wilmington weekend

[September seems ages ago now, but there was a long weekend there somewhere and Craig and I decided we would explore the North Carolina coast some more.  Wilmington is Hollywood on this far side of California.  We usually stop at historical sites, and there was a couple that way with  Moore's Creek National Battlefield Park, and a World War II Battleship.  We also wandered around the gardens of the Orton Plantation House, which is usually known as the house that catapulted North Carolina's venture into the film industry. Downtown Wilmington was also a treat.

When you head down the beach though, you would expect to get into the water, wouldn't you? Well, the sun got all shy on us and it was bucketing on the day we decided to go for a splash.  But the gloomy weather didn't dampen Craig's spirit one bit.   We grabbed some hot drinks,  watched the rain drops and enjoyed a heart-to-heart chat.

Wilmington, NC, September 2009]

 

a day to remember

[She was perpetually cheery  and wherever we went, she always pointed out the sunflowers.  On the days she didn't spot them in the streets, she would find one on the dress or hat she wore.  To this day, I come across sunflowers and this old friend comes to mind.  A firm believer in seeing what you look for. ]

[It's another quiet afternoon, and I'm resting after a low-stress, non-hectic, non-committal summer school class I taught this morning.  Occassionally, the cool breeze reward me for sitting out here in the balcony.  The thinking chair won't try one bit to help me figure a way to mesh two totally unrelated pictures together.]

The photos were taken on the same day, of course… on a day trip to Raleigh. Movies, popcorn, stolen kisses.  Isn’t this the formula for a perfect date?

The time we spent together last weekend woud easily rate as one of my happiest moments in this country.  I wouldn’t classify Raleigh as the most romantic city in the world and the movies we chose were hardly mushy material.  We weren’t dressed to the nines, nor were there limousines, horse carriages, sailboats or hot-air balloons to whisk us to some secret hideaway.   No sunsets, candles, wine, chocolate,  trinkets, flowers or scattered petals to melt the heart.

Instead, we had packed lunch.  Refreshing drinks at a café / gallery.  A wander down streets shops displaying more funky art and crafts.  Feast of visual effects on the IMAX theatre.  Another wander, this time in a crowded mall.  Chick-fil-A.  Siesta on the lawn with young children crawling on the rocks and around us.  Kids film on the lawn by sundown, punctuated by rainfall in the end.  A late night drive home, mimicking each other’s singing parts.

And in all of this, we shared memories, laughed at the here and now, and dreamed of the future.  We held hands, just like your Pop told you once to keep doing, no matter how we felt.

We celebrate three years of marriage today, not in a prescribed, conventional romantic date, but in the way that we have searched and looked for love in each other.   A love that strives to honour and uplift the other.  How wonderful to know that a romantic date is not where we go or what we do. It is treasured time together.  To put simply, You.

[Another firm believer in seeing what you look for.  Red sunflowers at the children's museum, Movies on the Lawn in Raleigh; last photo taken on my birthday,  july 2009]