Sunset From Key Biscayne

In March of 1984 (24 years ago!!!) Lovely Wife and I came with her parents to South Florida from Louisiana. We were actually just engaged then (hence a trip with her parents for propriety) and were married a few months later in August.

Anyway, we watched, what was one of the most marvelous sunsets of my entire life one evening from the southern tip of Key Biscayne off the coast of Miami, Fla.

In 1996, when we moved to Palm Bay, where we now live, we made a trip to Key Biscayne and were totally dismayed to find that the whole southern tip of the island was scrubbed bare by hurricane Andrew years ago.

It is a totally beautiful place still, but the trees and things that were there then were all blown away, and the whole park was replanted in a completely different fashion, and only used native Florida plant.

I totally understand why they did that, and I think that's a good thing, but I was broken hearted, having built up in my mind that Lovely Wife and I would look and find the place we had watched that magical sunset all those years ago, only to find that the place is gone. The whole park is beautiful, but completely different now.

Oh well. Life moves on and things truly change.

I wrote a two-part blog post on my Least Significant Bits blog HERE and HERE about this ordeal. The posts have several "then and now" photos. You can go see them and just look at the pictures if you want, now that you know the bones of the story.

P.S. I STILL love me some Kodachrome! I love the way Kokachrome slides look.

Black and White #26

This old concrete block building containing a bait store for people heading to fish in the Atlantic Ocean. This place is less than a block from a public park and beach access.

Old, scruffy looking places like this are disappearing fast around this area; it's becoming more and more upscale, especially on prime properties like these two places out near the beach.

Kids

Kids are a joy, but they also have their moments where frustration reigns in the hearts of parents.

But occasionally, kids do something that their parents get on film, and these parents patiently wait, knowing that kids eventually turn into teenagers and young adults.

Nothing strikes fear in the hearts of teens like a good old dose of EMBARRASSMENT!

And the patient parent finally has revenge for the length of life shaved off due to worry and stress as well as gray hair as these captured moments from long ago come back to bite the unwary former child in the backside when teenagers have friends and boyfriends to try to impress.

This is a scan of a 35mm slide from around 1990 when we were living in Powder Springs, Georgia, a suburb northwest of Atlanta.

This one never fails to make me laugh, especially how Number Two Daughter popped her pacifier back in her mouth through the mouth hole in the paper sack mask. They were about 2 and 4 years old here.

Good times. Then AND now.

Melbourne Beach Supermarket

This is the only small old Ma and Pa type grocery store in the area, that I know about at any rate.

Their ice cold Cokes are a treat after a hot day at the beach.

The look, smell, super friendly service and everything about this great little store is a wonderful trip down memory lane for those of us who can remember when these types of places were the only game in town, from before I'd ever even heard of Kroger or Piggly Wiggly.

Easter Sunday Evening

This first photo is of the Indian River Lagoon, from Castaway Point Park in Palm Bay, just a few miles from our home.

This is the Atlantic Ocean earlier this evening from Ocean Park, in Melbourne Beach, Florida.

I've not been posting every day; I simply haven't had any new stuff, and haven't felt up to getting out and about.

But Lovely Wife and I took a nice Sunday drive earlier this evening, and these are a couple of really fresh photos from today.

It was gorgeous, warm, and windy with just a tiny touch of coolness in the air. Nice.

1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
11 Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
13 Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
14 And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

He Is Risen!

So Much For Daily Digital Images, Right?

Sorry folks, life keeps interrupting my blogging. My sorry excuse for a spine is hurting enough that I just don't feel like getting out and doing anything, much less photographing things. So I just work and then when I get home, I eat supper, maybe watch a TV show with Lovely Wife, and go to bed.

That's pretty much the sum total of my days right now. work, eat, sleep, repeat.

That leaves me with little to choose from as photographs are concerned, and to top it all off, and really, the worst thing is that I DON'T CARE ENOUGH about anything to do it when my back is like this.

The medicines help, but only so much. Many times, when the medicines give me true relief, my body wants to shut down and get some quality sleep while it can, and I cannot make myself go out and do hobbies when the pain is gone. Pretty much between a rock and a hard place.

Anyway...

