Life Interrupted

I decided to forgo my Shark Week post today because I was so stunned to learn of the death of Robin Williams.  While I admit I didn't know the man personally, he's been welcomed into my home since my childhood.

  From Mork & Mindy, which I watched religiously with my rainbow suspenders running around saying Shazbot! and Na-nu Na-nu!, to movies like Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Hook, Aladdin, Flubber, Good Will Hunting, Dead Poet's Society, Patch Adams, Night at the Museum.... I could continue but I'm sure most have seen at least one Robin Williams performance.  I've watched these over and over again.  My children have watched these, over and over again. I know he brought me and my family joy and laughter.  He brought joy and laughter to deployed troops through the USO. 

He made the world laugh.

But behind all of that laughter, was a man in pain.  And that's really what I want to touch upon.  Depression kills. WHO estimates 340 million people worldwide have depression.  It's debilitating.  It sucks your hope away.  It takes away your motivation to do things, things you love to do, things that if you could just get yourself to do them might make you feel a little better.  It causes physical pain in the form of aching muscles, back pain, indigestion and headaches.  Many suffer in silence, portraying a happy outward persona when emotionally they are anything but happy.  Some attempt to self medicate and slip into the dangerous waters of addiction.  Chances are, you know someone who is suffering, whether you actually know it or not. 

With that in mind, remember that everyone is fighting their own battles.  No one is perfect, everyone has a story.  And one conversation, one kind word or gesture could be the thing that saves someone's life.  And if you're someone who suffers from depression, you aren't alone even if you feel that way, you really aren't.  There are people who can help.

The National Suicide Hotline Number is 1-800-273-8255
The call is free, confidential and answered by a trained counselor.
Go to this site Suicide Prevention Online for information on how to get help or how to report suicidal comments you encounter on social media. 

Get help.
Speak up. 
If not for yourself or someone you know or love, do it in gratitude for a man who spent his life making people feel good even when inside he was suffering.

"Carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary"

Shark Week: The Submarine

It's that time of year again, folks.  Time to discuss all things shark.  Only here on this blog, we don't make up stuff and pass it off as fact to raise our ratings.

The Malta Shark

Several months ago, I came upon a story about a shark that supposedly lived off the coast of South Africa that the locals dubbed "The Submarine".  It was said this shark was 30+ feet in length and was blamed for several attacks on boats and people in the 70's and 80's.  While there have been reports of Great Whites growing to 7-9 meters (22-29 feet), there is no actual documentation.  Research of large Great Whites revealed squid parts in their stomachs rather than seals indicating that they live far offshore and far away from public view.  It's possible this is the reason why there is no documentation of a 22-29 foot Great White even though there have been sightings and reports of them.

The average Great White grows to around 5 meters or 16.5 feet length.  There have been larger Great Whites captured.  One was caught off the coast of Malta, Italy and measured 6.8 meters (22 feet) long.  It is the largest captured Great White that has been accurately measured and recorded.

After doing a little research, I came to the conclusion that The Submarine was probably not 30 feet long.  Out in open waters it would be extremely difficult to judge the length of a shark, especially if it's swimming or attacking.  In fact in the Daily Mail there was an article with the headline "Tourist Killed by 'Dinosaur Sized' Great White Shark Off South African Beach".  One witness to the attack referred to the shark as "dinosaur huge" and "larger than a mini bus".  But another person judged the shark to be about 5 meters (16.5 feet) long which is really the average full size of a Great White.  Nothing dinosaur about it.  This just proves that people either exaggerate or don't accurately judge the size of something, and I think the stress of witnessing an attack would add to this issue.  Further research into The Submarine revealed that some local reporters in South Africa were discussing the gullibility of their readers one evening and hatched the plan to test their theories.  They made up a story about a large shark and people immediately started reporting sightings.  And thus, the urban legend of The Submarine began.  Was there a large shark causing problems in the 70's and 80's that could have been a real "Submarine" definitely yes, just not a 30 foot shark.

So, with all this talk about sharks in South Africa, you're thinking you don't have anything to worry about in Virginia or the Chesapeake Bay.  Aren't you cute.

Last year a 12 foot Great White was caught at the mouth of the Bay and a 15 foot Great White was caught in Coastal Waters by the Bay.  Earlier this year, several dolphins were found with large chunks missing.  A professor emeritus with VIMS (Virginia Institute of Marine Science) concluded is was a Great White bite and that the shark was about 10 feet in length.  And Mary Lee a 3.500 pound Great White fitted with a Ocearch surveillance tag was recorded hanging out in the Hatteras Inlet and the mouth of the Bay. 

Happy swimming!

The Boxer

I never had the pleasure of meeting my great-grandfather Monroe, and that's a sad thing because the stories about him are among my favorites.  One in particular is my favorite and demonstrates what a character (scrapper) he was.

