This Perfectly Imperfect Life

this dogwood's just outside our place & it's not the only tree who's leaves are turning shades of orange & scarlet already thanks to the drought were having this month around these parts!

just some neat pics i took at the beach last night. (sandy hook, nj)

on this day, two years ago, early in the afternoon in our old living room and with god as our only witness, we pledged our love and faith in one another to each other and like so many couples in times before us, we hopped over a broom together, a symbol of our unity.

(hummingbird!)

last night we were watching another 9/11 documentary on a&e and the narrator stated that only 12 people from the 78th floor of wtc tower 2/the south tower made it out. i've seen this documentary numerous times but i do not recall ever hearing that statement before. a shudder washed through me and i asked my husband if he'd heard that. he said he did & with tears in his eyes, he held onto me for the rest of the documentary. i told him that i'd like to think that i would've gotten out of tower 2 before the (2nd) plane hit it, even though they were telling people in tower 2 to go back to their floors/offices and regardless of security saying that "only" tower 1 had been "affected." but, i don't honestly know. how can anyone know what they would do in such a dire situation until they are actually in it?!

maybe i've said some of this before ~ i apologize for the repitition if so. we just finished watching another documentary about 9/11 ~ one we've seen before but can't help but watch. seems since that alleged terrorist plot in london was stopped this week & with the 5 year anniversary looming, 9/11 is all over the tv again. (along with the oliver stone movie in theatre's too). i think it's a good thing to have the footage on tv ~ as much as possible. much of the nation is no longer united the way it was the day after 9/11 and the reminder is necessary. without it, history repeats itself. had i not chickened out of what others would've considered a dream job, i would've been on the 78th floor of tower 2 that morning. from 9/11 on, any time i watch the footage of the towers falling, i cannot imagine how i would've come out alive. i honestly don't think i would have. i felt so guilty for so long ~ why had i not been there? i had no husband, no child

another visiting monarch butterfly this early evening!

taken at the keyport (nj) fireman's fair, 07/06. sunset off sandy hook, nj, taken 06/06.

since we now live on the coast, i've seen more monarch butterfly's this year than i've seen in my life! this one is pale orange & yellow. others are bright orange or bright yellow. i lucked into this pic since my husband had his cell phone when we left the house this am & i didn't have my camera!

don't ask! when i was trying to get the scarecrow in the back seat, i said "come on johnny!" hence & therefore, he's now johnny! it was very hot when my mother & i brought it home ~ we got to joking about her car bursting into flames due to "spontaneous scarecrow cumbustion!" i told her to call her agent ~ who's a bit of a snit anyway ~ and ask if "spontaneuos scarecrow combustion" is covered under her car insurance policy, or would they consider it an act of god...?!?!?!?!?! (like i said, it was very hot that day!)

this is absolutely my favorite time of year! when the heat starts to break & cooler nights are back with us... crows are cawing & crickets are chirping... the air is sweet & humidity free... the leaves begin to change color... (did you know that leaves actually begin to change color in july?! go for a walk in a forest & you'll see red & yellow!) i've made my first fall purchase of this season! i'll upload the pics later!

just my garden out front! behind downtown atlantic highlands, nj. both taken outside on our front porch! i hadn't realized it's been so long since i posted! for now, i'll just post some pics. this wk i'll get around to an actual written post!