What Was I Thinking?

Cloudy skies in Rehoboth, hit the malls!

Good question.

Today the skies here at the beach are overcast.  Rain is threatening?  So what do I do this afternoon after stopping a Food Lion?  I decide to pay a quick visit to the outlet mall to pick up a couple new pair of Reebok Walkers.  Oh God, what was I thinking?

One of the cardinal rules in the summertime here at the beach, other than stay as far away from the beach as possible during the middle of a hot, sunny, summer day is never......NEVER go to the outlet malls when the sky is overcast.  Why?  That's when the Horde (aka the "summertime crowd") hits the outlet malls.

Your eyes are not deceiving you, there are NO PARKING SLOTS LEFT

I'm blaming my lapse of judgment on the fact that I just got up from a hour afternoon nap.  Otherwise I would never have put myself in that vortex that is the outlet malls at Rehoboth Beach on an overcast summer day.

More cars arrive at the outlet mall - good luck finding a parking slot

Rule Number One:  There is no available parking.

Rule Number Two: Whatever item you're looking for, they're going to be out of it.

Rule Number Three:  You'll never find a salesperson.

All three of the above rules applied today.

Shoppers at an orgy of spending at the outlet mall this afternoon

I did not find parking.  I had to park at the adjoining mall (Super Fresh mall)

There it is!  The Reebook store (to the far right of the picture) My trek is almost completed

I DID NOT find my Reebok Walkers, size 12, 2 EE wide.  Nope. No way.  They were out.

I DID NOT find or even see a sales person in the whole store.  I think they were all hiding out in the back until the Horde left.

With my Mission Unaccomplished (I briefly considered getting size 11 but they only had one and it was get one, get the second one for half price), my next goal was to GET OUT OF THERE.

Lots of shoppers, no sales people and merchandise pretty well picked over

So I tippy toe to my car in the NEXT MALL parking lot (about 15 minutes away - I can always use the exercise) and plan my escape.

How to get out of here?  Do I want to exit and continue south on Rt. 1 and then take my chances making a U-turn (which is legal in Delaware.)  I decide against this course of action.  No need to put my brand new 2010 red Subaru Forester in more danger than I have already put it in.

I decide to go out the Super Fresh mall the back way and make the exit on the far side.  At least I have the light with me.

Then I enter the slow lava flow that is called Summertime Traffic on Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach.

I head north to my home, three miles up Rt. 1 and to the left.

As is usually the case, I get stuck behind a truck with God Knows What They Are Dragging.

My view on the way home - looks like my last move

Of course on the way home I have cars cutting me off and darting to the right and left of me.

This is normal traffic on Rt. 1 in the height of the summer season.  The Crazies are out.

I make it home unscathed.  I'm not a religious person but I'll say it anyway:

Thank you Jesus!

Last of the Purple Martins

Purple Martin sentries this evening

The Purple Martins are raising their last batch of young and will leave their birdhouse in my backyard in a few weeks.  It always seems like they leave to early but I guess this is necessary for their long trek to their winter home.

I was successful in keeping the sparrows out of my backyard habitat this year.  None raised their young in my backyard.  However, quite a few were raised in my neighbor's backyard.  He doesn't discourage them like I do.

This was the first year in two years that I didn't have any bluebirds raise their young in my backyard.  There was one sparrow who was particularly aggressive.  He killed two swallows who attempted to build nest.  This was the same sparrow who probably discouraged the bluebirds from building their nest in the same bluebird house that they used for the past two years.

A few weeks ago a bluebird pair laid three eggs (they usually lay four eggs) but then they abandoned their nest.  Bill and I think the resident backyard catbird did the discouraging this time.  Lots of turf battles this summer in our little backyard habitat.

Summers wouldn't be complete without all the activity around the Purple Martin house and this summer was no exception.  The Purple Martins are always squawking, getting things sorted out.  Whenever I walked out to the back shed some of them with dive bomb me just as a warning to stay away from their house and young nestlings.  I think they know I won't  bother them but they give me the warning anyway.

Many nights during the evening in summer, before the sun goes down, Bill and I sit out on the back decks and watch the young Purple Martins practice flying.  I can't think of much that is more pleasing than to see these young Purple Martins doing their aerial acrobats and then landing back on the birdhouse where they were born.  They know instinctively that they have to learn to fly for the long flight that they will soon have to make before winter sets in here on the Delmarva peninsula.

View from the bonus room towards the back yard 

Then there comes the day that they are gone.  They all go in the same day.  No lingering.  The silence is so sad.  The only thing Bill and I will hear is the wind and the traffic on Route 1.  Sometimes the catbird hangs around but usually all is quiet in our little backyard habitat once August arrives.

I hear the thunder outside now and I write this.  Now I hear the rain pelting the side of the house.

It's late.  Time prepare myself for bed and put another day to rest as the gentle thunderstorm rolls in.

End of the day July 19 2010 where I live on the Delmarva peninsula

And Then There Were None

Bill had a very trying day today. He called The Garage and his car still wasn't ready. He asked me to drop him off at The Garage at 12 noon and he would wait for it. Yesterday was our day to go to the Sam's Club in Dover, thirty nine miles away. We would have to do it today. But first, Bill had to get his '91 Jeep Cherokee out of The Garage. Of course when he went down they hadn't even started on the repairs. They did when they saw he was waiting. Two and a half hours later they told him they were finished. Frustrated, Bill paid the bill and stormed out of The Garage. Note, I refer to "The Garage" that way because that is the name of the auto repair business we patronize on Route 1, across from The Hampton Inn in Rehoboth Beach.

