the FOURTH of july, a beach, lots of sun, and a personal point of pride:

this july 4th,

in celebration of all things american-like 

and such,

tim and i took a wild swing outside the zone,

and went to the beach.

no restaurants.  no shopping.  no parties.  

the beach.

nature.

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now, i grew up "on the beach".

my grandparents always lived on one island or another 

(st croix, st. simons, etc.)

so i was a sun n surf baby.

but as i've grown, i've drifted from the grit and glory of these things,

and forgotten how much i missed it.

the sound of the waves,

the dull roar of the beach breeze,

snippets of conversations, laughter, moments from others,

the WEIGHT of the sun on your skin.

i was close to tears at how much i'd missed it.

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of course, going with jim and lyle didn't hurt.

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i walked down the beach by myself,

much the way my grandfather and i did when i was little, 

not speaking, just absorbing.

granted, i felt like i was being followed . . .

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turned out it,

was tim.

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and,

in more expected vanity,

this is what i was most thankful for on july 4th:

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that three years later,

after losing 57 pounds through diet and exercise,

i had pretty much kept it off.

not a model body,

but damn proud to be at the beach,

in this shape,

coming up on my next birthday.

happy independence day, kidlets.

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BLACK AND WHITE or COLOR?

did another shoot this sunday

with the intent of polishing my b&w skills.

after, still wondering which i prefer:

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or color?

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i'm listening . . . votes?

did i mention we went and saw evie lee?

we had to get our fix

of the most fabulous of women,

ms. evie lee.

madame lee.

e.v.

so we went back here:

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and ate here

(anyone surprised?  thought not.)

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just to see our girl:

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we even went to Trigger,

the new castro club.

look at us, going out.

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snuck in a little suzie and di:

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there's just something so glamorous about travel.

i think it brings out our inner natures,

don't you?

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