Short story of sacrifice for Sunset Sunday shot

Sunsets arrive at a bit of an awkward time at this point on the calendar - right around dinner time. While my wife still doesn't understand why anyone would need to get more sunset shots when they already have so many to choose from, she did sacrifice dinner time together recently. I set out alone to a nearby park - dogs weren't allowed there.

I wasn't alone long. As I trekked along a wilderness trail, the entrance of which was marked by a sign showing an alligator chasing a dog and its owner, I soon became aware of the scourge of Florida salt marshlands at dusk - the ubiquitous no-see-um. I thought I had protected myself against these minuscule pests with a voracious appetite by liberally applying a 98% deet ointment, but by next morning I discovered all the unprotected places that they had discovered. The itch finally disappeared after 7 days and the bite marks after 10.

I thought the sunset was worth it. My wife doesn't understand.

(10-22mm  f5.6  1/200 sec  ISO200)

For more superb Sunset Sunday shots, be sure to visit Scott's blog.

For the beauty of the earth ...

     "To look out at this kind of creation and
       not believe in God is to me impossible."
       (Astronaut John Glenn)
   
       "Beauty... is the shadow of God on the universe."
        (Gabriela Mistral, Desolacíon)

       “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
        to receive glory and honour and power,
        for you created all things,
        and by your will they were created
        and have their being.”
        (Revelation 4:11)

        "For since the creation of the world,
         God's invisible qualities - his eternal
         power and divine nature - have been
         clearly seen, being understood from
         what has been made, so that men are
         without excuse."
         (Romans 1:20)

(60mm  f5.6  1/60 sec  ISO200)


(60mm  f2.8  1/1400 sec  ISO200)

 (60mm  f5.6  1/160 sec  ISO200)

Speechless Saturday

(well almost ...)

No, I'm not starting a competition with Wordless Wednesday ;-) I had a lot of thoughts running through my head as I was reviewing shots from a recent evening photo shoot, and in the end I decided just to post the shots. There, I've already said too much.

We're all kids at heart when ...

... there's a fireworks display. I saw evidence of that tonight when I waited patiently for the show to start. I'd forgotten that the Coconut Festival (I think that's the local version of a Winter Festival without the winter) was on this weekend and one of the features was a fireworks display. Last night I got my reminder when we watched it from a mile away, on our front lawn. I immediately made a note in our daytimer so I wouldn't miss it tonight.

I arrived in plenty of time to get a good spot and get set up. And I watched as young and old arrived with eager anticipation. And we weren't disappointed ! Despite the residue falling on my head and all around me, since I was downwind from the launch site, I stayed focused on capturing my first fireworks shots. There was much clapping and cheering from old and young alike when the grand finale was over. For those few moments, we were all kids again !

(all shots made with an 18-55mm lens, at f11, shutter speed of 6 seconds, ISO100)

click on image for a better view

Contrasts

I've mentioned in earlier posts that we lived out west near Calgary, Alberta for about 15 years where on more than one occasion the weather changed from the depths of winter freezing (-30C/-22F) to balmy (21C/70F) in the span of a day. That welcome weather contrast was due to a phenomenon known as a chinook (an Indian word meaning 'snow eater').

I think our children back home would welcome a chinook today. We received a couple of photos from one of my daughters this morning - their first, and early, taste of the season to come. I put a couple of photos of what we've had to 'endure' this week beside hers. Perhaps I'll wait a few days before I mention this post to them. (Well, maybe not).

Note: I experimented last week with a new view offered by Blogger. While I liked the many different ways photos and posts could be presented, many people found it difficult to post comments, and I haven't been able to see some of the information widgets. For now I'm reverting to my old (and familiar) template.

Ain't it the truth

"If I would have known that grandchildren were going to be so much fun I would have had them first !" (Bill Laurin)

"Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old." (Mary H. Waldrip)

Advice to parents: "Have children while your parents are still young enough to take care of them." (Rita Rudner)

"Grandparents are there to help their grandchildren get into mischief they haven't thought of yet." (Gene Perret)

"Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild." (Welsh Proverb)

"The idea that no one is perfect is a view most commonly held by people with no grandchildren." (Doug Larson)

And here are our three (so far ...):

Hailey (7)

Lilly (4 AND a half)

Graydon (almost 2)

'Walking trees'

The more you observe and learn, the more you realize how little you know about this wonderful, complex Creation we've been commanded to be good stewards of.

An encounter with a fellow dog lover at the harbour near here (where I made my current header shot) provided us with the location of a doggy beach near appropriately-named Lover's Key state park. We spent several hours there yesterday, and although I limited the number of shots I made, I saw all sorts of interesting things, among them - mangroves.( I'll share some others at a later time).

Of course, there's a lot of interesting information to be learned about them, not the least of which is that they thrive in salt water and yet are uniquely created to filter salt out. They provide habitat for many species of fish, crabs, and birds. And they can be severely damaged by as little as a few hours of freezing temperatures (if you're interested in learning more, check this out). I learned that the ones we saw, and are pictured below, are known as red mangroves.