There's Something to Be Said for a Beautiful Camera

With no one around to talk me out of it, I've gone and bought the most beautiful camera I've ever had the pleasure of holding.

While I, of all people, know it is not the camera that makes a photographer, every now and again a new one kick starts me, especially when I've had healthy "mailbox money" checks of late. Add to that, our son Matthew, after watching the video I linked to in my last post, insisted I follow the 85 year old's advice to spend all my money, rather than let my kids do it for me. That, of course will never happen, mostly because I'm too frugal to go that route, and then too, our children, thank God, are making their way in this world beautifully. Monday night I met Dave and Michelle for happy hour at Santiago's, and although I was ready to pay my way, David would have none of it. Amazingly, they agreed to a photo as well.

So, because I've had an Olympus in the past, which I used so much the back screen coating wore away, I decided to go with Olympus again. Furthermore, I have several lenses from my Panasonic cameras that are interchangeable between the two systems. That said, I could not resist buying a new silver lens to complete the look!

The fellow at Colonial Photo & Hobby put the strap on, set the time, and the minute I was out of the store, I was shooting away. Not unlike when Bruce gave me my first digital camera for Christmas nearly nine years ago! I'm fairly confidant this is the only area of town that you will find a sign in this language.

Readers, more clever than myself, will know what it is--Vietnamese perhaps? Even in the parking lot I find something interesting....clouds reflected on our back windows.

I figured I need to point that out because it is such a silly thing to photograph!

On my drive home I looked for photo opportunities, stopping at Dickson Azalea gardens which is somewhat scenic. Walking down the steps to the ravine, what do you think I saw happening to my right? An owl flew into the tree overhead!!

Not great for all sorts of reasons, bright sunlight being one of them, but how about that for a surprise?

Once home, I searched the house and yard, the purpose of which is to get to know a new camera. Practice, practice, practice.

Lovely little basil leaves from a plant I purchased at Trader Joe's. Aside from the lens situation, one of my main criteria for a camera is how it feels in my hands. Going into the store, I first looked at the Olympus Micro Four Third cameras that were less expensive than the one I ultimately bought. Wanting to like them more, the grip was just not enough for my older shaky hands. Not seriously shaky by any means, but shaky enough that I'm no good taking photos on my phone, unlike my daughter-in-law Alissa who is a whiz kid with her phone. I need something to hold onto!

Sorry for another Baxter shot, but here he is again because he's the only living thing around these parts for most of the week!

You might notice how the groomer left those two little spouts just above his ears!

I'll be the first to admit that these last few weeks with B being gone from Monday morning until Thursday night have been lonely. I try to keep busy, but there's nothing like having someone else in the house to make life better. Then too, before he left Darden and was home for the better part of a year, I was accustomed to his absence. Now, not so much. Moreover, when I was even five years younger I would hop in the car and go places by myself without a thought. These days I find excuses not to do so, however, yesterday morning, waking at around 5 in the morning, I decided to stop making excuses and head to the beach. Specifically, my favorite, Playalinda, which, by the way, took me forever to get there due to construction on SR 50.

In any case, when I arrived it was just as beautiful as I'd remembered. No development whatsoever makes for a lovely experience.

So, if you want to take beach photographs without people, this is the place for you. On the other hand, just when I'm feeling lonely...

Shooting photographs at the seaside is not nearly as easy as one might think because the camera gets confused on what light it should expose for. As does this photographer!! The tide was way out as you can plainly see, so big swatches of light adjacent to big swatches of dark. The only solution in my experience is to take a bunch!

As I was driving the six plus miles onto Canaveral National Seashore, I saw this guy drying his wings. Generally I'm not much one for vultures, but this pose struck me as interesting.

You may have noticed the stick near my chair and if you are from Florida you know exactly what that represents. If not, it means there is a sea turtle's nest nearby, as in, real close. Some men came along after while who were removing some of the yellow sticks and replacing them with white.

Although they explained it to me, try as I might, I never really understood why they were changing them, but I did learn that on each stick a date is marked and approximately 60 days from that date, the eggs will hatch and the baby turtles will make their way out to sea. Asking them how they knew where the nests were, they told me that they come out at around 11 PM, staying throughout the night to watch the turtles lay their eggs. Our friends, the Whiteds, were on a beach near St. Augustine recently and saw the baby turtles hatching!! My sister Lisa would be all over that!

Just as the beach was nearly empty of people, the same held true for shore birds. Not nearly enough for my liking!

This one is pretty cute though...

