This winter was one that came early and then stayed too long, but despite winter’s best efforts my son’s spring break from school has arrived, and today, the weather was perfect.
The skies were clear, the air was just a bit moist (without being oppressively humid), and a quick check of weather.com showed that as perfect as the weather was in Raleigh, it was even more perfect in Wrightsville Beach.
So, after I had finished with a number of errands (each of which took longer than I expected), I decided that despite the fact that it was already mid-afternoon, my son and I would pack up our things and head to the beach.
We would not have a lot of time to spend there, but I figured that even a not-long-enough walk and dinner at the beach were better than the alternative.
Because my son was willing to humor me and set out on this last minute trek to the beach, he got to choose all of the music for the drive. As we made our way from the piedmont to the coast and back again, we listened to dozens of the 100 United States Marine Band marches that he had at his disposal.
As we zoomed past the mile markers and billboards along the side of the road, he attempted to educate me as to various aspects and features of different marches, and would then periodically play selections and identify the march’s country of origin.
By the time we reached Wrightsville Beach, I was able to distinguish between French, German, English, and Sousa marches well enough to please my son.
Before we began our walk on the beach, he humored me just a bit more, and I was able to get some photos of blankets on the beach. In the limited time available, I got this photo of my first rendition of the Better Homes & Gardens Granny Square Sampler Afghan:
My 2010 North Carolina State Fair effort:
The groovyghan (which I could not get to behave):
My 2011 North Carolina State Fair piece:
and Cookieghan 2.0:
I had promised my son that I would be quick about it, so we packed the blankets up as quickly as we had set them out, and then headed down the beach toward Johnnie Mercer’s Pier:
and then back to where we had started out just in time to see this contrail on the horizon:
After a quick dinner, we headed home, and while I always find my time at the beach to be too short, I also find it very restorative, and just as I don’t ever regret a single stitch of crochet, I have not yet experienced a bad day at the beach.
