Best Laid Plans

Weekends don't always turn out like you plan, do they? This was a good weekend in many ways: both of the youngers (Stef & Melissa) came home for a quick visit, and we had Lindsay and Jonathan over Saturday night to celebrate her birthday with make-your-own pizza night and cupcakes. And Stef fixed my camera settings and took a few shots with it. Cool view of the UVA scarf, isn't it?

But Steve and I are at odds, which created an atmosphere of tension all weekend, I didn't see enough of Melissa (she was only here from 11:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., mostly sleeping), and I had to go to the hospital this morning right after she left to sit with my mom and dad, because he was having chest pain.



The good news is that his heart seems fine, they discharged him, and he'll see his cardiologist for a follow-up stress test tomorrow, but he's still having some pain, so something is going on. Steve and I will figure things out, and life will be good. I'll see Melissa again soon (but not soon enough).

I made homemade macaroni and cheese for Stef before she left and packed the leftovers for her to eat later, along with the remaining cupcakes. And she took some autumn cheer back to Richmond with her, in the form of two pumpkins and the pumpkin hat I made her a few years ago.



She also modeled the UVA scarf for me, since I'm tired of the couch photos.



I took a walk on the beach right after Steve left to take her back to Richmond. It's a gray, misty day, with some whitecaps brightening up the view. And now that I'm back home, I hear some rolling thunder.



How do these birds stand on one leg in the wind for so long?

Here's a shore bird getting some dinner in the spray.







Do you ever wonder about the stories behind the detritus you find on a beach? Like the story behind this discarded rose?





And this yellow feather? It seems too large for anything but a gull, but the yellow? I don't recognize it at all. Maybe someone's pet tropical bird escaped?

What do you think? What stories do you see?