Fourth of July at Bethany Beach

We spent the fourth with my folks, one of my brothers, and some family friends at Bethany Beach. We went to the Bethany Beach Fourth of July Parade, where I took a mess of photos. We spent the afternoon on the beach at North Bethany. We had a traditional meal of Burgers and Dogs, and eventually went down to the beach to watch the fireworks.

The Bethany Beach parade is one of our favorites. It's long. It attracts a decent number of politicians. It includes kids on decorated bicycles. And it brings out a healthy goofiness.

It was a pleasant afternoon on the beach. We swam, we sunned, we watched the kids dig for sand crabs, we sat around and talked politics.

After dinner, we planned to head down to the beach to watch the Bethany fireworks show about a mile south of us. We do this each year; we have the added fun of the fireworks shot off by all the groups up and down the beach around us.

Interestingly, this year here was some sort of cloud bank between us and Bethany and we really only could hear the town's fireworks show. There was some reflection off the ocean, but we were shut out visually. None of us could ever remember that happening.

The free-lance fireworks were still fun. We also traditionally distribute glowsticks to the kids. We put them on lengths of string for twirling, and throwing, and catching, and dropping.

It made for some interesting pictures.

Fifth Golf Game of 2005

An Island Green
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie.

I played 18 holes, poorly, this morning; again at the Heritage Course.

I had planned to go early and play a fast, solo, practice round. But the place was packed and it took longer than I had planned.

In fact, it was so crowded that, after a few holes, I joined up with a threesome to finish the round.

They were Chip, an assistant manager at the Heritage Course and the attached hotel, and his neighbors June and Tammy.

All three were very nice folks, at about my level of golf or a tad better. We had a good time, shared some laughs, and cheered each other on. It's a nice way to play.

I wish I'd played better. I did have a par on the 12th hole we played. But I'd also blown-up on a couple of holes.

In the end I carded a 123 for the 18 holes.

This is How We Get Grid-Lock

Note to folks coming to visit Coastal Sussex County: When you get into heavy traffic in an area with traffic lights, please don't enter an intersection unless you can go all the way through that intersection, regardless of whether or not you have the green light.

And when the light turns yellow. Stop. You won't beat it. Unless it would be un-safe to do so, just stop at the intersection.

Otherwise, you may get caught still in the middle of the intersection when the light changes, like these damn fools.

Luckily, no one needed to make the left from the side road I was on last night. When the light went green for us to go straight, though, the cars ahead of me were left to try to weave around some turkey that was further back in the intersection.

That, plus the very short duration of the green light for side-roads in this area, meant that I had to wait another cycle to get through. Turkeys.

Look. You are welcome to visit our area. We're glad to see you. But don't you people have heavy traffic back home? Don't you know how to handle this sort of thing?

Is there something about being on vacation that makes you forget common sense and common courtesy?

Golf in 2005

Let's let this serve as an aggregation of posts about golf played in 2005. I hope it will be a long list.

March 25, 2005 -- Lighthouse Sound, Ocean City, Maryland. With Andy Southmayd, Sandy Schenck and Rich Catonese. 126 for 18 holes. (Rainy. Cold)

April 24, 2005 -- The Heritage, Midway, Delaware. Father/daughter fun game, with Christina.

May 22, 2005 -- The Heritage, Midway, Delaware. Practice game. Alone. 54 for 9 holes.

June 19, 2005 -- Marsh Island, Angola, Delaware. With Andy Southmayd. 112 for 18 holes.

July 3, 2005 -- The Heritage, Midway, Delaware. Practice game, joined with three strangers. 123 for 18 holes.

July 10, 2005 -- Bethany Bay, Millville, Delaware. With Andy Southmayd. 88 for 18 holes on an executive length course.

July 18 and 22, 2005 -- North Country Golf Club, Rouses Point, New York. Richford Country Club, Richford, Vermont. Vacation golf. No scores.

August 21, 2005 -- The Heritage, Midway, Delaware. With Andy Southmayd. I'd post my score, but it's too depressing.

September 18, 2005 -- Marsh Island, Angola, Delaware. Epworth United Methodist Church fellowship scramble.

October 10, 2005 -- The Rookery, Milton, Delaware. With Andy Southmayd. In the not-rain.

A Photo Project: Water Towers

At Town Hall, Bridgeville
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie.It was an accident. I swear. However, it seems I've started collecting digital images of water towers from around Delaware.

I blame this shot of the Bridgeville water tower. I was going for the contrast with the blue sky, but it got me thinking about trying to get shots of water towers from all 57 Delaware cities and towns.

This could take a while.

Are You Part of the Charles Darwin Posse?

