"IT'S HERE!!! Oh, wait a minute..."

Not a video game player, I. I think I might really enjoy a Wii, with it's physically interactive interface, but I've never tried one. If I had a couple of hours to play a video, I'd much rather be making something or reading and learning something new.

Apparently, there just was a big release of an updated Madden football game for the XBOX 360 that has all sorts of new and updated bells and whistles...and front cover. Back in the development stages before the recent release, the cover figure was none other than the iconic Brett Favre from the Green Bay Packers.

Or used to be, rather.

It was only mere days ago Favre announced he wanted to come out of retirement as he missed the game so much, among other reasons, I'm sure. Alas, Green Bay wanted nothing to do with him, for various reasons. Just the other day, he was traded to the New York Jets.

"Oops!" on the cover design now out the window. Apparently when you buy the game, they hand you the new printed cover for you to insert yourself over the outdated Cheesehead version:


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Rainy day here at the coast today, which is fine with me as I have some creative stuff I'd like to focus on a while. Did find a two-headed mermaid in the sand yesterday, which was causing a temporary stir:

But that was in the morning...by afternoon the filtered 'white sky' had moved in in advance of the incoming low pressure system. Mercy is still rather tentative in the beachy setting...not too many pups you'd have off the leash that would just stand there and look at you like this:


And now what I do is wait for a break in the showers so she'll go out for her morning 'exercise'!

"Ever-changing weather weather..."

Rare is the day I am not up well before the sun...even on vacation. In the pre-dawn darkness I could see low clouds still spitting out raindrops, and my radar showed a heavy rain cell just overhead and pushing east into the Atlantic. Overnight showers are not uncommon in many coastal areas, as warm ocean air meets slightly cooler land air as winds shift and boundaries move through. Even with a 'thicker' sky the magic is all there...

(remember, you can click on pics to enlarge)

In my morning walk, I wrapped up the knee and opted for tennis shoes to aid in a longer traipse up to the pier and back. The night's high tide was not enough to dismantle a couple of cute sand and shell creations I ran across...of all the sand sculptures and castles I made growing up, I've never thought of encrusting the top with shells...

Given that Mercy still hasn't come around to loving the water any more than she does, the walk back was via a nice sidewalk lining the main beach drag, which is often used by walkers and bicyclists. Along the way were several open lots facing the inner estuaries, all well-splashed in red. A cultivar-escapee covering the Carolina coastline with ample color is Gaillardia (aka Fire Wheel, Indian Blanket), a self-seeding annual that loves the sandy soil...

You may wonder why it was I didn't just turn around and take the beach back to the house? Maybe Mercy would have 'seen the light' and decided she loved the beach after all? Well, truth be told, there is one simple reason I gave in to her non-beach-route demands, and the picture below says it all...


Pier pressure.

"It's official....

Mercy is NOT a beach pup. Some dogs eat it up, but Mercy is my mountain girl, alright. She doesn't mind the soft sand up high, but whether it's the noise of the ocean or the way the water flows (she does love creeks and ponds), she disdains the flattened sand near the water. Walks with her are limited, which suits my right knee just fine.

Oh, and we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Just a fairly quiet, skinny barrier island just above the SC coast in NC for the week, a vacation which was well-timed from many months of prior planning. I'll need lots of energy and stamina to round out the month of August when I return as we officially put News 14 Wilmington on-line. Until then, I will remain as unplugged as possible.

This beach is fully developed residentially, but without the commercialism of high-rise hotels and mega-stores. The picture below speaks of wildness, but it's simply selective cropping. I must say, in the world of beaches, even with most houses occupied it's not very crowded here.

And while the sun began this much-needed break, there is some inclement weather coming through. Looking at storms, showers on the radar this morning almost overhead but moving east into the Atlantic. Not a sunworshipper, I, so clouds and showers at the beach are a non-issue.

Interesting, too, this section of the NC coast below Cape Fear has a concave shape, and this island (along with a few others) are much more closely oriented east-west as opposed to north-south, hence the summer sun rising not over the water but from behind the beachfront houses.

Wont' be a sunrise this morning, though...okay, there will be one, but it will be positioned on the other side of thick clouds for now. Good time to post this blog, have some more coffee, and read about some of the great Olympic competitions since I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to see the men's 4x100 freestyle "race of races"...