Sunrise Service

I snuck away to the Alabama gulf for a few days last week.

Me and the Earth Divas, minus one. 

That was the hardest part of the entire getaway.

But we made due because that is what Gayla would have

wanted us to do!

A double tall soy latte helped me adjust to her absence: I WANT THIS SIGN.

(We left on a frosty morning: that pole was frosted and my rump quite chilly.)

The second hardest part of the trip was seeing myself in a bathing suit.

This is the most flattering of the few pics of myself that I could find.

It's blurry, take note.  And my upper thighs are obscured.

(I'm now counting calories, forcing new exercises on my gams.

And being VERY real about my very real sugar addiction.  Sigh.)

The bathing suit top was a cheapie from Target.

It kept slipping.  For two very obvious reasons.

And the strap broke after my first foray into the ocean.

But I love my Canada ball cap from my Sweigard cousin.

 The governor welcomed up to his beautiful state!

We spotted several examples of possible highway death scenarios.  

As the driver, Melissa would have taken these to the chin. 

I would have been taken out by this lumpy, bumpy, unknown entity!

Seems rather governmentally suspicious.  

Jimmy would say UFO.

 I found a new way to incorporate all that road kill with my roasted

sweet 'taters!

 And I reacquainted myself with a cow's udder.

My grandma -- rancher and dairyman that he was -- would have been proud.

(At no time was the plastic cow in danger.)

We visited Priester's Pecans.

They foresaw me in my two-piece.

HUH!

 Another form of possible highway death.

If those chains ever popped!

 This entire rack dedicated itself to ALL things pickled at a local produce store.

 ALL things pickled!

(At least the piggy did not die in vain.)

 Besides the ocean in front of the beach house,

there was the lagoon behind the beach house.

Great blue herons abounded.

I love them.  Everything about them.

I witnessed three together in flight.

And this cool cat hangin' out on the dock.

He soon had enough of my prying lens.

I marveled at his flight.

Reminds me of what prehistory might have been.

Though taken with my iPhone from a distance in low light,

this shot is a coup simply because glimpsing a great blue

ON THE BEACH is a rare and breathtaking sight for me.

Let me just look for a second.  

Wow. Wow. Wowie.

********* ********* *********

As I'm prone to practice digital imagery overdose, I think it best to stop.

For now.

Almost.

There are a few parting shots from my Sunday church service.

I woke up early, Pastor Rodney.

I made it on time.

I watched and listened intently.

And I'm sharing what I took from it.

Good morning, everyone.  Glad you could make it.

Will you please stand with me?

Join me in song.

(The ocean sure did.)

And I'm pretty sure the angels rejoiced.

I couldn't help but rejoice.

And all of man's creation was silent.

Silent in the presence of majesty and holiness.

It was only His voice in those dawning minutes.

I may have joined in here!

The sun ascending to the firmament.

Even the birds joined in.

And it was a new day in Him.