Monroe and his best friend M- joined the military back in WWI.  They were sent to what is now Ft Lee for training.  At the time, they had to wait for all the other newly enlisted men to arrive for the training to begin, so the men were entertained by setting up a boxing ring.  There was a Lieutenant who was a big man and from accounts an excellent boxer.  The main event was watching this LT take on anyone who was willing to fight him.  One by one his challengers were knocked out and carried out of the ring.  During all this, Monroe was watching the matches and dancing around with his fists up muttering to himself while he ducked and dodged as though he were in the ring. He even made the comment that he would take out that "SOB".

So when the last guy was carried out of the ring, the Lieutenant invited anyone who wanted to go a round to enter the ring.  And before anyone else could make a move, Monroe was in the ring.  It was the big burly Lieutenant against the small statured scrapper from Deltaville.  The match began.  Monroe began bouncing and moving on his feet.  The Lieutenant took a giant swing at Monroe but Monroe ducked and the blow missed his head.  But as he dodged, Monroe came up with a swift upper cut that hit the Lt square on the jaw.  It's said that the Lieutenant was literally lifted off the ground by the blow and was knocked out.  As he Lieutenant was carried away, Monroe turned to his friend and said, "I told you I'd knock out that SOB".

The Reception

 After the ceremony there were pictures.

 We actually suggested that one of the photographers 

cluck like a chicken to get Baby X to laugh.

He did- awesome shot.

 My mom was two-fisting it.

(Not really, she was just holding my brother and sister's beer.)

 It's how we roll.

The Brat Child photobombing in the background.

 We actually hiked up to the falls.

Hiking in a wedding dress is no easy feat.

I got several interesting stares

but mostly people congratulated us.

 We also took photos on the famous Swinging Bridge

We arrived!

 We had our first dance.

 My dad and I danced.

 The brat Child and I danced.

He had this whole plan to dance to Ghostbusters 

with Nerf guns 

and pretend we were hunting ghosts.

He chickened out.

 There was delicious cake

 And time with friends and family

 

The End.

If you're interested in any of the DIY projects I did, you can check out my other blog The Wannabe Farm where I will share some of the details.

The Wedding

Now that the wedding is over,

I can finally share some of the details.

Cascade Falls

 The wedding and ceremony were held at Patapsco Valley State Park.

If you've read older posts on this blog,

you might remember the name of the park.

My great-uncle "Pepop" 

was once the superintendent here.

Bloede Dam

I spent a lot of time here as a kid too.

And one of my grandmother's favorite photos:

l to r: my brother, my grandmother, my sister and me

was taken at this park.

So it made sense to have it here.

 I had my custom made wedding shoes.

Since the wedding took place on flag day

and all bride's need something blue

I went with the blue and red theme.

The wedding date is embroidered on the side. 

Yes, I know I'm wicked cool.  

 There was the arranging of the arbor.

The arbor was built by Big E.

We cut the the branches for it ourselves
 from trees needing to be cleared from the fence line at home.

The day of the ceremony it was realized that the arbor wasn't quite sturdy enough,

so my dad and brother helped with those corner supports you see in the back.

 My sister did the flower arranging.

She actually did all the actual hands on arranging-

I just gave instruction on what flowers went into what arrangements. 

(from what I heard, my brother also helped with the flower arranging on the arbor)

My brother Lunchbox being cool- in my gardening gloves.

There was setting up of the chairs.

And by chairs I mean straw bales.

The finished product for the ceremony.

I scored those 2 large hydrangeas last minute.

The Brat Child looking serious.

The Brat Child looks so solemn

and Baby X is hanging onto the wagon with both hands.

I just now realized that my dad wore his sunglasses.

Here's the first look.

 There was the ceremony

 Midge sang "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri

 Then Big E surprised me with a song "Grow Old Along With Me"

Then we kissed.

Tomorrow I'll share the other photos.

Another Tree

Anyone who has read this blog before knows about my love affair with a tree at Aaron's Beach in Mathews, VA.

 This tree.

But the tree finally succumbed to the elements and is no longer standing.

So while on my honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean,

we stopped in Freeport Bahamas

and drove our Jeep Caravan out into the ocean

(on a road not, like, on the water).

And at the point was this little tree that appealed to me.

 It occurred to me that it was similar to my little tree in Mathews

(only this one wasn't dead).

And I wasn't the only one who saw the resemblance,

Big E said it reminded him of my tree too.

I guess I'll have to start traveling to the Bahamas on a regular basis 

in order to visit with the tree.

Hurricane a' Comin'

Hurrican Arthur swiped past on its way to the Atlantic.

We had some gusty winds up to 50 MPH

and rain

and water nearly up to the pier.

All in all, pretty hum drum.