Photos from Florida

I've had a chance to go through the several hundred photos I took on our Florida jaunt. I've selected a representative sample and posted them as a photoset on Flickr: "Mahaffies in the Florida Keys, 2006."

I'll try to post a narrative account soon. Don't let me forget to tell you about Chase, the most spoiled of the spoiled rotten rich people's kids we found in Florida. I'll also tell you about some of the very nice people we met. But don't let me forget to tell you about Chase.

Yes, The Weather Was Rather Nice In Florida This Week

In what appears to be a new family tradition, Karen, the girls, and I disappeared for Spring Break for the last several days. We jumped state for a stay at a moderately impressive resort in the Florida Keys.

We slept late, ate well, lazed in the sun, floated in pools, burned odd patches of skin, ate well, slept late, swam, sat about, indulged in spa treatments, paddled kayaks, watched dolphins, slept in, tried new foods, drank Red Stripe beer (me) and virgin daiquiris (the girls), ate great food, slept in beach chairs, ignored the news, met new people, endured other people, and went for a glorious sunset sail on a catamaran.

Our themes for the week? Food, sleep and sun.

Here's a memory.

There will be many more photos on my Flickr site in a day or two. For now, I'm off to bed and into the office tomorrow.

Irony, Thy Name Is (Apparently) "Smyrna"

I got a pre-dawn chuckle out of this story in the News Journal this morning: Smyrna mayor's camera catches thieves.

The security system at Smyrna Mayor Mark Schaeffer's home, which figured in the arrest of his neighbor and Town Council rival last year, has captured photographic evidence of a crime in progress -- the theft of campaign signs from neighbors' lawns.

If you have followed the election follies in Smyrna over the last few years, you're probably laughing now too.

For those of you who have not, suffice it to say that the Mayor's cameras are up, at least in part, because of political foes living next door. Who were among those whose lawn signs were stolen. Signs which supported the man running against the Mayor.

I'd say that this story will have a lively existence among Delaware Bloggers. As for me, it's time to head off to work.

Flowers for Tonni

Our friend Tonni Wijte and her hubby live in California now, but Tonni is from Holland and these orange flowers in Downtown Dover made me think of her.

Mocha

You wonder what she was thinking. She's certainly seen me with a camera often enough.

A Photographic Recipe

Here's a recipe for Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies that is presented in the form of a set of photos. A cute idea.

Here's a Worthy Event

This next week there will be a "March for the Arts in Education" at Legislative Hall, in Dover. This is an annual event celebrating the importance of the arts in education.

Groups of kids from a variety of schools around Delaware will perform at Legislative Hall, most on Tuesday, though two performances (including one featuring Colleen) will be on Thursday.

If you've been here before, you are probably aware that I am an arts-partisan. Both of our daughters attend the Southern Delaware School of the Arts; Karen teaches there. Colleen is about to graduate eighth grade and I think stands as a great example of what an arts-integrated education can accomplish.

I'm particularly pleased to now be working in an office just across the way from Legislative Mall and Legislative Hall. I can see where I'll try to be at lunch on Tuesday. On Thursday, Colleen will be one of a small group of dancers from SDSA performing at the opening of the State Senate's session for the day.

She has sung in the House Chamber in the past, so this will balance out nicely.

What!?!

What!?!
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie.

He just looked so much like it was his truck, sitting there at the wheel.

Why We Worry About a Dry Spring

A Dry Spring
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie.

It was windy Saturday. We were at Kershaw Acres horse farm, near Milton. This is the neighboring field, in the process of blowing across Route 5.

We could use some steady, day-long rains.

Thinning The Blogroll

My blogroll is getting pretty long, and there are a few in there that have not been updated in a month or more. I think it's time to thin that thing out a bit.

• Butterfly Wings has been dormant since mid-December. Sha was one of the first to comment here, so I have had a sentimental attachment to her blog. I hope it comes back.
• Carnifex seems to have ended in January. I'm not even sure there's anything at that URL just now.
• College Democrats at UD last posted on February 1. Must be the pressures of classes?
• Cute Conservative, also at UD, also seems to have gotten back to her studies since the first part of February.
• Daily Finds is by UD Professor Pat Sines. She tends to go long periods between posts on this one. She's had nothing on this blog since early February. I do know that Pat tends to create special-purpose blogs and wikis for specific classes. That keeps her pretty busy.
• DelVoice, the edgy Delaware blog that just never seems to make it back on-line. Nothing since February 1.
• Delawired was going strong for a while. It came to a stop a month ago today.
• Delmarva United Homebrewers also seems to have snagged on March 3. Maybe they decided to post after each meeting and made the mistake of over-sampling and so never got to it?

I'll keep an eye on these blogs and add them back if activity resumes. I'm also on the look-out for other Delaware-centric blogs. Am I missing any?