Grass-roots marketing: Charles Darwin has a posse -- free bookmarks and stickers. I get a kick out of this sort of thing.

And, while you're there....

Evolution Outreach Projects

I Have the Teeth of a Greek God

Well ... a statue of a Greek God.

Okay. A statue of a Greek God that's been lying on the floor of the Aegean Sea for several centuries. Lying there among the broken amphorae and rotting timbers of a wrecked trireme.

Never mind.

I had my mid-year dental check-up today and I'm thrilled to report that it didn't go nearly as badly as I was certain it would go. In fact, for a 43-year-old guy with a lifetime of questionable dental hygiene habits in his past, my teeth are in fairly good shape.

I have a fear of the Dentist. I know it is irrational.

My Dentists are very nice young guys; I've been to a Dead show with Dr. Barnhart. They do great work without a lot of pain.

But the reality for me is that the several days before a Dental appointment are a trial. It is true that the anticipation is worse than the reality. I project all sorts of unpleasant possible outcomes.

The worst part? The knowledge that any Dental problems found will reflect badly on me and my discipline. It bugs me that cavities, gum disease, and other possible problems could be my fault.

But my teeth are okay. My gums looked pretty good. My brushing and flossing have been effective.

As I walk away from the chair and out to pay my bill, I always feel this incredible wash of tension out of my neck and shoulders. As much as I try to go in relaxed, as much as I manage tension by getting into the cool new technology they now have, as much as I tell myself it'll be cool, I still have that tension.

But here's my secret: I try to stay aware of the fact of that tension. I remind myself that it will seem worse ahead of time. In fact, that's why I wrote this.

A Trip to the Water Park

Floating Tubes
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie.

Karen, the girls, and I spent our traditional start-of-summer day at Jungle Jim's water park at the entrance to Rehoboth Beach today.

There are water slides, pools, lounge chairs, and a "lazy river" in which to float.

We particularly like the up-to-five-people family slide in which we all sit in a big round raft and spin down into a pool of water. We also enjoy the one we call "The Master Blaster" -- a water-jet assisted raft slide.

For Karen and I, the great pleasure in this is hearing Christina scream and Colleen laugh in pleasure each time down.

The Lonely Donut of Friday Afternoon

The Lonely Donut of Friday Afternoon
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie.

When I buy a dozen donuts for a meeting or an office event, I never let the donut shop staff just randomly select the donuts. If I let the counter staff fill out the dozen, they will more than likely add a filled donut or two. These need to be avoided; they are hard to eat, impractical, and not really good for you.

Have a look at the break room, coffee table, or microwave stand in any office at 4:00 in the afternoon. When there are donuts left, it will usually be that creme-filled monster, a gooey jelly-beast, or maybe a half of one of those odd donuts covered with shredded coconut.

A Book I Read: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

It has been a while since I've offered a book review/book report here. It's not that I haven't been reading; I just haven't run across anything remarkable enough to be worthy of mention here in a while. Or maybe I haven't done so at a time when I felt like writing at length. Besides, if all I posted about was the books I've read, this site could get boring. Quickly.

I've just finished reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer. I think this one is worth a mention.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a novel set in present-day New York City. The protagonist is a nine-year-old boy who lost his father in the fall of the World Trade Center on 9/11. The novel follows his quest to illuminate his father's memory and, although unwittingly, to discover his family history.

This is a wonderful book. Foer offers a free look at Chapter 1, as a PDF file, on his web site. Have a look, I think you'll see the charm.

I was struck by the echoes of The Tin Drum, a disturbing novel of World War Two published in 1959 by the German author Gunter Grass. There was also a movie version in 1979.

I read The Tin Drum a year or so before the movie came out, while I was in High School. It was one of the books that really conked me at that point in my life. It helped confirm me as a lifelong reader.

The echoes?

In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the boy's name is Oskar Schell. The child in The Tin Drum is Oskar Matzerath.

Oskar Schell obsessively plays a tambourine. Oskar Matzerath plays a child's tin drum. Both kids exhibit a variety of obsessive/compulsive behaviors.

In both books, the reader is witness to some of the major human tragedies of the 20th and 21st centuries. Both books tie tragedies in their present settings to tragedies in history and track families through human upheavals.

There are other echoes; these are the obvious, hit you over the head, ones.

At root, both books are about the effects of war and conflict on children, on families and on the innocent.

I recommend them both. I also think I will look for Foer's first book -- Everything Is Illuminated -- next time I'm in the library or bookstore.

For now, I'm just embarking on a pleasant trip to Botswana in the latest edition of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, by Alexander McCall Smith. Karen gave me a copy of In the Company of Cheerful Ladies for Father's Day.

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