She's Back, and We're Off!

At 5:30 this morning, I heard a plaintive yeow. Elise was home.

And, just in time, too, as we're headed off to Holden Beach, NC, sometime this afternoon.

Holden Beach holds as special place in our hearts, and not just because it is quiet and calm, far removed from its neighbor to the south, Myrtle Beach, SC, in temperment. Holden Beach is also a place of family history. My great grandmother owned a house on Holden Beach, where my maternal grandmother grew up until it was destroyed by Hurricane Hazel in 1954.

I grew up hearing stories about that legendary storm, which so rocked my grandmother's world that she hasn't been back to Holden Beach since. According to family legend, Hazel literally uprooted the house, carrying it several blocks before it unceremoniously plopped it down on a different street. When my family found it, and began to clean it out, they noticed something truly bizarre. It turns out, the air pressure from the storm was so strong that even though the house flew through the air and then crashed, destroying almost everything, all of the dishes were still neatly stacked in the cabinets. They hadn't moved.

I'll return from Holden Beach next Friday, just in time to start an intensive summer class. So I don't know when I'll be able to get back to blogging. But, while you're cruising around the blogosphere eagerly awaiting my return, make sure to check out Tom's haircut! It was his first in over four years!