Under My Umbrella

I snapped this Sunday night, not long after the sun went down but light still lingered on Currituck Sound, the placid body of water that separates North Carolina's Outer Banks ~ fragile barrier islands that cling to the angry Atlantic ~ from the mainland.

For some reason, this cafe umbrella at the OBX fish taco joint in the Town of Duck was all askew ~ or whompy-jawed, as my Tejas forebears might have said. I seized the moment to capture the image, because the moment seemed right.

I'm headed back to "civilization" today. For the record, I didn't get any grading done over my long weekend. I swam in the ocean (yes, with air temps hovering near 80, Mama Atlantica didn't give me the cold shoulder), walked on the beach, napped in a rusty aluminum and canvas folding chair, and watched eight episodes of last season's "Brothers & Sisters."

I can't stay up late on Sunday nights, so have gotten in the habit of acquiring the previous season of said show in September, and watching it in a sort of Sally Field Marathon.

I stopped at a favorite North Carolina BBQ place on my way in; will order to-go from another on my way out. And I plan to be back in December, when winter will fleck the dunes with frost and the only birds to greet me will be the seagulls, who never seem to leave this place.