Enjoying the Moment

On Saturday, Marty and I made the trip to Princeton, New Jersey, to attend the latest Family Update Meeting pertaining to his Uncle Fred's MIA status during World War II.    I have spent years putting together a case for this man, proving that the original investigation into his whereabouts was not at the correct location.  (The army review boards never seemed to actually check the coordinates to verify the actual place of disappearance.)  My information pinpoints an exact location where a PVT stepped on a land mine.  Marty and I walked the spot ourselves last year.

When Marty and I attended our first actual on-site meeting, it became immediately obvious to us that we need to show our faces at these meeting if we expect any type of action on their part.  The historian at the time felt confident that we had enough information to initiate an investigation on the part of JPAC.
Well, here we are two years later, attending yet another meeting.  The write up included in our folder has gone from one page to two and a half.  An impressive amount of data spelling things out quite clearly, (every piece of data was supplied to these people by me. It sure looks convincing when written by a 3rd party!)

This time we had the opportunity to meet with a woman who works with JPAC as well as our army service coordinator and the historian, both of whom were quite familiar with the case.  There were lots of smiles, and accolades to my work, but no real commitment to actually follow through on their part.
After sitting through presentations, particularly the one from this woman who is employed by JPAC, where we were informed of all kinds of difficult complications that arise in jungles, and result from air losses, water losses, etc.,  Marty felt compelled to mention to this lady that our particular case need only involve an air ticket to the area.  There was no dangerous terrain or country hostilities, or complicated ground to maneuver.  This only requires a walk through with a metal detector to prove that the area was never searched for anyone's remains.  That was proven by our contact last year, who managed to pull up a fox-hole shovel, Gilette razors still in their case, a K-Ration can, 3 grenades, and a lot of unfired artillery in about an hour's time.  The woman smiled at us, and said that she would talk to the people in charge and see that the case was put on the list for 2012.  Considering that we have gone this round before, I'll believe it when I see it.

We did not let our frustration keep us from enjoying the rest of  our weekend.  We stayed at a lovely B&B in Burlington, New Jersey, and I must say that I don't think that we have ever had such an entertaining proprietor.  We spent quite a bit of time laughing with this man, who is well versed in the local history.  If you haven't been to Burlington, and you live nearby, you really must consider taking the day to walk through this town with a map from the Burlington Historical Society.  The town is really quaint and lovely and holds a wealth of history worth investigating.
Stop at the Cafe Gallery for a bite to eat while you are there.  The veranda offers a lovely view of the Delaware River.

Our place of refuge was the Lily Inn.  It appears that we cannot escape mention of the dog, even while getting away for the night.  But, one thing was for certain, there was no little white dog waking us up in the wee hours of the morning.  The resident Yorkie, Harold, didn't so much as bark at us, although he did enjoy coming out and sniffing us when we would walk through the door.  We apparently met with his approval.

So we managed to get a refreshing night's sleep, a great breakfast, delightful conversation, and even attended Mass at the local Catholic Church just a few blocks away.  The weather was perfect, only adding to the highlight of the trip.  All that, in combination with a proprietor who was the "Resident Hugger,"  I can't help but wonder, "Who could ask for more?"

Here you will find my Military Investigation.
And don't forget to check out the flickr photos at the bottom of the page.

Restitution

OK, so I'll admit that I owe Marty an apology for not believing his "fishy" stories earlier in the week.  Today  the fish couldn't keep away from him, as he so modestly put it!  Here you see him holding a mullet and a spot, both hitting the line at the same time.  Jim was fishing alongside his dad and catching mullet as well.

Finn decided that today would be the day that he absolutely loved the beach and he spent nearly two hours entertaining us with his crazy antics.  He had a blast running in and out of the surf, chasing birds, looking for airplanes and collecting a few shells.  At least he managed to have some real fun (as did the rest of us) on this last day of our beach vacation.  

Fun in the Sand

Sandcastles have always been a big part of our beach vacations.  The kids spend hours creating an awesome structure filled with turrets and a huge moat, each year attempting to outdo previous works of art in the sand.   Then, they sit in anticipation of the tide coming in, slowly destroying their creation. They've even been known to sit in the moat while it fills up with water from each encroaching wave.

