the OBX Beach Bum

11/03/2026

Some mornings I stand on the shoreline patiently scanning the horizon for my pelican friends.

You see, we have an arrangement. I won’t leave the beach until they drop by for their photo shoot.

They’re running late this morning. They don’t always follow my schedule, but they promise to be there and give me something good.

These eyes of mine aren’t what they used to be, and as I look out across the waves, I can’t always be sure.

Is that dark smudge out past the breakers a line of pelicans gliding low, or just a swell catching shadow? For a second I’m sure, then I’m not.

I squint a little harder.

There they are, gliding in with the first light, wingtips almost brushing the water.

Now the waiting is over, and the nervous part begins. It all happens so fast. My eye is glued to the camera, watching the wave build, because timing is everything.

All I can think about is not missing what they give me.

I follow them over the waves, pressing the shutter, here and gone in an instant, hoping I’m doing them justice.

They rarely stop, and they never look back.

They just know they left me with a moment like this one, and that feeling in my heart.

Love from here.

11/02/2026

My paper arrived, my printer is printing, and the first "fixed" calendar is ready.

If you look closely you'll notice that I put a sticker on there, but if you spend your time looking at July's picture, you probably won't notice.

Thank you for your patience.

11/02/2026

I've been sitting here pondering in that quiet space between what I am and what I could've been.

It seems to me that the "could’ve-been" version of me is always unfairly flattered.

He’s imagined.

He never paid any of the costs, dealt with the bad luck, made compromises, or ever had things he had to give up. He never had a hard year. He never had to choose.

The real me did and comparing myself to my imagined self is a rigged contest I can't win.

I've had 44 years with a loving partner by my side, fourteen years of standing on the beach at dawn doing something I love, and a body of work people care about.

Those aren’t consolation prizes.

Contentment isn’t the absence of wanting, it’s the end of mourning a life you didn’t live.

That sounds like a beach bum code, well, it should be.

Love from here.

11/01/2026

Yesterday, I was wasting time scrolling through my facebook feed, a reel popped up on my screen and I was mesmerized by a young woman dancing with a hoop.

I've met quite a few folks in my life that are quite proficient hula hoopers, some even do it with fire.

But this was not really hula hooping, this was something else entirely.

The hoop rolled across her shoulders, climbed up one arm and down the other, spun around her neck, and kept going while she bent backward into a bridge, kicked over, and came up on the other side without missing a beat.

Gymnastics and ballet and juggling, all at once, all with one ring that had a mind of its own.

I sat there with my mouth half open, and the thought that came to me wasn’t “wow, she’s talented,” although she clearly was. It was "how is it I had no idea this even existed?"

It's been an Olympic event for more than forty years, and somehow I never once crossed paths with it.

I consider myself pretty well-informed, knowing about a lot of different things, my mother used to say I was a warehouse of useless information.

That’s the part I keep turning over.

If something that beautiful, could slip right past me for my entire adult life, how many other things have done the same?

I'll bet that number gets dizzying fast.

At my age, you’d think I’d have bumped into most of what the world has to offer.

Turns out I’ve barely scratched it. And for some reason that encouraged me.

It meant that any day now, I might turn a corner and run smack into another thing I never knew existed, and get to feel that same jolt of wonder all over again.

It means curiosity isn’t something you outgrow. It’s something the world keeps feeding, as long as you keep showing up hungry.

But for now, I’m content to know that the world is far bigger than I thought it was.

10/31/2026

Last week, the lights in our house started flickering, just a little at the start eventually getting pretty intense causing my UPS to freak out like the power was constantly shutting down.

We had received a voicemail from our electric company that they were going to be performing some kind of line maintenance with a scheduled downtime that night so I assumed it was somehow related. We called to make sure.

Pure coincidence.

The electric company sent out one of their linemen and we discovered that our electric meter was shorting out and could easily start a fire.

We had to pull the meter, but not until after my UPS fried. Turns out they're great for surges and power outages, but that intermittent off/on was too much for it.

I didn't dare plug my computer back on until it got fixed which wasn't until last night.

I was already stressing with the whole calendar fiasco, this was the last straw. I had to get to the beach to get some peace.

We were only there for a few minutes, but it really helped me regroup.

Anyway, I had an idea for the upcoming holiday markets for new holiday cards. What do you think?

Finally got my computer back online.

10/31/2026

10/28/2026

I know most of you that bought my calendar would like 32 days in July, myself included.

And if that were the only issue, I would have left it as an unintended benefit for using my calendar.

The issue was that instead of starting on a Thursday, it started on Tuesday, then skipped Wednesday and then July 2nd was on Thursday.

No way to make that funny.

Anyway, here's my sticker solution that Sandie and I will be frantically affixing to the calendar.

Love from here.

10/28/2026

A departure from the norm. A contradistinction, if you will.

One morning I was out for sunrise, and it was what I call an “up and done.” No color, no waves, no shorebirds or pelicans. Nothing to shoot.

So I headed out for some coffee.

As I sat staring out the window, contemplating life and my relation to it, I became fascinated by the light on these palm fronds.

I’d forgotten about them until I stumbled onto them this morning, and thought I’d give you a glimpse into the kind of things I shoot just for me.

Love from here. ❤️

10/27/2026

So, the 2027 color calendars showed up right as expected.

I can't tell you how pleased I was with the printing. They're not as rigid as my previous calendars, but they are very nice. Very happy with the print quality.

But, as I inspected the calendar more closely I noticed that July was wonky.

I about had a heart attack. Sandie was out in her tie dye shed so she was unaware of the panic I was in and didn't hear me swear.

Somewhere between me proofing it, and a second set of eyes proofing it, July 2027 decided it needed a 32nd day, I suppose since it didn't get a mention in that 30 days hath September rhyme.

Good news is I have a fix.

I contacted my paper supplier in Dallas and ordered matte sticker paper with rush shipping. I’ll be printing a corrected July grid and putting it on every calendar by hand before it leaves here. It will look right and work fine, I promise.

I know I said the calendars would start shipping tomorrow, but this pushes shipping back a few days.

I’ll post again as soon as the paper arrives and they’re on their way.

I'm very sorry. ❤️

Roy & Sandie

::::CLARIFICATION::: It wasn't just an extra day added. All the days shifted over two places, Thursday is the new Tuesday kind of thing. :)

10/27/2026

UPS just told me my 2027 calendars are being delivered today. They're kind of vague about the time, so I'm guessing they start mailing out tomorrow.

I better tell Sandie.