A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens
Life on my own, on the Nature Coast of of Florida, and beyond…
Wasn’t it lucky that I stopped at Coquina Beach on my way back to the condo and spotted this row of umbrellas sitting out on the beach? There were a few people walking about, but no one was sitting, which was fine by me. And we walked the beach closer to home too.
This was a message left on a piece of driftwood on the beach. I hope there will be lots to smile about in 2021.
I had my camera ready in case I saw anything photo worthy on my way to Longboat Key, so when I saw horses on the beach you know I had to stop for a picture. For a brief moment I thought how fun it would be to ride a horse on the beach, and then I remembered my age and thought better of that idea. I also stopped to see the whashed up boat on the causeway again, hoping that the RV would be gone. And it was! But a car with a kayak on top was parked way too close to the front of the boat. Seems you can’t win.
When I heard that there was a lot of driftwood on the beach nearby the condo I really didn’t picture this. Driftwood trees, decorated with shells, was new to me.
My friend found it amazing that this Great Blue Heron let us walk as close to him as we did while we were on our walk.
I also saw two new birds to me, the tiny little Sanderlings, and two Piping Plovers.
On this trip I learned that this is called ‘wrack’. It just looks like ocean junk but it provides an important environment for tiny organisms to thrive. Nothing is wasted in nature.
Social distancing was not a problem on this trip. We had the beach to ourselves, or nearly so. Walking and learning and enjoying the days.
Not everyone is up for getting out for the sunrise, including my hostess for my trip to Longboat Key. And that was fine with me because I’m pretty sure that only another photographer would put up with my early morning shenanigans. I was sure that since I was on a skinny little slip of land with beaches on the east side, that finding a place to view said sunrise would be a no-brainer. But evidently Holmes Beach is more of a town than a beach, and even though I was beginning to see some color in the sky I couldn’t find a place to pull over. I was sure I was too late period, and then I saw an arrow pointing me to Anna Maria City Pier. It was right on the water, and with parking right there too. In just a minute or so I was finally able to see the sunrise, and it was worth all the angst.
And always remember to check to see what’s going on behind you…
They say that a photo should have a clear subject. It should tell a story. I’m not sure what you may think is the subject of the feature photo. People on the rocks, speeding in boats, flying through the air? All of the above? Or maybe the real story is that I just got home and I’ve spent over an hour just getting my photos from the camera and into the computer, and I’m too tired to do more of them. But this one should give you a clue of the fun to be had at Longboat Key. I had such a good time, but it’s also nice to be home.
I will be among the missing for a day or three while I catch up with an old friend in a perfectly delightful setting. This is new territory for me and I’ll be taking lots of pictures, but I didn’t bring my laptop so for now I’ll just pass along an iPhone photo from our walk on the beach. My young self would never have imagined that Maddie and I would be spending this day in this place all these years later, but here we are, and how lucky we are to be here.
I had been seeing photos of this washed up sailboat from my group for a few weeks now. Lovely shots against the sunset, I was envious. Today the skies were dramatic and I thought that I might have missed this boat already, so I decided to take a trip to the Dunedin causeway to check it out. Happily it was still there, unfortunately there was an RV parked right next to it. I wondered what the thought process was that had someone park their RV in such an obviously annoying spot. Charley used to call that, “Hooray for me and the heck with the other guy.”
As I looked at the photos I found that my dramatic skies weren’t quite as nice as I’d hoped, and as I edited I found that I liked a softer look than I usually like. The skies seemed to demand it.
