Winter solstice has arrived. The longest night, of one of the longest years. Not so sure that things will only get better from here, but the days will have more hours of light, and that’ll be nice.

Pattie and I really needed to do something to change the routine. With Surf City out of commission for, likely, at least another month, we’re really feeling every bit as ‘locked in’ as everyone else. So Pattie found a new hotel down in Beaufort (on the water, near where we departed for a diving trip last June), with a restaurant that looked nice. We went down Saturday, just for a night.

We stopped in to Pattie’s brother’s, near Beaufort, in Morehead City. I’d not seen them for a long time, indeed–Christine’s wedding a year ago? We dropped off some cookies and bird-feeder wreaths (which we’ve been churning out for gifts to neighbors), visited for about an hour, and moved along. We brought Frankie, as the hotel is pet-friendly. The Beaufort Hotel is nice; clean, well-cared-for (staff were Cloroxing floor boards as we walked to our room), and at about half-occupancy. A beautiful setting, for sure.

Sunday morning’s sunrise (~6:30ish above, ~7ish below)

Breakfast on the restaurant’s porch–we the only folks sitting outside, for distancing, but also to accommodate Frankie–brought a wonderful view of some visitors.

Then, arriving back home to Greenville, we pretty much fell back into the routine. A trip to the backyard with Frankie brought yet another surprise…

And now, it’s Monday.

‘nuf said.