Late August is a superb time to visit the Atlantic Ocean because the water temperature is just right, neither too cold, nor too hot. The waves, on the other hand, were pretty wimpy for the East coast, you would have thought I was swimming in the Gulf! There is talk about a storm out in the Atlantic, perhaps becoming a hurricane, so if that is the case, this shoreline will look quite a bit different in the next few days. Surfers will be out in droves!

In between writing paragraphs, I've made some blueberry muffins which I just ate and thought to myself, why don't I make more muffins? Delicious.

And now it is time to hit the road on my bicycle before the heat chases me indoors!

Indulging myself,

Gail

p.s. All photos on this blog are to tell a story, I keep the best stuff away from the web!!

The Birds!

If ever our children resort to holding an estate sale of our belongings, they will surely get a chuckle, or so I hope, over all the bird related stuff I have around the house. Today I'm adding, or make that Bruce is adding, to my collection with a tiny anniversary gift; some little birdhouse salt and pepper shakers.

It's really not all my fault, although I do take some of the blame; it's just that whenever people buy me gifts they know I'll swoon over little birdie stuff, such as the other set of salt and pepper shakers given to us (!) by Nadav and Crystal, after we watched their dog a bit ago. I say, keep 'em coming! Watches, too, I'm a nut for watches.

This summer has been such fun going to the beach once a week. I swear, Bruce has been to the beach more times this summer, than for the last ten years put together, and I think I'm not exaggerating. That will happen to a person who works 24/7 for years on end. Just when you thought he WAS NOT working, he's been crazy busy doing handyman stuff for various people. So, needing to pick up two large pieces of stainless steel from a fabricator in Oviedo, determined our beach destination, allowing us to pick it up on the drive home.

When last we visited Playalinda, in early July, the waves were doing some crazy stuff, beating us up like mad. In case you missed that post, check out the link. In case you don't care--don't.

This visit could not have been more different, the water was so calm, you would have thought we were on the Gulf of Mexico!

Almost nothing!!

Leaving Orlando under gray and grim skies, I was so hoping our drive would be worthwhile, and indeed it was. We do our best to arrive early, hoping to avoid the sun's hottest rays. Then too, if it were any other beach, the crowds roll in around 11, however, it has been our experience that this stretch of the Atlantic is anything but crowded. At least with people, anyway!

Because the water was SO calm, immediately I could see the dolphins doing their thing away from shore! Plus, there were more shells than I generally find; I concentrated my efforts on finding the tiniest, perfectly formed shells, of which there were many.

So, there weren't so many folks, but by golly there sure were lots of dragonflies!

And loads and loads of turtles nests, marked with the yellow sticks, and crab holes. Goodness they were everywhere!

Snuck in a little birdie prints....

I only saw one of the sand crabs, and one of this kind of crab, which I think is a blue crab?

Just as I was crouching down for a better shot, the tiny wave came up, and off he went! Maybe it's the time of the year, I have no reference point on that, but I've seen fewer shore birds this summer than I was expecting. The ones we saw that day were just hanging out really close to us, and of course, this made me very happy.

I've just got to find out what kind of birds these are! So fashionable with their little red shoes, and black and white hat! Well, I have just discovered that it appears to be a Rudy Turnstone, not necessarily a name that rolls easily off the tongue! They seem to get along just fine with the sandpipers, and seagulls.

Seagulls! As if you've never seen any before!

Although, duh, I think this is the first that I've noticed their webbed feet. :)

The water temperature was slightly cooler than the last few weeks--super invigorating. While the waves were puny, the swimming and floating was nice, as was the body surfing! Imagine that. Do not ask me how that works because I have no answer for you. Some of my best rides came last Friday--a complete mystery because the above photo shows you the extent of them.

Mostly staying under his umbrella, Bruce has been captivated, when he has the time, by "The Game of Thrones" book he is reading. Many people love reading at the beach, and I would if I could, however, years ago I decided it seemed silly to be enjoying a new experience, at the same time as you are in another world from a book. Of course, some folks argue the same about a camera, however, it is with this notion that I must disagree.  And here he is, safely under the umbrella, glued to his book.

How about them clouds, not to mention the rain in the distance? Some of the beaches we've visited have super wide swaths of sand, not so much here, because most of the sand is in those giant dunes!

More exciting clouds....

Yes sir, it did get pretty dark, prompting even Mrs. Optimist to suggest we pack up, except, guess what? Nothing, at least in the way of rain, happened! However, something exciting happened on our drive home, and, you guessed it, a bird was involved.

