Downtime....

Having a non-traditional work schedule can make it challenging for free-time planning, but the important thing is to relish it when it comes around; your weekdays can seem like a long weekend. Whatever the case, you make the most of it ....

From a trip to coastal Maine, visiting friends (2009).
Hiking on Cadillac Mountain - Bar Harbor sits in the distance.
At Marshall Point Lighthouse, made famous in "Forrest Gump" as the end of Forrest's cross country run; he jogs up the ramp and only then realizes he's reached his destination.  Great scene.
Campout at Eagle Lake, Acadia National Park.  Just after dusk, overhead is the constellation Sagittarius, sometimes called "the teapot".
A boat navigates the Maine coastline just as a cold front sweeps in, with this striking sunbeam cutting through.
__________________________________________________________________


Two occasions where work trips were long enough to explore where I was :
Charleston,SC (2012)  &  Galveston,TX (2014)
___________________________________________________________________

Home grown tomatoes in the summer -- face it, the ones you grow yourself always seem sweeter and tastier than anyone else's...we all think that. Every year I change up the varieties I try; last year, this turned up on a container planting I had. What would this be called -- a siamese triplet tomato? Wonder if I could've sold it on EBay?
____________________________________________________________________

Reading... a lost art? Not for everyone.

I'm not one that's ready to give up the printed page completely.

_____________________________________________________________________

Alexis and Daniel

No question, these two are an important part of my downtime. Both rescued by me at crucial times --

Alexis (calico) was already grown a few years back when the family she had gave her up.  After almost a year at Caroline Co. Humane and then Chesapeake Cats, I couldn't resist and adopted her. 

Daniel (tabby) I literally rescued as a weeks-old kitten I found one morning calling out under a shrub outside. No idea how he got there, but glad I heard him.  Alexis became accustomed to him gradually, and now tolerates him mostly as the annoying "little brother".  But he does bring out her maternal side too.  Giving them both a second chance is one of the more rewarding things I've ever done.