I was without internet for a couple days; there's a lot to tell. But meanwhile, there are thunderstorms with lightning. They woke me up at 2:15 and I don't know if it's been going ever since then--or just started again. But this round has lasted over an hour. And cold.

Friday morning, Deb, Becky and I walked to the clubhouse with Barney. There is a dog groomer there and Deb left him to get a haircut. We walked back along the beach. It was sunny, but a little cool. I played a couple games of Spider, sometimes sitting out on the deck in the sun. I don't remember doing much else that day. Deb went back on the golf cart to pick up Barney. Shortly after he got back, she noticed he was limping and assumed it had something to do with trimming his toenails, so she brought him back. She said it was his ankle (and had nothing to do with the grooming). Deb made an appointment with a vet in Beaufort for that afternoon. For lunch, we ate more of the soup Becky had brought from her freezer and leftover salad and bread. Becky and Kent went to walk on the beach, but I just relaxed. The dog, by the way, stopped limping while they were at the vet's. They examined him and decided a couple of his toes were dislocated. They put them back and prescribed pain pills. So, we had a mellow Barney who couldn't run on the beach with us for the next few days.

I took a bath and got dressed and we went to Beaufort to meet the rest of the group. Ray had driven John and Janna and Ron and they met us at a really good restaurant where we ate in January, Breakwater. It was delicious and fun--the server, Andrea, was excellent. Then we drove back to Fripp (in 2 cars) and I stayed up until 11. We were trying to watch The Big Chill in streaming video and it worked okay at first (even though my screen is a little small), but then it stopped during the funeral scene.

The next morning, Deb and Ron and Kent went to play golf. John and Ray and I walked on the beach at sunrise--pretty nice. We had breakfast and I played some more Spider. Ray worked on his computer some. John pumped up the tires on the boat trailer and the bikes. Ray went out and helped him get the boat ready. It hadn't been sailed in many years (at least 7) and he cleaned and checked everything. Janna and Ron went to the clubhouse so they could do some work on line.

 Becky had brought a couple lasagnas from her freezer, so we thawed and cooked one of those for lunch and got ready to go to the beach. Eight different people take a while to get ready. John and Ray and the guys carried the boat down (not as easy as it sounds). The women took chairs and other things to the beach. But they did not want to go in the water. I went in a couple times, but then went to check on the sailboat. It turned out to take a long time to get everything ready. Mast up, sails up. Carry it to the water and push it out past the waves. The wind had gotten pretty strong by now and I told them, "don't be a hero; don't worry about the boat, if it comes to that." Here's a few pictures, but I was busy during the busiest part. Busy standing downwind of the boat and getting knocked into the water, with my trusty iPhone. (I have lovely bruises and the iPhone is fine, but that was my biggest worry for a while; salt water is notoriously hard on things.) John told Ray to get in the boat and put the centerboard. John was up to his neck in the water holding onto the bow in the big waves. Ray did as he was told and the boat promptly tipped over and dumped him out. No harm to him, but the tiller snapped off at the rudder and the adventure was over before it began. We had to undo everything we had done to get ready, taking the sails and mast down and carrying the boat back. But it was sort of exhilarating. If it had been less windy, they would have been able to sail and they were disappointed, but glad to have made the effort, I guess. Meanwhile, the women had packed up and gone back to the house, where we all took warm showers and started working on supper. It stormed, but we were inside by then.

I had brought a pork roast and the fennel and garlic rub we usually put on it. Deb bought some sweet potatoes and potatoes and the women cut them up and roasted them in the oven with rosemary. Ray washed the lettuce we had brought and somebody cut up some cucumber and a few other things. I dressed it with olive oil and balsamic. It was a very popular feast. Afterwards, they ate up all the  cookies I had brought. Janna and Ron had brought their iPhone docking station and we danced some to the Motown music Ron loves: Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin. Much wine had been consumed by this point and he just wanted to listen to the same songs over and over. We divided into teams for Charades, but some people were too incapacitated to play. Some of us had fun, though. Gymnopedie was probably the hardest one. I had Parks and Recreation and just couldn't convey it. Let me know if you find a good way to do that one. Ray suggested miming parking a car, but don't know about Recreation. Perhaps if I had anyone on my team that watched the show, it would have helped. Then we stayed up until almost midnight, playing games, or just reading the questions off the cards from a game called Wit's End. Kent is really smart and can even make up poetry on the spot.

The next morning, the sun was out and it was 70 degrees pretty early on. Ray and John and Deb and I walked on the beach first thing. Then I made huevos rancheros for those who wanted. Some didn't want eggs, but they had brought other things. We packed and some of us went to the beach again. For lunch, Becky heated the other lasagna and Janna and I made tuna. When she unwrapped the lasagna, we all had a good laugh. It was fudge! Delicious warm fudge you could eat with a spoon. Too bad we didn't know about it the night before. All the homemade bread got eaten and we took some things home.

Ray and I drove home alone, although at one point I looked in my rear-view mirror and there was Kent! When we first left, there was a tremendous thunderstorm with wind and lightning and even a little hail. The next time we stopped, it was noticeably cooler and didn't get above 50 the rest of the day. I had to stop to use the bathroom three times. I am going to have to drink less water in the car! We were home by 7:15 and Cameron was glad to see us. It was cold and overcast. I was glad to be able to turn the heat up. We had some leftover mac & cheese from potluck that we heated in the microwave. It tasted awfully good and we unpacked a little. I watched a little TV, but started to fall asleep before 9.

And that's the whole story. It's till raining, with very dark skies, but the thunder and lightning has subsided.