How was your trip to the beach on that gorgeous Sunday?

It was like this:

So how was your 2nd trip to the beach?

It was like this:

So, how was your trip to the beach?

It was like this.

I am back from vacation. For the most part.

Here is a summary of some of the things I did while you weren't looking:

• Got a new job, sort of. A new job at my current job. A new title, I guess.
• Distributed yearbooks to 1100 students.
• Ended my school year.
• Made an offer on a house, which was accepted. Here's a picture of me standing in it.
• Ended a friendship. No, it wasn't enough to just let it peter out. I had to slam the bitch shut. Maybe I should send a card?
• Joined Flickr, because Blogger photo-upload sucks.
• Got a fabulous mani-pedi.
• Admired the improvement in the quality of questions.
• Drove to the edge of the Earth. Alas, I did not see Monkey while I was there. But here are some of the things I saw:
  

This house-that-was.

It burned to the ground.

It is still smoldering in this picture.

This billboard, just outside Providence, RI.

I swear to god.

What is up with that?!?!?

(I had to duplicate it by hand; pulling over to snap a real photo

would have been 1000 times better, but would have caused an accident.

But it is there. I swear it.)

[Edit: Here's a blog about it; thanks, B!]

This lady.

She's taking her chocolate-fountain-building job

very, very seriously.

I should win a ribbon for

my talent in photo composition.

Success.

How long before these things become old news?

I was hoping for real shells on the cake.

With real sand.

This sign, the only moose I actually saw.

Surfers in the rain.

This Great Dane, named Fanny.

This beauteous beach rose.

True Nature

In answer to SignGurl's question, yes, I am a twin! Newer readers may not know that. Here (again) is one of my favorite posts from last fall, called Keeping it Simple:

I always get a little nostalgic at this time of year; I don't know why, but I know the types of things that enhance it. World events, going back to school, the slow decline of wonderful summer tomatoes, the smell of chimneys being test-fired ... all of these things put me in a mindframe of reflection, renewal, re-evaluation.

In my house, on my stairs, I have a set of 6 pictures that I copied from deep within my parents' photo albums. I have always loved these pictures. I put them in view so I could look at them daily and remind myself of something important.

Upon closer look, you can see that they are all pictures taken within moments of each other. It's me, three-and-a-half-year-old Spinning Girl, and my twin, playing on a New Jersey beach in 1971.

Spinning Girl (left) and Twirling Girl (right)

I'm always holding on to her.

When I get all caught up in minutiae, schedules and rent and bills and who said what, I pause and look closely at my face in these pictures, because I think a secret lives in there.

The secret is: Therein lies my true nature.

My truest self, before all the little annoying details of life tried to obscure it, is there in that face. Therein lies all the hope of a girl destined to spin out her days, laughing to the wind.

I must remember always, always to be good to her.

One Last Splash in the Surf

The final countdown to The Day has begun. Teachers & kids everywhere look for one last chance to celebrate the beautiful summer. I've packed my bags and I'm going to one of my favorite places on earth:

Gonna let my hair down and pull out all the stops! Gonna shout into the wind! Gonna ... lie on the beach and finish reading The Other Boleyn Girl, and take some naps.

By the way, if you ever find yourself in Cape Cod, Anchorage on the Cove is simply lovely. Perfect location, cute cottages, and a huge deck just the right size for a party.

I'm hoping that in my absence I can curb my blogging addiction a bit and maybe find some activities that actually involve getting outdoors; but I know I'll come back and see what wonderful things I missed. I hope that my devoted readership won't stray too far, and we can all reunite in a week or so.

While I'm away, feel free to poke around the tender-bud days of my blog, and study how it has grown into the behemoth that is today's 11.5!

And if that doesn't hold ya, maybe this will:

21 Valuable Lessons I Learned on My Recent Vacation to Florida.

1 What goes up, must come down; and when it comes down, it is 52 minutes too late for your connecting flight.

2 The middle seat is the worst seat in the row.

3 Big People are bigger than they appear at a distance.

4 100 people eating peanuts in a small confined space makes a smell similar to the elephant pen at the zoo.

5 When little children say, “Mommy, I need to poop right now,” they are already pooping at that moment.

6 Cigarette smoking can look very unattractive.

7 Cigarette smoking can look very sexy.

8 Nobody should ever wear a tube top.

9 Gum chewing can be so unattractive that I have changed the way that I chew my gum.

10 After you spend enough time in 90 degree heat and humidity, you get used to it.

11 Good hair days are overrated.

12 If there are jellyfish on the beach, then there are jellyfish in the water.

13 The shuttle looks amazing going up.

14 Alligators mostly mind their own business.

15 Manatees, while nicknamed sea cows, do not in fact “moo” and cannot be tipped by a crowd of drunk men wearing wife-beater shirts. They will just swim away.

16 People should not bother wild animals.

17 I used to think rednecks were funny, because I listened to Jeff Foxworthy and because I had never seen one in its natural habitat. Now I know that real rednecks are scary.

18 Rednecks are not interested in hearing that they are ignorant assholes for bothering the wild animals.

19 There are no hard & fast rules to fistfights, except to use your fists and swing hard.

20 Police cruisers are comfy but smell like B.O.

21 Jail cells are small and smell like pee.