What A Day

Another gorgeous day!  Whoever ordered May weather in August, thank you!  We have been truly blessed with such beautiful weather yesterday and today.  Tomorrow will be a three-peat.  After that, we're suppose to expect a visit from Hurricane Irene by week's end.  We'll see, the weather folks are over the map with their impact projections.  After my pot of coffee and a little of the Today Show, headed out for my morning walk.  I decided to head the opposite direction which I usually take for a change of scenery.  It was a crisp 67 degrees, just perfect at 10am.

I remembered why I don't head this way that often, it is a bit of an incline, really gets the heart rate going.

Most flowers are done for the summer, I found these hanging on.  I don't know what they are, but they're pretty.

I probably walked two miles today, for me, that's a good walk.  When I reached the top of "the hill" I crossed the street and headed back.  From here maybe you can see the incline a bit better.

I passed this colonial style home.  This is a very 1960s house I think, right down to the flag in the front yard.  I wonder if Mrs. Cleaver or The Beave are home?

This house is on the corner of a well travelled street.   People with swimming pools must enclosed with a minimum six foot fence.  I go past this house most days I'm out walking.  It is about half a mile from my house.  There is never anyone in the swimming pool.   I've often been tempted to knock on the door and tell the owners how inviting their swimming pool looks.  I would introduce myself as a neighbor and casually mention that I've noticed no one uses the pool, and saying "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I did."  Look closely, through the fence, once again, no one is in the pool.

Finally, home is in sight, I'm almost there and sweating but feeling good.  Yay, Home Sweet Home!!

After wiping myself down and getting a tall glass of cold water, I turned on the TV just for noise in the house.  I needed to get the kitchen floor cleaned again, I dragged out the vacuum and cleaned the house, then got the mop for the kitchen floor.  I waited awhile for the floor to dry, while playing Solitaire on the laptop.

It was almost noon, time for lunch.  I made myself another salad with some home grown tomatoes.  I think I'm making a dent in the surplus now that their bloom has stopped.  While I'm watching the noon news and eating my salad, John walks in the door, scared me half to death.  It seems it is another boring day at work.  He said he's still got two days to burn between now and September 1st to get off the books so he doesn't lose the leave.  That will give him the maximum balance allowed for carryover (3 weeks).  He had taken his lunch to work and ate it at his desk.  He said he didn't want anything else to eat and headed to the bedroom to change.

I finished my salad and put away the vacuum cleaner.  I had left it in the middle of the living room deciding to put it away later.  I checked Facebook to see what my friends were up to and played another game.  I figured I'd do some job hunting later this afternoon, after my soap opera.  Almost 1pm I switched to ABC for All My Children, it is really getting good since they've decided to take it off the air.  It will be picked up by cable or go to the internet, the storyline will continue, just not on network television.  It is being replaced by a cooking show called The Chew...hummm.

At 1:51pm, our house started shaking violently.  We are about ten minutes from Dulles Airport (NW of Washington, DC).  I thought it might be a low flying plane.  When it didn't stop in five seconds, I yelled for John who came from our computer room/office (third bedroom) and asks what all the shaking was.  I said I was going outside to see, he followed me.  I had left my Facebook open on my laptop in the kitchen.  Whatever it was it stopped.  I remember back to the late 60s when we lived in Alaska, it felt like an earthquake.  We didn't lose power.  John said whatever it was, it would be on TV.  I switched channels (the soap opera was still on), nothing.  I looked my laptop where my Facebook wall was scrolling that we'd had an earthquake!  They said it was 5.9 magnitude (they don't say Richter scale anymore apparently).  It was felt on the East Coast from South Carolina to Ontario, Canada centered in Mineral, Virginia about 40 miles NW of Richmond.  One vote for social media, the earthquake was confirmed on Facebook before the news broke on the television.

The news broke in about 2pm to confirm the quake.  John walked the house inside and out to survey and damage.  He opened and closed all the windows making sure nothing was cracked.  Our only mishap, my desk drawer opened all by itself.

Of course the news was full of stories and interviews, "where were you when the earthquake struck?"  I was thankful John was home.  It reminded me of 9-11, the chaos of hearing the noise and not knowing what was happening.  Our house shook too when the plane hit the Pentagon.  For John and I in our 19 years together it was our first earthquake together.  You always remember your firsts!