Sand and Sun
I played hookie yesterday with my girlfriend T.E. and, in a rare moment of irresponsiblilty, went to the Outer Banks of NC. It was a quick day trip with no real intent other than to taste the salt air, hang out on the sand, dip toes into the ocean and have a mango margarita or two with California Style Fish Tacos at Mama Kwan’s (on Milepost 9.5 on the main highway!). MMMMMahi mahi!
The weather wasn’t exactly the most accommodating for our little adventure, as it rained in spurts all morning through to early afternoon. But that didn’t keep us out of the shops and the outlets. We hit the beach around 2 in what seemed like an opening in the clouds but the break was short lived and we were hit with 
BIG rain so we headed northward up the coast in the silver bullet (my VW) eventually finding another good public beach access and we parked our chairs and our backsides on a fairly deserted strip of sand to watch some summers-end stragglers and a small group of skimboarding, suntanned boys play in the surf. The clouds periodically parted to reveal patches of azure sky and the porpoises breached and crested very close to shore on the placid water.
So we sat there and watched the best show on earth, lulled into a peaceful sleep by the waves. T.E. was first to fall out. I noticed she grew suddenly silent and turned my gaze on her napping form. I played in the sand, creating a little sun face with shells for decoration and eventually got bored and passed into my own dreams of porpoises at play.
What a fantastic day that was! We had a great trip, in spite of the weather. Who could ask for better than the peace of the waves crashing and a desolate beach in the fall. Wishing you all such happy moments!
TT