tomatoes and olives

"i find the sea-life an acquired taste, like that of tomatoes and olives." -- ralph waldo emerson, english traits

lunch at the chart house in alexandria, va allowed us a leisurely time to catch up and enjoy a sunny capital day on the water, with yachts and ferries interspersed.  one of these visits i have to find time to ply the potomac waters and journey to chesapeake bay.  it was a wonderful time to celebrate AnnaStacia's birthday!!  we missed JMA/JEA but had quality time with Maura and Jenna and parents.  i'm glad they kept the light on for us!

beautiful balloons

"seas roll to waft me, suns to light me rise; my footstool earth, my canopy the skies." -- alexander pope, essay on man

up, up and away

leroy clair, the pilot of "clair skies", the friendliest balloonist in the country!

 our team of trenton, leroy, kim and kelsie packing up after a flight.

 hocus pocus was dale dommer's balloon and basket case belonged to aaron foelske.

 the clair skies was once again our chance to take to the air and experience a beautiful trip over the lake.

 mike hadley's pink panther was our savior in sunday's am flight.  he was hovering over the first target so we couldn't make a throw to the X but dropping the bag on top of his balloon found it stuck on the parachute.  leroy told the scorer that the bag was on top so mike pulled the top and it fell through the balloon and landed on the target.  we scored when there looked like no chance!

it was tough to land on the streetlights but this one came close.

harmony

 "with an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things." -- william wordsworth

even with daytime temps above 100 degrees, and no breeze, red rock was a joyful place for a saturday morning paddle.  a trip to the west beach, a half hour of picking up trash, a stop at the "peace tree", and a visit to painted rock and the north shore made for an enjoyable workout and respite from a busy week.  this am a run down to hickory ridge yielded treasures of trash and a precarious carry back to whitebreast ramp.  now if people would just stop littering my lake...