It is quite a long drive, maybe 10 miles or so, off the mainland before you come to Playalinda Beach. Most of your time is spent passing through the Merritt Island National Wildlife Reserve with occasional wildlife crossing signs beside the roadway. Coming in, I laughed with Bruce over the 25MPH sign for the Scrub Jay nesting area. Okay, I can drive 25 MPH, but really, are they worried the birds will fly into your car? I will say the above pictured dragonflies were really something on our drive home, swarming like mad over the road.

Well, guess what? We saw one of the Scrub Jays driving back through the slow as molasses portion of the road!! Pulling over, I was lucky enough to get a shot....

The link above will tell you all, and probably more then you'll ever need to know about Scrub Jays. I will say, however, that they are native to Florida only, AND the population is in danger, making our sighting all the more thrilling. Not that they are endangered but because it was so unexpected!

Lest you think these two lovebirds are not celebrating their anniversary, think again. No major gifts involved----details tomorrow.

Scheduling

Just when I was becoming accustomed to Bruce being around the house most of the time, he's working again. Make that, sort of. Dana has all kinds of projects for him to do at Church Street where he spent the first three days of this past week. That said, during our last day trip to the seaside, he promised me we could go once a week, and so we did just that on Thursday.

It is not often that we would make the drive to Playalinda Beach, but I was looking for some unspoiled beauty which is what you will find at Canaveral National Seashore. According to this, there are 24 miles of beach on the barrier island with no commercial development at all. Nice!

Earlier in the week, maybe Tuesday and Wednesday, what was to become Hurricane Arthur was 90 miles off this coastline, traveling North, leaving behind some pretty big surf.

Crashing into waves, and riding them to shore is one of my favorite beach activities, so after setting up,

I could not wait to get in. Except, because it had been awhile since last I engaged in said activities, I was taken aback, and I mean that literally by the strength of the waves. My head snapped back pretty good, well not good, as it hurt like the dickens, following my first crash into the waves. Plus, they were so strong no matter what standing position we were in, down we went! Then we got back up again, and did it again! Bruce making his way to shore.

Thursday's beach visit could not have been any more different than the one to Cocoa when it was overcast and calm, allowing us to walk out nearly as far as the end of the pier! Plus, it was super sunny, which does not bode well for Mr. Bruce in spite of an umbrella!

It's a darn good thing we didn't stay for too long because by the evening my knees felt like I'd been in a fight, which come to think of it, I was!

Friday was yard day, with Bruce doing the finesse work, while I did the mowing. Afterwards I fertilized everything, and while doing so, there were butterflies floating around the garden area.

I love seeing Swallotails, however, what I wish I could show you is the one that got away. Never before, had I seen, this beautiful little brown, purple, and orange butterfly that floated just in front of me! Naturally, by the time I went in for my camera, it was nowhere to be found.

The Fourth of July means parties, and we went to two of them. The afternoon found us partying with the Lake Pineloch gang, followed by the evening at our new neighbor's house just down the street. A young couple with a new baby, they had folks from the cul-de-sac over for food, and fireworks, on their dock.

Folks on the other side of Lake Gem Mary were going bigger with their fireworks! We returned home in time to watch the PBS Capitol Special  which had more fireworks than I've ever seen. My goodness!

Then it was Saturday which means working over at Bill's house. Or at least it does in our current schedule. A very productive day was had by all, but mostly Bruce, with me assisting. So, here's the before shot....

And here's the after...

As you can see from the before shot, it takes quite a lot of planning and equipment to make it happen. Moving around to the front,

and here we have the big reveal...

Honestly, it is so satisfying to see the transformation of what was once a big pink house! Bill mentioned yesterday how when he looks at the photos from just a few months ago, he must have had blinders on, because man was it ugly! When he bought the house, the remaining plants reached as tall as the windows, however, he promptly cut them down. Before long there WILL BE new landscaping, as well as something to camouflage that eyesore of a pump. If you look closely, you will see Bruce's green shirt. What is he doing, you ask? Well, he's digging a trench to put a drain in. As time wore on, he got so hot, I was begging him to stop, however, he said it was on his schedule. and he does love a schedule. Meanwhile, Mrs. Camera Crazy began pressure washing the driveway, with Bill taking over about halfway down. Photographic evidence of just how grungy it was!

Actually a big fat storm came along before we could finish, but we will finish, oh yes we will!

Although the sky looks clear as can be as I type, I'm preparing myself for a shortened market, but, I hope, not before this order is picked up...

Can you even believe how lucky I am having a husband who can make this all happen? I can't, and I've been married to him for nearly 41 years!