You can see from the posted photo that this year, the kids opted for a sand creation that was not a castle.  It appears that Mr. Crab made such an impression on them that they felt it appropriate to replicate him in the sand. The eyebrows reflect his sinister look, and the crown on his head signifies that he is King Crab, according to Amy.

I find the likeness to be remarkable, and I particularly enjoy the moat that surrounds this guy in the sand. And even though his likeness will be gone in the morning, we all know that the real Mr. Crab will continue to be on the lookout for beach invaders.  Hopefully he has a sense of humor and won't be feeling the need to retaliate tomorrow.

I used my panoramic setting on the computer to snap this photo which includes the likeness of Mr. Crab as well as the family sitting under the canopy, relaxing after putting out so much effort on their creation. It certainly will be a great memory for years to come. After all, isn't that what family vacations are all about?

Fish Kissin'

The kissing of fish is an old family tradition, begun by Jim at a young age, and it generally involves the trout species.  But this year, Marty felt compelled to smack his lips on a mullet.  You can tell from the photo that the fish isn't all too keen on this idea, but a kiss is, more than likely, a much better option than being made a meal of, when you are a fish.

The week is speeding by and we've made the most of this beautiful weather.  The area has been plagued by a thick cloud of smoke from a burning forest fire in North Carolina.  The air gets thick and one feels like there should be a campfire nearby.  Visibility becomes substantially decreased.  Luckily, the wind changes course several times a day or we'd be stuck inside all day.

Our unfriendly crab continues to rule the beach.  We saw him take on a family of 5 yesterday.  The mom was commenting on how cute the crab was, when he went barreling toward them at rapid speed.  He taunted them by skirting back and forth, defending his stretch of the beach while we waited to see just how bold Mr. Crab would be.  But the two little girls found his antics to be amusing, and since they were vertical and could run as fast as he could, he decided to retreat to the top of the dune and let them pass by.  So, we spend time keeping an eye on his antics while he keeps two pop-up eyes on us.  Entertainment at its best. And, so far, we still have our body parts intact.

Crabby Crab

You know those little ghost crabs that look so cute and innocent, popping their head up out of the sand, doing a quick scan of the area, then running a few feet to bury down into another hole?  Well, today's morning adventure brought a whole new light to the “cuteness” of those little creatures.
We were sitting under the tent on the beach, Heather & Finn sitting on the beach blanket, spotting some rather large crabs poking their heads out from the sand, when Jim decided to sneak  up on one of these crabs who was just hanging out a few feet from the tent.
As soon as the crab was spooked,  he began to run straight for the tent, directly towards Heather & Finn.  Before any of us realized what was happening, this rather large crab (I mean he was large enough to be dinner!)  had managed to scurry across the diagonal of the tent and run up Heather's leg as far as her knee, where he obviously found himself catapulted to the ground when Heather jumped up to get rid of the guy.
What was once a cute little adventure soon became a horror story in Finn's eyes and you can only well imagine the distraught cries that resulted from the boldness of this crab.
And, to make matters worse, when Jim strapped Finn into the stroller to bring him back up to the house, he was surprised to find Mr. Crab hanging out under the stroller, where he proceeded to jump on Jim's foot, causing Jim to jump and Finn to start wailing all over again!
I don't know if the crabs are a bit bolder here in Duck, but I can tell you that we will be watching our backs for the rest of the week.  Just in case this guy decides to sneak up on any of us just for fun!

It's Just a Perfect Day

I couldn't help but hear Susan Boyle singing "Perfect Day" in my head while walking along the beach last evening with Marty.  "It's such a perfect day...I'm glad I spent it with you."
This first full day at the beach offered the perfect temperatures with plenty of sunshine and only one looming black cloud that somehow managed to roll by without affecting our beach time.
Little Finn is keeping us all on our toes as he is one busy guy always on the move. He was enjoying the early morning beach time, sitting on Marty's short beach chair, when suddenly, he tumbled forward into the sand.  Somehow, he managed to balance himself on his belly, with both arms, legs, and face held off the ground, reminding me of a turtle.  He really doesn't like the feel of the sand and it is entertaining to watch him attempt to pick off any sand that accumulates on his body.
But he loves to point his finger and yell at the ocean.  Perhaps he is scaring all of the fishies away.  He certainly does make enough noise!
An evening game of Canasta resulted in Jim and Heather killing Amy and me.  OK, so maybe it wasn't such a "Perfect Day" after all!