I'm b-a-a-a-ck

I will have photos this weekend. We were so tired (but in a good way) when we got back, we didn't upload them. I cried when we were packing up to go home. Assateague and Chincoteague are, and I realize this could show a narrow world view, among my two favorite places on planet Earth. I always feel like I've come "home" when I get there, because it centers me, and I hate to leave. Because I worry I won't get back, and I draw so much . . . hope . . . from there. It's a magic place; otherwise, how could a place with tiny fairy deer and wild ponies from Spanish galleons with maps of America imprinted on their sides exist in this world, and it would be a terrible shame if I never got back.

It was very soothing time, cool nights, warm days. We didn't even get to Ocean City for the car show; SO was so happy just relaxing, with our major issue being cooking. Very nice to spend the evenings just watching the stars, and listening to the waves, without a care about time. And talking, we are so busy usually with the everyday, gotta worry issues that we sometimes don't talk, and we did this weekend. It was very romantic in that regard and I feel like we moved closer. So it's no wonder that SO is talking about selling his racecar and buying a camper. I can go with that.

I got a lot of inspiration for dying thread this weekend from the surroundings. We picked up some shells on the beach, and it was a marvel to look at the way the colors blended so beautifully. It's funny how, in nature, nothing ever sticks out flamboyantly without reason. The greens and grey-blues of the vegetation against the cream of the sand. Here and there a dab of yellow. How the sunset combines grey and purple, and pale blue, and orange and, even though that sounds horrible together, it was amazing. Sun-mellowed red brick against the last of summer's green, even how the colors of the ponies melded with the landscape, even when they were white. It all works. That's something I needed to see to make my dyeing skills better; I worry and agonize that it has to be "perfect", but, in nature, perfect is flexible, perfect isn't planned, and perfect happens out of the organic. There is beauty in the spontaneous. That's something I need to remember.

It's kind of hard to explain, but you can not get from the Maryland part of Assateague to the Virginia (and Chincoteague) side, where all the tourist stuff is, by driving down the island. We had to drive 50 miles on the mainland to get there, but it was worth it. We climbed Assateague light, it was SO's first time going up in a lighthouse, and he was so happy. I, on the other hand, thought I was seriously going to die on the way up. It was 175 steps with landings every 25 steps (they tell you this to give you hope, but seriously, by the 150th step, it don't matter, you just concede to your broken spirit that, indeed, you will spend the rest of your life climbing in a circle, but, fortunately, that life won't be long if your heart and lungs continue on their projected path of bursting), and the view from the top was pretty awesome. SO was walking around the perimeter of the lantern room, but I stayed still; I was a little dizzy. It was nice to look out over the island. The guide explained that in winter, thousands of snow geese cover a pond nearby, and that the light from the lens can be seen 22 miles out to sea. You could see forever. Just gorgeous, especially since the trees are starting to change color. Going down was way easier, but there were SCADS of mosquitoes. SO had one on his face, and I had to slap him to kill it. We bought an ornament to celebrate the climb and then had a good lunch in Chincoteague. You can't go to the coast and not eat seafood, so we sat in a dockside bar (there aren't a lot of restaurants open on the island after Labor Day) that served potato skins loaded with crab, shrimp and scallops, topped with cheese. OH MAN WAS THAT GOOD. Eagles were flying around in the channel. It was pretty cool.

I didn't get a lot of stitching done. Really not much of anything. I had my exchange partner's ornament to work on, but I was worried it would get dirty, so held off on that. I finished it this morning. It's really pretty. Now to get it to the finisher, and have it in the mail. I am taking a break from my geisha for a couple weeks. I have to finish Trick or Treat fairy by the end of the month. She's almost done anyway, but almost ain't is. The geisha can wait, she's not got a lot left to do. But I wanted something small and simple to work on for a few days, so I pulled an old freebie from Blackbird designs and started that this morning. It's a monochromatic sampler, which I am doing in Crescent Colors' Blacksmith Blue on 32 count creamy beige fabric. It's pretty. It shouldn't take too long.

I needed this weekend. I didn't realize how much til I wrote this. This is more proof it's my magic place. I hope you get a chance to go there. It will truly change your perspective