From on high

Apologies to my three followers for my disinterest in blogging lately. My mind has been full of planning and philosophical thoughts, but nothing concrete has made it here. So I will just post a couple of beach pictures. These are of CB taken from the tenth floor of a hotel where I was today. It was a great beach day.

new to me

Riding into the ocean.

A glorious display

Along with the rest of the US, here in Wilmington I am waiting for the big solar eclipse of 2017 to pass over. It will be an exquisite show from the Creator of  Heaven and Earth.
The predictability, the order, the precision.
I am reminded of some Bible verses.

"He alone stretches out the heavens and treads the waves of the sea."
Job 9:8

"The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of His hands."
Psalm 19:1

"It rises at one end of the heavens and makes it circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth."
Psalm 19:1

"God made two great lights, the greater to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night. He also made the stars."
Genesis 1:16

"From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised."
Psalm 113:3

Ashley is 15 years old today!

Having her in the same town is a treat.

Green Heron @ WB

The only one I have ever seen.

Butterflies in the NC mountains

On top an Eastern swallowtail, and a painted lady below.

Just think...

The cousin in Texas I occasionally exchange emails with sent me this photo from May 1912 of a gathering of his father's family along the edge of Rock River in Illinois. I think it is fascinating to see how times have changed. The most obvious comparison is how people dressed. They were all modestly covered up, the women in their long, high necked dresses and the men in shirt and ties.  Looking closer, you can see the woman on the far right with a camera nestled in her left arm The seated guy in front has a hat perched on his knee, and on the hat lies a pipe. The guy behind and to his right is holding a cigar. They seem happy enough, tolerating the sun for a nice group picture.  It was before the Roaring Twenties and WW1. Just think how culture is in continual change.

St. Mary's

This is one of the end towers of this beautiful Catholic church, also a basilica, on Fifth Street in the historic area. I have learned that it around a hundred years old, is Spanish baroque architecture, and built without nails.

What's for dinner?

Whether Chinese, Japanese, or Italian, these interesting eggplants went into my parmigiana tonight. The same person gave me some last week, and I liked them. Two weeks in a row was a little much.

Love me some HT

It's Thursday and that means senior discount at Harris Teeter.
Today's visit seemed to be especially enjoyable.
First  I splurged on the most delicious green tea frappaccino with raspberry syrup that I got at the in house Starbucks. It must have been laced with Prozac, because it sure made me happy.
And cruising the aisles with my cart, considering all my food choices, made me thankful to live in America.
Greenville did not have HT, so I didn't know what I was missing during the sixteen years there. Since being here, I have been in hog heaven with three HTs within 4-5 miles of my house. A Publix opened last year, but so far I don't think it has succeeded in taking any of HT's customers. Last week's Aldi's opening attracted a horde, but can they keep it up? It is hard to beat a Harris Teeter.

Glass Art

This morning I got to go to a glass demo on how to do basic lampworking, bead making, and the necessary equipment and set up for it. It was good! My camera zoomed in nicely for a couple of decent closeups.

Can you tell what this is?

What do you see?

I made a big sheet cake today, a marble cake, and randomly swirled the chocolate around in the yellow batter. When I took it out, I thought the patterns were so interesting and took a picture.
So this is part of the top of the cake before icing, edited to be black and white. It would be fun to make one and swirl in an intentional design.