176/365-2 Fifteen

"A Lucky Fifteen"

Sometimes you just have to go with the photo that is right in front of your face, literally.  

Creativity and inspiration were low to nonexistent today.  I was relieved when this blog popped up on my computer tonight.  The article has some interesting observations.  If you are interested, here is the link.

175/365-2 Explore

"Baggage??"

After almost two weeks of being away, we are finally home.

I spotted this little girl in the airport this afternoon.  I can't decide whether it is super cute or kind of sad.  She seemed perfectly happy to be set aside with the pile of luggage.

I wish that I took better pictures with my phone.  This image had potential, but I don't get good quality images with my phone camera. I think it is user error, but I don't know what I do wrong or don't do right.  Oh well...it is what it is.

174/365-2 Under the Sun

""Reunion"

 I got my undergraduate degree in North Catolina but moved to Texas as soon as I had graduated.  When we travel to and from Delaware, we have a connection through Chatlotte, North Catolina.   On today's trip we decided to take a twenty-four hour layover in Charlotte so that I could reunite with my college roommate and my other very best friend from college.  None of us has seen one another in 25 years.

In those years since we were last together there have been marriages, divorce, eight children, graduate degrees, family moves, and many jobs.  In the midst of all of that, we lost regular contact with one another.  Enter Facebook.  We reunited with each other via Facebook and committed to getting together in person.  The stars aligned for that to happen today.

Despite all the time that has passed, we picked up right where we left off, as if yesterday we were those college students standing in the practice room halls at ECU.  It was kind of a surreal experience, a time warp of sorts, in a truly awesome way.

It will not be 25 years between visits again.  I love you guys!

173/365-2 Summer Silhouette

'Tonight"

Tonight is our last night in Delaware for this trip.  We are leaving in the morning to head for Charlotte, NC, where we will spend a day with some of my closest friends from college.  We haven't seen one another in twenty-five years or so.  I am looking forward to our reunion.  This excitement is tempered a little by the fact that my dad has not bounced back yet from whatever the infection is that knocked him down yesterday.  I had hoped he would be feeling a little better before we had to leave.

We need o go home and tend to a few things.  If we have to turn around and come right back, we'll do that.  Right now we are just taking things one step at a time.

We spent one more evening watching the sunset on the beach.  There were also belly dancers so there was a little distraction.  I'll miss the beautiful sunrises and sunsets on the beach, but I miss the dogs and according to Brooke they are kind of whiny and needy because they miss us too.  It will be nice to touch base at home even if it is not for very long.

172/365-2 Solstice

"A Long Day"

Today was a indeed a long day, one that did not go exactly as planned, which really is how most of life goes.  What's that quote: "lLife is what happens while we are busy making plans."  

We began  our morning in the ER with dad because he was running a fever.  After lots of blood work and a chest X-ray, it was determined that that he has an infection at an IV site.  That, on top of chemo on Thursday,  knocked him down pretty low.  

We had intended to meet a "virtual" friend, another photographer in the Capture Your 365 community, and spend the day on the Lewes Garden Tour.  That didn't happen for us, but that's OK.  When we got dad home, we did manage to slip away while he napped  and meet my friend and her husband for lunch and a beer.  We had wonderful conversation and food.  It is amazing how well you get to know someone by just looking at their daily photos.

We stayed home the rest of the day.  We kept encouraging the consumption of liquid.  To someone who is used to giving the orders, dad is not much on taking them, especially from his kid.  I'll keep trying.  At least now he can't send me to my room or put me on restriction for arguing with him.

I did not have much opportunity for taking photos yesterday so it was just a quick snap for me.  I have come to realize that my daily photos truly are a form of visual journaling.  They tend to reflect not the concrete of my days, but the emotion of that day.  I hope that in the long wrong this is a good thing.

171/365-2 Where I Stand

"Standing in the Park"

This is a plaque in the park outside the Lewes Chamber of Commerce.  It recognizes a tree that was planted in memory of my mom.

I am too tired to write much more as we got up at 4:30 to go to the beach and watch the sunrise and then had a full day with family.

This was taken about 5:40am.

170/365-2 Historical Landmark

"This Old House"

This house was built in 1760 to be the home of a Delaware river pilot.  For two hundred years it would serve as the home for three different river pilots and their families.  In 1964, my grandparents bought it and "modernized" it.  They added oil heat, electricity, and indoor plumbing.  The outhouse, however, is still in the back garden.

My dad now lives here.  Though my parents moved in in 1998, I have always thought of this house as my grandparent's house.  And though it has historical significance, I still think of it only as my grandparent's house.

As I sit here writing, realizing that people have spent their evenings in this very spot for over 250 years, I am awe struck.  This house was built when George II was King of England.  It was built before the Boston Massacre or the Sugar Act.  It was built before the Boston Tea Party or Thomas Paine's writing of Common Sense.  The United States had not yet declared their independence.

In the fifty years that I have been visiting this place, I have never thought of it with regard to what has happened in this country during the lifetime of this house.  I'm not sure if that is due to ignorance or simply the innocence of childhood.  It is going to take me some time to truly wrap my head around these realizations.

As I walk upstairs to bed tonight, I will think about the many steps that have been taken up these stairs.  What stories have been told amidst these walls?  Who may have spent the night under this roof?  Who has shared a meal in the dining room?

So much to think about...