FLOWER DRESS

Walking through the Village, I had to stop and gawk like a tourist.

The shop window had this dress on display. It's hard to see here, but it's nothing but purple and pink flower heads!

Yes, they sell all kinds of beach type clothes but really. Can you imagine anybody wearing this?

Someone took a lot of time making it! And really used their imagination!

VILLAGE WALK

We've had company pretty much for the last month and it's been exciting. Now everyone has gone and it's quiet. Too quiet.

Last night, my guy and I looked at each other after supper. We've gotten used to having people around doing stuff. Like walking down to the Dairy Queen or riding bikes or driving over to the beach or...

Something!

We decided we couldn't stand it and walked down to the Village for an ice cream. My guy got vanilla, but I got praline. Then we sat down to watch the ocean and eat.

Our local policeman was there under a canopy holding court.

Lacey is a great guy. He hunts and fishes and loves sports and people. He also keeps everyone in line with good humor. He's perfect to be the Village cop. You can tell him by his brown uniform. Here, he's schmoozing with the tourists.

Then my guy got to talking to Lacey and the tourists while I stood patiently waiting. We barely got home before dark.

The house was still empty and quiet, though. Boo hoo.

FIREWORKS

We went down to the pier in the Village for their fireworks display. It was wonderful, as usual, with the fireworks exploding directly overhead. This year they added music to the display, and I couldn't believe how much it enhanced the spectacular! Here are a few pix my guy took:

Hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth!

SCENES AT THE PIER

We walked down to the Village the other day and spotted this guy standing on the pier, looking at the horizon with his kayak laid on the concrete. Here, he's just dropped the kayak over the pier edge and is holding the rope so it won't float away.

We wondered if he was going to jump over after it, but he waited. Soon a couple more guys came up and began discussing who was getting in.

Finally, one climbed over the chain. "I'll do it."

The others looked relieved but acted like they were disappointed. "You sure, man?" "If you'd rather stay here..."

The brave one managed to get in without capsizing and pushed off the pier footings. You can just see the nose of the kayak here over the pier railing.

Soon he paddled away without mishap. Don't know where he was headed. Don't know why they didn't launch off the beach. In fact, I don't know a lot about what was going on!

Hope it ended well for all concerned. There are sharks in these waters.

We walked back home.

CHRISTMAS CARD

This year, we sent out Christmas cards depicting the Pier Village all dressed up for the holidays. My guy took this one last Christmas and did some tweaking. It came out really nice.

Everyone has been commenting on it. I like it, too!

MORNING WALK

The weather -- with apologies to the northeast -- is perfect down here! Temps in the sixties, mostly sunny! We rode around the island yesterday with the top down.

This morning, our usual walk took us out of the complex. See the azaleas at the street? All over the complex, they're blooming. They must think it's spring, but I'm afraid they're going to be surprised in a few days!

So then we walked on down by Mallery Cafe, through the Village, and down to the pier. No big ships in sight but the tide was near high. Took a couple of shots of water dashing on the Johnson rocks. There was practically no wind today, but since the highest point on the island is nineteen feet above sea level -- the average is nine feet -- it's kind of scary to imagine what some really big winds would do to us.

And if you're wondering why they're called Johnson rocks, it seems that they were brought in during President Johnson's administration to keep the beach from further erosion!

OPENING AT GALLERY

So the local art association put up a new show in their gallery. The main part is devoted to magazine covers (done by artists) for the local Chamber of Commerce. The free magazine is called Paisley and is available in local shops and businesses.

However, a portion of the gallery was given over to art association member photographers of whom, ahem, my guy is one. Here's a couple of his photos. Overlook the people. It's a typical opening: people are meeting, eating, drinking, and gabbing.

This one was placed over the piano so you can barely see it. It's of the Pier Village kiosks decked out in their holiday lights and glamorized by Photoshop or one of those programs I know nothing about.

Two are in here but you can only see one; the big one of the shrimp boat is his. People are clustered in front of the other one, alas. It was also a shrimp boat but it was docked.

Anyway, it was a good opening. Nice crowd, good food, lots of drinks, much conviviality!