On the way home Bill noticed his "Check Engine" light was still on. They hadn't fixed the main reason he went in! That's why he took his car to The Garage. They found the brake problem when they took his car around the back of their place. A brake hose or something like that blew (I know I don't have that right but it was something drastic like that.) Well, the upshot is that Bill is so frustrated with this place he doesn't want to go back. Thus, in that mood we took off to Dover.

Before we left I wanted to check the bluebird box. I heard and saw more than the usual activity around the bluebird box and as I suspected, all the baby bluebirds were out save one. I took his/her picture before we left for Dover.

On the way to Dover we noticed that the traffic headed south was backed up. Ah yes, this is Friday afternoon when The Horde (tourists, weekenders, etc) descend on our fair beaches in coastal Sussex County. As year round residents we know to avoid travel on Route 1 both north and south on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. These are the days of the travel vans, SUV's and car with bike racks full on the back, and the young girls driving shotgun with their flip flop shod feet propped up on the dashboard ("Hey! We're at the beach! Time to relax and let loose and show everyone I'm one cool chick!") Oh how we love it. But, these are the folks that keep the economy going so I shouldn't be complaining. However I did see a cool bumper sticker:

"Welcome to the beach. Now go home."

Shopping at Sam's Club was extra fun today with the late Friday afternoon crowd. We never experienced that before and we don't plan to again anytime soon. Usually we go very early during a weekday morning but our schedule has been thrown all off kilter because of Bill's car getting repaired. On the way back we had to stop at the Super Wal-Mart in Milford because that is the ONLY PLACE in Lower Slower that I can get my Turkey Hill Decaf Orange Diet Ice Tea. THE ONLY PLACE. Again, shopping in Wal-Mart Friday afternoon is an extra special experience. The people, the people. I wonder sometimes do I look as strange and weird to them as they do to me? Man oh man. There are some doozies that shop at the Wal-Mart, especially the Jabba the Huts riding around on those motorized shopping carts in the store.

Returning home we were right in the middle of the Friday afternoon weekend rush to the shore. One thing I've never been able to quite figure out, what is the rush? Why do so many of our out of state tourists feel they have to break the speed limit, weave in and out of traffic to get to the shore to relax? What's THAT all about?

Well, we finally got home. Now it's unwind time. I checked the bluebird box and, as I suspected, it is empty. The last bluebird is out. That puts a punctuation mark to a very interesting day.

Glorious Summer Days

Yesterday was a glorious summer day. Today is starting out to be another wonderful, carefree lazy, hazy day. After a very rainy spring I'm ready to indulge myself in summertime. I love all the seasons living down here in this southern most county of Delaware but I especially enjoy the long summer days. Waking up to the sun at around 6:30 in the morning and not seeing the sun set until 8:30 or so in the evening is almost the ultimate luxury to me. What's even better I don't have to get in my car or board a plane and travel long distances to soak up summertime. I'm right here in the heart of the east coast summertime vacation destination for the Washington D. C. crowd as well as travelers for the nearby state of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. As I often tell guests at the hotel where I work the front desk, living here in Delaware in the Milton/Lewes/Rehoboth Beach area I feel like I'm on permanent vacation.

However, there is one downside to living here in the summertime, and the height of the tourist season. It is the traffic. The traffic in Rehoboth Beach, especially on the weekend is a nightmare. And, as is usual, Del Dot (the Delaware Department of Transportation) is doing roadwork on a major traffic artery. The past two years they were widening Route 1, thus backing up traffic for miles on Route 1 during the weekends. Yesterday I took Bill for a ride into Rehoboth (what was I thinking?) at noontime. I felt a need for a charbroiled Wimpy hamburger at the Purple Parrot in the heart of Rehoboth Beach. As I turned off of Rt. 1 onto Rehoboth Avenue I saw the familiar orange traffic cones. Oh no, they're working on the road. Of course there were a bunch of workers standing around doing nothing (what's with that anyway? Rarely do I see anyone actually working during these road projects.) Ah yes, they're doing something with the road leading into the traffic circle into Rehoboth Beach. "Merge Left" the sign said. This right after I was in the right lane as the sign says when entering Rehoboth Beach. Get me out of here.

I was already committed to going into Rehoboth. I told Bill if I found a parking space I would go to the Purple Parrot and get my charbroiled hamburger (well done.) HA! Forget it. Traffic down Rehoboth Avenue during noontime on this Friday was heavy. I made the loop down to the beach front and back up the other way on Rehoboth Avenue and out of Rehoboth Beach. Sorry.

I don't do crowds, I don't do congestion. As my friend The Cajun says, "The horde has descended." I will stay here in my idyllic one acre paradise here east of Route 1 half way between Lewes and Milton, Delaware. Me, my birds, my plants, good neighbors and Bill. I'm good. I'll get that Wimpy in the fall.

Then There Were None Left

The bluebird box is now empty. It only took one more day until the lone remaining baby bluebird took the plunge and left the bluebird box. Bill said he thinks he saw it on the neighbor's screen in porch roof, along with its brothers and sisters.

I cleaned out the nesting in the box and washed it down with hot water to kill the mites. I left the door open several hours for it to dry out. Now the box is ready for the next batch. Bill says he has already seen one of the adult bluebirds chase away other birds from the box. By this time next week I predict the bluebirds will have a new nest built in the box in preparation for the next batch of baby bluebirds.

I have three bluebird boxes in my back yard but this is the only bluebird box that is used by the bluebirds. The two other bluebird boxes are empty. I'm looking forward to the day when all three bluebird boxes are producing baby bluebirds. There is nothing like the feeling of seeing bluebirds in your back yard, flying around with sun shining off of their iridescent blue feathered wings. I'll take that experience any day over fighting the traffic on Route 1 to get to Rehoboth Beach to feed a parking meter and then lay on the beach and bake in the sun.