Crime at the Beach

Mister Tristan (the blog, not the 7 year old human being), has been dark since Sunday, as the bride I and have been away for a few days at Nags Head, NC, with one of our loved ones.  I could have pre-written several posts and scheduled them for publication while I was away, but life interfered with blogging.

But we found that even pleasant vacation spots can experience violent crime:

Image credit Gary: GSW to the back of the shell at close range

More real blogging coming soon.  I am running on Thursday morning at the Naval Support Activity-Mechanicsburg--from whence I retired--with my pre-retirement former running buds.  I fully expect to laugh for about 1 hour, the time it will take to complete one lap of the 6-mile perimeter road.

With any luck I will be able to write another Tales From the Perimeter post.   It's been too long since such a post.

Seen at the Beach

We usually head to Nags Head, NC, but we had an opportunity to go to Ocean City, MD last week.  The two venues are quite different from one another.

I took this shot along the boardwalk:

The flying pig in the background--a huge kite--is quite appropriate juxtaposed with the sign.

French Quarter Kitty...and Ultrarunning

The bride was just in New Orleans this past weekend, on her way to a western Caribbean cruise with the ladies, when she snapped this image:

[image credit The Bride]

 

 

It's a good life, darlin'.

The Ultrarunning part?  I ran 10 miles a couple days ago with no ill effects from or on my finger.  Next milestone--that I am truly dreading--is getting the stitches out on Tuesday.  Just thinking about it makes me cringe.  It's not that I've ever had a history of terrible experiences with removal of medial sutures, it's just that the end of my newly-truncated finger is just so sensitive to the touch.

I plan to ask for Novocaine to prep me.  The marvels of modern medicine, and all that, right?  This is the era of not needing to suffer needlessly.  Better living through pharmaceuticals! 

 

Post-Vacation Blues...and Ultrarunning

The bride and I, plus some heirs to the estate (including Mister Tristan, the 5-year old human being, not the blog), just returned from a wonderful week at Ocracoke Island, NC.

Coming back to the real world seems particularly jarring this year.  Which means that the vacation was indeed special.

We've been vacationing at the Outer Banks for the past 3 decades, but had not stayed on Ocracoke Island since the 70s.  It's south of Cape Hatteras and only reachable via ferry.  The island is some 12 miles or so long, and the village of Ocracoke sits near the southern end.  The village is constrained by the National Seashore and so is of finite size, which limits its development and keeps it rather quaint and charming.

I don't have access to my photos at the moment but will post more soon.

Oh, the connection to Ultrarunning?  I ran exactly once during vacation, an easy 5 miler.  Not exactly a strong training base, but it was the amount I felt like running.  After all, I was on vacation.

Beach Bubbles

Via Boing Boing (and if you have even the slightest geek tendencies and you don't read it regularly, you're missing out), I can see what I'll be doing at the beach next summer.

This is a great post called How to Make Giant Bubbles, complete with a brief video (embedded below), plus a set of clear, step-by-step instructions on how to make the super-sized wand.  As we all know by now from Harry Potter, the wand is the key (in this case, to giant bubbles).

See, right about now is when we pay the up-front half of the rental for our 2013 beach house at North Carolina's Outer Banks.  So things like this are quite germane, even in mid-winter. 

I'm pretty confident that Mister Tristan (the then-5 year old human being, not the blog) will be enthralled.  As will I....