A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens
Life on my own, on the Nature Coast of of Florida, and beyond…
This time I didn’t have to cross the canal to find a nice spot for the sunrise. Except the sunrise didn’t exactly appear. I said that I’ve always thought of January as cold and gray, and today it was. But that was okay, I’ll try again tomorrow. This retirement thing is really nice that way…
The thing about getting that last minute urge to go out for the sunrise is that it eventually gets light out. You may get lucky and have the beach to yourself. No other sunrise watchers to witness the mis-matched outfit you threw on, and your bed-head. I found myself alone at Sagamore Beach this morning, and the beautiful sunrise had me wondering what took me so long to do this… 
I suppose it’s not politically correct to lump people into a group and then talk about my impression of the people who fit into that group. Like how cat-like and aloof I found the people to be at the one and only cat show I ever attended. Conversely, my dog show experience seemed to be the opposite. The people were friendly, like, well, puppies. But what’s on my mind today is a desire to rave about what nice people photographers seem to be. What a great activity to re-find at this time of my life when I had figured out that spending all my time alone was probably not going to work out well for me in the long run. I wanted to get out and do something, and jumped at the chance to go to a photography class I happened to see on Facebook one morning. I couldn’t have known where that spur of the moment decision would lead me. The photographers I have met have proven themselves to be willing to share technical information about the camera itself, and locations for shooting. Not just willing to help, happy to help.
The other morning at the Cape Cod Canal was a good example. I was standing there with my camera and tripod when several other photographers showed up. “Have you seen the King?”, was the question. I think I probably just stood there with a blank look on my face, so he said, “The King Ida.” I was still lost. He pointed out that all the ducks I was seeing had just arrived in the last week or two. The white ones are Ida’s, he said. The males, he explained, have a blue ‘cap’ over their eye, and he searched the photos in his camera until he found a photo of one. He had only seen one, but he had heard that there were two with this group. After our conversation he, and a few other photographers who had shown up, headed down the path to see if there was a King with the group that day. There wasn’t. But I smiled through the rest of the time I spent shooting these photos. A little encounter like this one is enough to totally make your day, even when the King doesn’t show up…
New Year’s Eve. I’ve mostly ignored it, the hoopla and poopla I mean. Never traveled or celebrated, or even considered it a holiday really. I congratulated myself on being sensible, and not being out on the road and chancing the elements, or the other drivers. And I never gave a lot of thought as to what the new year actually might have in store. Never once considered the kinds of changes that 2014 had in store for me, even for those few years afterwards. But this year is different. For better or worse I’ve set a path for myself that may be unpredictable, but I know I can handle the bumps in the road. And I’m looking forward to lots of happy times. Now that the holidays are behind us I’m planning to light up my new year with the faces of friends that I haven’t seen in a long while. And some that I have seen but will always need to see again. It’s gonna be a very good year…
The property to the left of the road belongs to my sister. I hadn’t ventured beyond the house before, thinking that there wasn’t much else beyond it since the street itself ended in a cut de sac right there. Oh I had seen pick up trucks turn into this road, I just hadn’t thought much about it. That there was a horse farm behind her property was something I’d heard, but I must have always been here in the summer when the woods back there appeared to be endless. Any truck heading down this little road would just disappear, swallowed up by the woods. If her dog hadn’t barked at any and all traffic I wouldn’t have known they’d come through at all. I think I might have heard a horse once or twice, but the other day I actually saw a couple of them. They were wearing blankets since it was so cold, and it was just a glimpse of them in the pasture, through the trees. There is no real point to this story since Ozzie didn’t see them, but if he had it would have been a much more exciting story, for him at least. And a PITA for me. He wouldn’t try to chase them, or even try to fit through the fence, but he’d happily stand there and bark his head off at them. I prefer him to keep a low profile so I can drink coffee on the deck and watch him wander unleashed.
I missed a few photo ops on the nice drive to the Nip the other day. It was a crisp, clear day with nice light. And now it’s been raining. All day yesterday, and it’s gloomy again today. And now I remember hating January. Gray, cold, boring, January. And it’s not even here yet. Once I get this snowbird thing straight I’ll be in lush, green, Florida at this time of year. Out photographing all the flowers and wildlife that also love to spend their winters there. But here I am, and yes, it’s gray, but I’ll finally be seeing my oldest, dearest friend today. Even lovely, warm, Florida can’t hold a candle to being with the people I love…
I hate to admit this, but I remember thinking to myself, and in my memory I hear myself saying this in a very pouty voice, that now I had to wait 364 more days until Christmas would come again. What a brat, and I recognized it at the time which is why I remember having that thought, and have always been ashamed of that particular memory. What would have surprised me at the time, I think, is how the littlest things can make me so very happy these days. People make me happy these days. It’s a good feeling, like Christmas every day…
I found a little place to view the water in West Yarmouth today, and a great sale at the LL Bean store. Now to get my little Lumix camera back to the proper settings. It takes great pictures, like this holly, but somehow I have it out of whack. It’s one of the things I was going to take care off after I retired, so what am I waiting for…
