Rita's birthday was packed this year! It started with the imminent birth of niece Veyda whose delivery date was the 13th of November. While waiting for the news of her birth,Rita and I took the road to the beach on a glorious sunny day that had more a semblance of a late-Summer than mid-Autumn. We drove across the bay bridge onto the Eastern shore where we stumbled upon a regiment of antique shops all well supplied with assorted ornaments and equipped with lines of heavy furniture built to withstand the the worse termite attack.
After much, much driving, we arrived at Bethany Beach. We parked in a dead-end street and rushed up the ramp leading to the Ocean. How did the Atlantic look like? How did it compare to the be
aches in California? Eager to find out, Rita rushed onto the warm sand and took in as much sea breeze as her lungs could take in. The effect of the neptunian minerals and the volatile salts on Rita's blood made her vulnerable to my romantic advances. 
She finally conceded and held my hand as we walked down the sea shore. Our souls were so elated that onlookers mistook us for graceful birds.
Our promenade lasted until twilight when we were reminded that time is short and the road home was long. We had dinner (some yummy clams) and hit the road back.
Although that was the end of our beach day, that was no the end of Rita's birthday celebration.
The next day (Sunday, November 2nd), Rachel and I decided to make an apple pie from scratch...
I mean even picking-up-the-apples-from-the-orchard from scratch. We drove into Montgomery's county agricultural reserve and stopped at so and so farm (I am not advertising for any farm, plus I don't recall the name..ask Rita). The apples were waiting for us on the merchandise tables, so we skipped the picking up portion of the trip and went instead pumpkin shopping. I did not take pictures of that but you can check some out at Rachel's blog. We drove back home and work fervently on the apple pie which was to die for...
Do
not worry! Nobody was hurt. Actually, everything went according to plan; after one hour of incubation in a 385 degree oven, the apple pie came out of hibernation and with a soft, warm breathy voice summoned Rita, Rachel and I around the table not only to celebrate Rita's birthday, but also Veyda's birth that came 10 days earlier than what the doctors expected.Happy birthday Rita! Happy birth Veyda!
