I've been trying hard lately to bloom where I'm planted. This was advice given to my dear (not old!) friend Sarah during a rough Freshman year in college, and it stuck with me. Bloom where you're planted. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. I love so much about this place where we live, and a large part of what I love is the water that surrounds us. I know I've told you that before. Sure there's the Atlantic ocean (!) and the Chesapeake Bay (!), but this area is criss-crossed with rivers and tidal marshes as well. Those tidal rivers are part of why my street floods so regularly, and sometimes when we step outside you can smell that fecund, marshy smell; the air is heavy with it, and I love it.

I took my iphone with me on my walk on Monday. Partly because Callum was doing homework, and partly because I thought I could capture a shot for FatMumSlim's September Photo-a-Day which I thought I'd try this month. I got lucky. Whether I take a quick half hour walk, the water is there, and for my longer hour-long walks, the water is there too. We're bookended by two rivers (The Elizabeth and the Lafayette), and our flat, curvy roads give us lovely vistas of each. Next time, I'll take Big Daddy out and climb the bridge to give you another view. Oh, and there are geese too.

Isn't the sky beautiful? Once I headed home, the breeze inexplicably turned cool. And then, of course, it started to rain.