Since I can’t remember details about yesterday, I really can’t be expected to remember too much about the past year, so I’m using my photos to try to piece it together in some sort of abbreviated, coherent narrative.
Last spring Yes,Dear and I took over the reigns of a baby equipment rental service that had us hopping all summer and will again soon. It was a veritable parade of pinchable cheeks -infants and babies and toddlers, oh my! – and we got to see the insides of some of the most amazing beach houses. Awesome! Especially the ones where the cribs had to be delivered to the third floor with no elevator…
We enjoyed visits from lots of family and friends. I learned to kayak. I must say, I move like a swan through the water. Too bad I look like a albatross getting out of the damn thing. I’ll be working on sticking my landings this summer.
After years of trying to get tickets, Yes,Dear and I saw Jimmy Buffett last June. So worth the wait. The crowd made it even better. SO MUCH FUN it should be illegal.
This is NOT us.
This couple were real sports about getting their photo taken. We dropped a couple bucks on concert T-shirts and an $8 Land Shark Lager or two and when the concert ended we were feeling pretty excellent thanks to the cloud of funny smoke wafting down from the lawn seats. And we both had a terrible case of the munchies.
We did some gardening, too. The kids gave me a 
beautiful lacecap hydrangea for Mother’s Day. Since our soil is about 70% sand, I amended it like crazy and crossed my fingers. It did well and bloomed beautifully. I was afraid we lost the hydrangea in November’s flood, but it’s doing well. Flood? Yup. Stay tuned. It’s still summer.
Yes,Dear spent the 4th of July in the hospital with chest pains. Again. Fortunately it turned out to be angina which is bad enough but it could have been way worse, and he had a view of the bay from his hospital bed which helped keep his spirits up. I walked down to the pier at the end of our street to watch the fireworks our neighbors were setting off. It was one of the best displays ever, and no parking headaches.
July was also Hank month. I had started working on Yes,Dear, 
pleading for a new puppy when we found out Hank’s mom was expecting. He fought me tooth and nail for weeks but, in the end, he whimpered, put his tail between his legs, and bowed to my incessant pleas like a good boy. Now he loves this puppy more than he loves me. And so does Sebastian. After having Hank around for 9 months now, Buster is warming up to him, so much so that he now finds Hank barely tolerable.
August was a difficult month. We lost my father-in-law just a couple weeks after his 88th birthday. It was a blow to lose such a lovely, kind, and loving old gentleman who was such a huge presence in the life of his family. Daughter wrote the most beautiful tribute to her grandad which was read by the minister during his eulogy. Much of the following six weeks or so was full of end-of-life paperwork, etc.
We did, however, manage to get a little fishing in and even caught so
me little fish. Ugly little fish, but fish nonetheless. Son Two had several photos exhibited in a local nature photography competition. He’s so incredibly talented. When he visits we always take a day to explore and take photos and he just blows me away with his mad photo skilz.
In October some rains came and we saw flooding, so of course, we took some photos. Little did we know that what we saw in October was nothing compared to what we’d see in November. This is the view from the house in October: 
This is our view in November:
We didn’t know from flooding until November. We were stuck in the house for three days. Fortunately we had good boots.
Christmas was great. The three kids were here so all five of us were together for the first time in nearly a year.
And then there was snow. Lots and lots of snow upon snow. Dark, blizzardy days, I tell you. Especially when you live in an area where they close schools just due to the threat of snow. Three additional days trapped in the house. Good thing we still like each other most of the time. But whew! So glad THAT’s over. I’d post pictures of all the snow but I still break out in hives just thinking about looking at them. Maybe in July.
And now here we are, one year later. Daughter continues to do well in Chicago in her PhD program; she presented a paper at a conference in London last fall and has plans to do it again in Montreal later this year. She taught her first freshman comp class last semester and loved every minute of it. Son One is a whiz at his job and there’s talk of moving him into management. Son Two continues to pursue his photography and his portfolio is stunning. We are well and enjoying every minute of our life in our favorite place in the whole world.
Another Delmarva summer is right around the corner. We can’t wait!
