PhyllistheAuthor

It has been so warm here in Virginia that this tree has obviously gotten confused and it is blooming, a rare sight of spring amid the last lingering fall foliage.

Going to the beach at Nags Head, North Carolina after a nor'easter proved to be very interesting. The surf was wild and the tides high. Our ocean view room was unavailable because head-on, 70+MPH winds had entered every crack and crevice of the rooms on the oceanfront. The rugs were wet. The rug on our side room was even wet around the door.

The storm had also removed shingles and destroyed steps to the beach. A piece of the wreck of the ship Irma washed up at Kitty Hawk, several miles from the site of the wreck in the 1920s.

Here I am standing on part of the wreckage from the Irma.

The storm washed away many of the stairs leading down to the ocean.

As you can see this stairs end nowhere.

And these stairs begin no where. The bank is totally washed away.

Sea Foam littered the beach. It was sometimes two feet or more deep.

All this didn't prevent sandcastle building.

We usually got to the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge to see winter waterfowl, but this year getting there was difficult due to high water and sand on the road.

We needed water wings!

Plows created giant dunes by plowing sand off the road.

Instead of seeing the waterfowl we went to see the First Colony Historic Site and then to the Elizabethan garden. The garden was a treat since many things were still in bloom.

Posing with a bird bath.

We even got to see the queen!

On a recent visit to Poquoson Elementary School, I met the Battle of the Books team. You will be reading twenty great books. Good Luck, kids!

In celebration of Children's Book Week, I will be visiting three schools this week: Poquoson Elementary, Gildersleeves Middle, and Chesapeake Bay Academy. I am looking forward to meeting a lot of readers!

At least ten years ago, perhaps longer, I planted this maple tree from the Arbor Day Foundation. This fall, it has been gorgeous. I have a very special affinity to it since we have nurtured it along through droughts, hurricanes, and ice storms.

If you would like to follow my progress on the National Novel Writing Month challenge, you can do so at http://www.nanowrimo.org/userinfo.php?uid=133089

If any kids have undertaken the challenge, please let me know, so I can cheer you on.