I haven't any new digital photos that I like enough to put on here, so I'm gonna throw a couple of my old 35mm slides that I have scanned on here for your perusal.



These images are Kodachrome slides of the USS Alabama, moored in Mobile Bay in Mobile, Alabama.

I love this thing, and it has been many years since I toured on it.

The USS Alabama is a WWII era battleship, and touring through it is quite humbling. Seeing how the two thousand men or so were able to live in such tight quarters is astounding.

There are also lots of planes and a submarine there at this park as well. Pretty neat stuff.

War is a hideous thing, but I'm grateful to all the men and women who have and do serve in our armed forces. They keep us safe and free.

Black and White #25

In LaSalle Parish, in central Louisiana, is an out of the way cemetery where some folks on my Dad's side of the family are buried.

The first photo is one of a part of that cemetery. The person in the back of the cemetery is my Big Sis, who was with us when I last visited family grave sites.

The second photo is of part of one of several bayous that run through my home town of Monroe, Louisiana. This bayou is called Bayou DeSiard. (pronounced da-ZEERD)

Fern Type Things

The top photo is a bunch of ferns and other forest growth that has taken root in the trunk of a dead, fallen palm tree in a local park. I was intriged by how this stuff just took off growning there on the side of this old tree trunk.

The bottom one is just some plain old ferns on the forest floor. Well, what passes for forest in Florida anyway. I loved the sunlight filtering through the trees and the deep green of the well-fed ferns.

An Evening at the Marina

Melbourne Harbor Marina in Melbourne, Florida.

Concorde Again

Last year, I posted a couple of photos of a British Airways Concorde that I had taken at DFW airport between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas in 1988. I was working for Delta Air Lines at the time, and the Concorde was flown to Dallas during the summer, when British Airways had enough passengers paying to justify it.

At the time, British Airways would fly the Concorde for about 10 weeks, twice per week, during the heavy summer passenger demand times.

Delta Air Lines employees did the ground operations for the British Airways flights, and I was able to go onto and see the insides of the aircraft, though I never had the opportunity (or enough money) to actually fly on it.

It was a beautiful aircraft, and I was sad to see them finally taken out of service a few years ago after the horrific Paris crash of a French Concorde.

These two are a couple more shots that I liked from the day I photographed the BA Concorde being pulled into the gate after arrival.

Wasp and Bouganvilla Blossoms

I don't have a macro lens and was experimenting to see how close I could get with my Nikon 18-200mm lens. Not too shabby. These were taken at 200mm, and I set the focus manually to as close as it would go, and then slowly moved forward until the objects were in focus.

I was better with the top photo, the bottom one is a bit soft, but I like the wasp in there, so it makes the cut for me.

These are both full-frame; no cropping.

In the Back Yard

Sometimes when mind is willing but the flesh is weak, I just take my camera out into the yard and look for things that catch my eye. Good light, interesting objects, whatever.

I ended up really liking the photo of the water hose hook there on the back wall of our house.

The other is a bird bath that I need to wash out and refill with water.

It wasn't life changing, but it was fun, exercised my eye, and all without aggravating my back any more than it already is.

Cool.

My Favorite Time of Year in Florida

I went out in our back yard yesterday afternoon and caught the smell of orange blossoms, and went over to check out our two trees.

The smell of orange blossoms is my favorite smell in all the world.

We have two trees, one a navel orange and the other a tangelo.

Each had started producing blossoms, so I took a few minutes and knocked off the last of the uneaten oranges and tangelos.

This will allow the tree to stop putting energy into the fruit (which doesn't taste very good this late) and put all of their energies into the new blossoms and the new oranges and tangelos that follow soon after the blossoms drop off.

For the next three weeks or so, we'll be treated to the smell of orange blossoms, from both the people's yards like ours that have them, but also from the orange groves in the area.

I love, love, love the smell of orange blossoms.

Black and White #24

Folks, I'm sorry I haven't been visiting much lately.

Believe me when I say that I will make every effort to get around to everyone's blogs and catch up as soon as I can.

Life has been interrupting my blogging of late. It's all I can do to get something up here, and I haven't been posting every day like I want to.

Anyway, I'll be sure to visit y'all and catch up on all the good stuff I've been missing.

Take care.