There were a couple of days recently when I did not take any photos. It actually bothers me since I use my pictures to help with ideas for my writing. There is one time of day that is almost always wonderful for pictures. That's sunrise on a clear morning. As difficult as it is to roll out of bed early, I decided that I wanted to get a picture of the sunrise from Emerald Isle. Unfortunately our cat took a playing spell around five this morning and woke me up. When I fell back asleep, I overslept by about ten minutes.

When I got into the car, I knew that I would be late, but I figured it was worth the ride anyway. I was right. Each inland body of water was a mass of fog so dense that my camera's auto focus wouldn't work on it. I only got to the bridge over to Emerald Isle before the sun started coming up. It was a fantastic sight, and traffic was light enough that I was able to come almost a complete stop at the high point on the bridge. That is where I snapped the shot included in the post.

I could have turned around after getting to the island and been happy, but I went on over to the first public access and got a few more shots. It was worth the effort The first shot I call beachrise and the next one simply palmsunrise.

It was cold enough on the beach to have a coat on, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day later.

This morning Yardworks finished laying some sod around our house that did not get put down in the fall. Now I can start enjoying the patterned concrete patio we had done this winter. I also put our new gas grill together this week. The gas company hooked up the gas line, and I have a nice Porterhouse Steak in the fridge for Saturday night. I am looking forward to it.

Speaking of food we had a birthday lunch for a co-worker at Rucker John's on Emerald. I think we all had one of their delicious salads. We previewed a few homes this afternoon, washed my car, and still got home in time for me to go for a bike ride and water the new sod.

This is the weather that I moved to the Crystal Coast to enjoy. Today the high temperature was 66 degrees Fahrenheit with a low temperature of 34 degrees. There was widespread frost last night but tonight we aren't supposed to be so cold. By next week, the first week in April, the forecast is for us to be back in the mid-seventies which is pretty close to perfect.

The rain earlier this week did a good job of getting much of the pollen out of the air for a few days. So there is not much to complain about except we need more rain.

Tomorrow is the big Pig Cookout in Newport. With any kind of luck we'll get to sample that great vinegar based barbecue.