Stormy Weather in Paradise

After four glorious days, an incredible storm rolled in last night, just as we were getting ready for dinner.  There was no grilling last night -- we had decided earlier to take a break and order pizza.  The boys and I enjoyed some time on the 3rd floor deck, in awe of the approaching storm clouds.  The sky was black and we could actually see the entire front approaching from the southwest.  It was quite a contrast from the cloudless blue sky of the previous day.

A Perfect Day!

Beach Umbrellas Under a Bright Blue Sky!

Lights flickered on and off a few times, and we were ready with the one candle we could find, just in case, though we never lost power.  The panoramic lightning show all around this many-windowed house provided a lot of "oohs" and "Did you see that?" and "Wow!" and forced a few of us away from the windows, actually concerned that we were too close to the action! 

Up on the Roof!

A seaside storm is an awesome thing.  We're pretty sure that one lightning bolt made contact close to home.  We saw the strike and heard a crack.  My sister Anne said that lightning finds them -- they have a history of lightning strikes finding their real-life homes:  one house was struck twice, another once!  Fortunately, it didn't find us last night!

Skies Overhead

We were off to an easy start this morning.  Patrick and John went to play 9 holes of golf.  Anne and I went to find breakfast out -- a little place called Emerald Grill where a breakfasat platter is $4.99.

I'm thinking that I'm going to relish every second of the remaining three days here, and whether the sun comes out or we have storms for the rest of the time, it doesn't matter.  It's great to be here and to be enjoying time with my sister and her family, storm clouds or no.

Our House Is a Very, Very, Very Fine House!

Captain's Quarters is a very fine house, indeed. I can't imagine how completely cool it would be to live in such a place year-round, though most people don't. Most of these homes are built to be rented, week by week, during the tourist season, and beyond. The lyrics "By the sea, by the sea, by the beatiful sea..." keep playing in my head!

Day 2 at the beach house was just what we figured it would be. I slept late, until about 9:30, having earned about 11 hours of sleep from the previous busy day and days before. Man o man, I must have more exhausted than I even knew! After an easy breakfast, Will and I put together sandwiches and drinks and packed for lunch on the beach. The boys went ahead and set up the beach canopy and chairs, and Anne and I followed right behind them. As I was on the walkway heading to the beach, there were two young girls ahead of me, maybe fourteen or fifteen, both so confident in their bikinis. It made me realize how much time has passed between "then" and "now" and also curious about what kind of bathing suits they'll be donning forty years forward, after life and children, perhaps, have had made their marks on what are now flawless bodies. Oh, cynical me! I hope they appreciate their current perfection!

Walkway to Beach

The beach was more croweded than usual yesterday afternoon. Canopies and umbrellas lined the beach in both directions. This beach actually runs east and west along the Crystal Coast, North Carolina's southern shore. Waves roll in at a bit of an angle, depending on how the wind blows. Eventhough there were a lot of families on the beach, it didn't feel crowded. We spent a few hours and then headed "home" to the pool. Soon it was time to get dinner going, so we all headed in for showers and I started the beginnings of the sauce that would be the foundation for our Italian dinner. Ben helped me make the meat balls. I cooked up some sweet Italian sausage and put together a huge tossed salad. We toasted garlic bread under the broiler and then all sat down to a great spaghetti dinner. Anne uttered those wonderful words, "It smells like a restaurant in here!"...music to my ears.

Ben in the Kitchen

The Aftermath

The kids did the dishes, and we played board games and later sat outside on the 3rd floor deck, late into the night. It was dark but we could hear waves rolling on shore. I went to bed, tired and happy, for another happy day in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, in a very, very, very fine house!!