there goes my baby

it has been an uncommon journey

but one just right

his name on the senior bench, a tradition

two years

in the blink of my eye

last moments in his dorm room before final room check

a staggered

empty nest

in front of (c)Hill House, his home for the past two years

a kind of

limbo

for me

as a mother

Samuel, Mike, & my Dad

but now it's official -

the last summer

before he goes to college

after this

approximation

a great photo location until we couldn't stand the burning rays of the sun any longer

the NCSSM banner,

followed by the Chancellor & Commencement Speaker

the H's!

Joseph, processing in for commencement!

looking back,

i can't imagine

a different path

than this

very good one

J. Todd Roberts, Chancellor of NCSSM

looking forward

there seem so many

but there will be one -

a connect-the-dots

zig-zag

willy-nilly

with forks in the road

the possibilities are

rather

endless

so

just because...ball of fluff!

i'll seize this

annual gig for the neighborhood kids

brief moment in time

behind the stage

and enjoy

a not-so-endless summer

Joseph!

still being his everyday

mother

Samuel, me, niece Rebecca, and sister-in-law Barbara

before the cord

{that has already

lengthened, thinned

me & Mom & really tall Samuel

like hot taffy

or, maybe,

Joseph, the graduate!

more like a spider's silk -

hug from Grandpa

so strong

Grandpa, Joseph, Samuel

but (mostly) invisible

food - check / shade - check / low wall with precarious, steep drop-off behind - check

unless the sunlight

or, perhaps,

the morning dew

Joseph and Aunt Barbara

makes it visible

(if only briefly)

Joseph, me, Samuel, Mike

to those who tend the garden}

Grandpa, Joseph, Nana

is, periodically,

almost forgotten

(not really).

he was so nice to keep posing for me

Fountain Full-o Unicorns

it was a very good day

~ ~ ~

Congratulations, Joseph,

on your graduation from

The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics!

Class of 2019

~ ~ ~

UNC - Chapel Hill awaits you,

and it will be so exciting to see

what happens next.

~ ~ ~

I love you so very much.

Mom

happy mother's day!

flower bookends,

but the day was about

moving Samuel home

(for the summer)

i snagged some time with Mom & Dad

and was so excited

to give them a combo Mother's/Father's Day gift!!!

a competitive birding game -

('cause there's nothing more cut-throat

than a birding senior

with a pair of binoculars)

Samuel and one of the friends

he'll share an apartment with

next year

attempted to move this deceptively LARGE

light-up pterodactyl wall-hanging

(acquired two years ago via

an end-of-year purge from someone else)

to their storage unit...

but no-go

too big

to fit in a Honda Civic

~ ~ ~

so Samuel walked it over

(the pterodactyl, actually,

didn't walk...Samuel did)

to my parents' house

~ ~ ~

who have,

unbeknownst to us,

always wanted

a pterodactyl summer guest

Samuel & Grandpa (pterodactyl lurking behind)

 for three years,

Samuel has lived within walking distance

of my parents'...

a treat for all of them!

Nana & Samuel

 full trunk

full back seat

(incredibly, Joseph fit

-with a bit of stuff-squishing-

for a short sprint

down 9th Street

to have lunch

at the usual

on our way

back

to

Greensboro)

Samuel did his last floor check

as an RA at North Hall

(a former hotel,

where my parents

actually stayed

when they visited Raleigh

back in 1979!)

and, then,

his VERY HAPPY mama

brought

him

HOME!!!

ice-ice-baby

little foxes

so, last summer, my parents discovered that a pair of foxes

had made a den under the low-lying deck

in the backyard!...

and had four babies!...

which the foxes raised in my parents' backyard!

~ ~ ~

all the foxes (parents & grown cubs) dispersed

at the end of the summer,

and my parents wondered if

(& hoped that!)

the foxes would reappear this year...

~ ~ ~

wish granted.

Mama Fox enjoying the nuts & seeds

(earlier, she found & ate a stashed -dead- chipmunk, thanks to her mate & hunter, Daddy Fox)

Mama Fox & her most inquisitive cub

tumbling all over one another as they emerged from the den

pell-mell is the only way to describe it
there are SIX cubs this year!

most of my photos were blurry

Mama Fox

hanging out near the 'den' (eg, under my parents' deck)

a rare still portrait

Y*A*W*N

such a treat!

looking forward to returning over the summer

to watch them grow up!

the perhaps

google "things to do"

in southern pines,

& you will find...

this

here's how it all happened -

she runs a bookstore & sells homemade fudge in the front;

he created a warren of display cases in the basement & back

that house an extensive taxidermy collection, a gazillion old tools,

and the occasionally confusing reference to evolution

that may or may not be related to either of his collections.

timeline in question

 the possible cause

bad habits

more bad habits

nothing to see here...move along

the answer to...what do a canary, pieces of the berlin wall, and the largest folding pocket knife in existence have in common?

taxidermy heaven (or hell)

it just went on & on & on

John Wayne alter

pitchforks overhead

count them: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven

oh, my!

um, or maybe because of ?

for all the cans i've loved before

 here, there, everywhere!

more & more

caution: barbwire ceiling up ahead

the obituary of Mrs. Virginia Moss

extinction...call for help

moon landing

oddly enough, he does appear to believe in the moon landing

but i could be confused

morbid-er than the rest

true confessions

for me, this did not top the Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri -

however, it was exceptionally fascinating, nonetheless.

we bought fudge from his wife,

and it was delicious.