of Minnesota (what were we thinking). In fact, the second day we were there we had a blizzard that dumped 12" of snow overnight. Needless to say, the swimsuits never came out. Spring Break 2007 was consumed by wedding planning and in 2008 we LIVED in North Carolina. We went back to Minnesota in 2009 over spring break to meet our newborn niece and will be returning there for spring break this year for her first birthday.

So if you break that all down, we've both been to Florida for spring break once (separately), we've both been to North Carolina twice for spring break (together and separately), we've lived in North Carolina for 2 spring breaks, and we will have spent 3 spring breaks in Minnesota after this year. Clearly, we are not the predictable spring break crowd. But then again, after a day like today, maybe going north isn't all that bad (see below).

These were the temperatures at 3:05 p.m. local time today.

Norfolk, VA - 71°
Naples, FL - 64°
Chaska, MN - 62°

And these were the highs for the country today.

My sincere apologies to Stacie's family spring break-ing in southern Florida this week. We know what it's like to have a cold spring break vacation but I imagine it is much harder to take when you're in the Everglades!

And Armstrong's, if you're keeping track, Stace has visited you 6 of the last 8 spring breaks. Your turn!! :)

Memo (#2010-01)

NEW UPDATES!!

As you may have noticed, I have added some new features to this blog. Navigation tabs have been added to the top of the blog under the header picture. These buttons link to a list of my POWs (Picture Of the Week) and my blog headers. The POWs now have watermarks ("jesse brass"), since people like to steal stuff online and these are full resolution photos. Perhaps that sounds conceited but I don't carry a purse around all week with a camera in it just to have some nobody steal the picture I've worked all week on. And finally, of course, the "Time & Space" tab links back to this blog.

Also, I have slightly widened the dimensions of the blog. This could be an issue if your monitor has a low resolution (resulting in the text and blog components not fitting within the width of your monitor's viewing area). If this is an issue, simply hold down the Ctrl key while sliding the mouse scroller. You can scroll either way to make the website larger or smaller. This is a universal function that most websites support. To return everything to 100% press Crtl+0 (control + zero).

Hope you enjoy the new features!

Jesse's POW (March 14, 2010)

WHEN: March 12, 2010 WHERE: Portsmouth International Terminal (Virginia)

The CSAV Romeral (Liberia, 722 ft) and the CMA CGM White Shark (United Kingdom, 965 ft) at Portsmouth International Terminal.

See where this picture was taken, here!

Speedily Springing Spring

WHEN: Spring 2010 WHERE: US southeast SPRING IS HERE!!! (Or at least it's Wicked Winter crying wolf). The eastern half of the country has been pleasantly (and deservingly) surprised by the spring-like weather this week. It has been yet another harsh, unforgiving winter and most are pining for spring more then most recent winters. We have seen at least 5 snow events this winter here in Norfolk (the latest, a dusting, just 7 days ago - in March). Any amount of snow here is a rarity. Though the snowfall total was less than 10" here for the whole winter, areas north of us (e.g. DC, Baltimore) saw their snowiest winters on record; breaking the previous records by mid-February and measuring snowfall in feet! As of yesterday, the temperature has been below average 51 days or 75% of the time since January 1 (86% during the month of February) in Norfolk. In Minneapolis, at least one inch of snow has been on the ground since December 9 and at least 6 inches of snow was on the ground from December 21 - March 7. Remember your first snowfall during the second week in October?? But the grass has now returned and the mercury topped 45 Sunday for the first time since December 1. Get your lawn mowers ready "minn-eh-SO-tens!

Snow cover on February 13. Nobody was safe from this winter!

I could bore you with more depressing numbers but let's get on to the good stuff!

Thankfully March has turned the page on this madness! Saturday marked the beginning of the warm-up here and Sunday followed suit. There were no clouds to be found and temperatures reached the upper 50's (which was only average but felt like a heat wave). Stace and I were tired of being locked inside so we headed out Sunday afternoon for a stroll in the park. The park...Mount Trashmore. It is as it sounds. A former landfill, now a grass hill replete with trails, playgrounds, skate park, lake, paddle boat rentals (seasonal), and picnic shelters. It is the most visited park in Virginia Beach and quite conveniently 1/2 mile from our apartment. It is also the highest point within an hours drive, at a whopping 60 feet high. Hey, when you live on the coastal plain, ant hills are "terrain". Mount Trashmore is that lone strawberry on your morning pancake, so to speak. In fact, it is the "spot" (and the only spot) to sled whenever it snows but is illegal and often patrolled by police when the rare snow storm hits. The cops must have been busy this winter! Sidenote: my brother-in-law (Jay) and his family used to live in Virginia Beach during the 1980's. When Jay was 3, his parents took him and his siblings to Mount Trashmore for the July 4th fireworks. The fireworks were set off on top of the hill and Jay and his family sat right at the foot of the hill during the show. Jay was terrified from the fireworks going off in front of him and made him scared of them for years to come. His older brother teases him to this day about it.

Time to walk up the pile of crap.

Everyone and their dog was out (literally). The park is dog-friendly and we saw our fair share of canines during our visit. The park is also a favorite for kite-fliers and stationed military who use the hills and trails for exercise. We met "Oscar" (boy, left) and "??" (girl, right) while we were there. The girl was 5 months old and as content and calm as ever for our attention. Oscar, on the other hand, growled and barked at every dog that passed by (big surprise)!

Groovy contrails man. Yeah!

And the temperatures have been rising since Sunday. Yesterday, Stace thought we should go on a walk (our first of the spring) and we did as soon as we got home from work.

Stace, unexcited that I was bringing my camera on the walk (doesn't she know by now?)

They finally installed the appliances in our courtyard's grill area yesterday (they said it would be done last November). I haven't grilled since August and I might just go b-a-n-a-n-a-s if I don't get to, pronto!

The flowers miraculously survived this winter and smelled like a million bucks.

We were both thrilled to be surprised by some flowering trees on our walk.

SPRING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?!

Today the high was 74 so we couldn't resist another walk. The aroma of fresh flowers, sea salt, and warm pavement filled the air and begged me to forfeit all concentration at work. Why am I working indoors on a day like today?? Why am I in slacks when I should be in my Speedo at the beach? It's supposed to remain in the mid-60's through the weekend but with a soggy forecast so our walks may be over for a while. Nevertheless, this week has been just what we (and the rest of the country) have been needing so badly after the past 3 months of this winter! And to top it all off, Sunday is daylight-savings!! In a psychologic way, that day may be my favorite day of the year.

Highs today

Belated, slow-coming, or premature...welcome back SPRING!!!