Footprints in the sand - my size and others

At the beginning of the summer, I vowed that I would have a summer!

In blogs and on Facebook I always hear mothers talking about how awesome it will be for the kids to be out of school and how they are so excited for the pool, family trips and relaxation.

My past five or six summers have been highly stressful work saturated summers which subsequently turned me into a transparent light version of myself and drastically stressed out sun worshipper wannabe. Having a fiscal year that ends in September means that the entire world dumps money and projects on us from June - August with the expectation that we are somehow going to complete them by October 1st. Whatever.

Not so this year. I've taken at least a couple of days a week to swim laps after work and have at least driven to a beach or two and waded in the six inch deep water. Getting a slight tan has been nice, especially knowing that I've been able to do it after 4:00 p.m. on most days and so I at least feel like it was "safely" achieved. Plus, who can complain of real ocean air, sand grating between the toes, and a few McDonald's wildberry smoothies along the way.

It is enough.

Just enough to make me feel like I've had a summer. Now it is August and even after about 40-50 days of humidity/heat that is WAY over 90 degrees, I still want more.

And, I got a little more.

This week, for work, I got to travel down to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area, a little southeast of Richmond. That is quite the drive. Without traffic I'm sure it can be accomplished under three hours, but when is there no traffic going toward a beach? Or, shall we say 100s of beaches? Or, say, those people that decide to bring the beach (er, pool) with them and plug up traffic? (Which, ironically, by the time I finally got close enough to take the picture had subsided).

Along the way, I decided to take some back roads since I wasn't going directly to Norfolk, and ended up driving through Newport News, VA. I used to get a catalog in my teen years selling clothing supposedly from Newport News. It showed attractive people (kind of like Ralph Lauren models) wearing  Sperry Topsiders, posing on yachts, and sporting white teeth, tousled wind blown hair and beautiful tans. So, I've always wanted to see Newport News.

It's got a big bridge over the James River.

It does have a beach (many of them actually), that I discovered right before crossing the bridge.

It also has a ton of ships which I couldn't get good pictures of while driving over the bridge. There are gorgeous homes along the waterfront properties, but elsewhere it appeared a little dilapidated with lots of stores closing and a few characters riff raffing about. That seems to be the look of a few ocean side cities.

The great thing about the entire western side of Virginia is that the shoreline has so much character - bays, rivers, outlets, inlets, etc. It creates so many extra hundreds of miles of beachfront that couldn't be possible if it was a straight coast like say - Oregon.

But, I digress.

So, I spent my moments at Newport News and then continued on to my destination - which I will neither confirm or deny because I went to a "facility." I had to be escorted everywhere which is always funny since I don't do anything that requires such mannerisms.

Lucky for me, my cousin and family were visiting her parents (OK, my cousin's wife and the kids - which is called what?) in Virginia from San Jose, CA and so we got to meet up at Yorktown.

(I do not like self-portraits - especially on 100 degree sweaty days, but this is all I have of me and Lorena)

What a great place! I've never been there even though it is right there by Williamsburg!

Williamsburg is a great colonial town, but at almost $40 a person it isn't something you stop at every time you drive by. However, Yorktown is much cheaper and there is a great little beach area.

(Only five of the kids are my cousins. I know, the "only" part is all relative)

(Trying to figure out if that was a jellyfish in the water)

(It is a fairly large dead jellyfish which was then escorted up on the sand and buried by some little people that felt it necessary.)

Besides the beach there is free parking, a shuttle bus that takes you to Jamestown and to the little Yorktown settlement as well as festive music playing the evenings on the green.

It was great to spend a couple of hours seeing relatives and relaxing before heading back towards DC. I'm definitely going to take a trip back this way!

I got to take yet another bridge away from Yorktown and towards DC. Instead of the typical freeway, I took the back way up through beaches, corn fields, marshes and little towns. A great diversion (except for the torrential downpour part) from day to day life - just being able to drive somewhat in the right direction home.

(Disclaimer: Don't try this while driving like I did. One hand was on the wheel at all times....maybe)

Anyway, good little trip for many reasons.

To see some bird stereotypes in action.

To get weirded out that my phone knows where I am before I do.

And, to leave my footprints in some sand.

As well as some sand in the car.

Summer footprints - ah, time to hit just one more beach!

Blog Blunders

So, I see a comment on my cousin's blog from a person named "Tam" and I followed the link to a website of a Tammy and xxx. It had a new baby on it and so I thought it was my cousin's blog. I wrote a note saying I was her long lost cousin. Of course, now that I think about it ...she had a new baby like four months ago.

Today I went back to her blog and thought I might recognize some of the links on her blog roll. None were familiar and none seemed to be from her family or area of the country.

I went back to my cousin's blog and realized it was a different Tammy by the initial she placed at the end of her comment.

Such are the surprises in the blog world.

Oh You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby!

This afternoon I got on Facebook and saw that one of my brothers and one of my cousins had written on another cousin's wall. Both comments were something to the effect of "sorry about your Dad." Hmmm. I wasn't sure what it meant and then listened to a voicemail from my parents telling me that my Uncle Don had passed away last night of a heart attack. He had been through a few surgeries for a brain tumor he had a few years ago, but I thought he had been able to move forward.
These are sad times, but I must admit...the few moments I've had to reflect have brought a lot of memories that I hadn't thought about for a while.

My family lived in Nebraska when I was in the 1st through the 3rd grade. Because there were not many congregations for our church, some people traveled rather far for the Sunday meetings. One person stayed with our family each weekend - Don Tompkins. I remember that he had a gruff, but pleasant voice and that one of his jobs was as a beekeeper. He would always come in the house and start belting out in a loud, strong singing voice "Oh, You must have been a beautiful baby, but oh boy look at ya now..." to the four little girls (me and my sisters). It was slightly embarrassing to us, but I remember we would all blush because he was giving us a compliment.

I remember him cooking fried chicken in this special cooking pan and using a lot of honey for his special recipe. Yuck! Or, at least that is what we would say before we tasted the chicken and then the yuck would turn to yum. It seemed to me that he put honey on to everything he ate, but not sure if memory is serving me well.

He also had some cool running shoes, but I remember them being fairly high tech (it was the late 70s so no telling what high tech resembled at that time) for what we were used to at our house.

I'm not sure how long it was, but after a while my parents decided that they were match makers and they asked one of my father's sisters to come out to meet this guy. I don't remember much about their dating experience, except that one day I came into my bedroom and they were sitting on my twin bed kissing. Something happened while they were sitting there and either the bed broke or the mattress slide off or something. I remember high tailing it out of the room because I didn't want to have to tell anyone what happened...or maybe I was just laughing. After all, what is an 8 year old to do in these situations?

They were married a short time later and that was my first experience as a bridesmaid - or shall I say mini-bridesmaid/flower girls.

I haven't seen my Uncle Don or Aunt Kathryn that much over the years. Perhaps at a few family reunions and then when they all came up to DC for Clark's wedding in 2001. However, my parents and other siblings have taken a few trips down to see them in Georgia and they've been up to Indiana a few times. Good memories.

Over the last year I've not re-connected with my Uncle Don, but have re-connected with my cousins on Facebook. It's kind of strange that I knew their father before they did. I was a healthy 8-9 years old by the time Don and Kathryn were married. So, these memories are something to add to their memories of him...and for them to know that he made a positive impression in my life, and the rest of my family.

May the Tompkins family be comforted in their time of need and know that we love and support them...even if far away from Georgia.
The Tompkins family in April 2008 as photographed by http://www.clairissacooper.com/.