Sullivan, our new puppy

Today, Ashley and I decided to buy an 11 week old black lab, on somewhat of an impulse. We had been thinking about getting one from the Lowcountry Lab Rescue, but another sort of rescue opportunity presented itself unexpectedly. After going through a list of several names, including Biblical ones, Charleston ones, and a few others, we decided to settle on Sullivan – like the local beach island that we enjoy frequenting.

Sullivan has already had his first trip to the vet and he checked out great (and the vet confirmed that he actually seems to be full-blood). He’s very well behaved and quite docile, so far for a Labrador puppy, so we are cautiously optimistic that he will be well-behaved. He does definitely enjoy some good play time, though, as any good lab should.

Morning traffic

I found myself stalled by a bit of traffic this morning on the way out of the neighborhood…

When I found him, he was in the middle of the road, really blocking both lanes of traffic. By the time I retrieved my camera, he had tired of staring me down and was moving out of the way. These guys sure are a rowdy bunch!

Blue Angels

This weekend is quite a busy one for Charleston. As a part of Navy Week taking place here, the Blue Angels put on a show this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon. The things that these crazy pilots can do with planes is nothing short of amazing. I was able to shoot some of the acrobatics, but it definitely made me wish that I had a longer lens (I had to digitally zoom in on the pictures here). I also got a preview of the air show unexpectedly on Wednesday when I took a long lunch break to do a 10k run around the perimeter of Daniel Island. I was peacefully running along the road, when much to my surprise, 4 of the planes buzzed over me close enough that I could read the “U.S. NAVY” log on their wings.

As I made my way downtown to watch the show – I was a bit late leaving – I was able to watch the Blue Angels as they were beginning the show. While I was crossing the Cooper River Bridge, the planes disappeared from my site. But then, suddenly, as I approached the end of the bridge, I heard a loud roar above me, and looked up through the sunroof, to see a flyover, not 30 feet above me. That was a pretty spectacular site, though it fortunately was a brief one, as driving while looking through the sunroof is a terrible idea…

As an aside, I also got stuck in traffic in Mount Pleasant, as I past the Boone Hall Strawberry Festival. If only I had been able to stop and take a picture of the amazingness that ensued there. I guess strawberry picking season is about to start (about which I am thrilled) and to kick it all off, they put on a festival celebrating all that is strawberry. My favorite feature was by far the strawberry Merry-Go-Round…