The 31st of the 7th

It's 2:30 AM as I pull out of a warm bed, make a coffee for the road and leave the island of Chincoteague, Virginia.  I have been photographing beach life and wildlife on Assateague Island and today is a short road trip south to Virginia Beach.  No not for the "Girls of Ginny Beach", but rather for the lighthouses at Fort Story.  Yeah, I know I need a life.

At that time of the morning there is nothing on the road except the early morning delivery guys, cops lying in wait, and road kill either fresh or waiting in the bushes to make the fatal dash.  Reminds me of the commercial of the two squirrels hi-fiving after crossing the road in front of traffic and making a driver execute a careening stop.  But I digress.  The eastern shore of Virginia has been  semi "Found" but most of the development is well off Route 13.  The only stop to be had of consequence is just before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnels at a place called "StingRays".  This is a mandatory stop, people!  A truck stop, convenience store, tourist trap, down home cookin restaurant and gas station.  The only place in the world to be seen when one is travelling on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.  Local attendees range from the farmers, farm hands, tourists, truck drivers and fishermen.  And waitresses that are quick of deed and mouth.  The omelets are the size of cow flops and the coffee is rich and black.  Want a replacement for your apple or a cheap knock off of a lady's pocketbook or a confederate flag...they got it.  I don't know their address specifically, but "Stingray's" is somewhere between Cape Charles and the bay bridge on the north side of the highway.

I get to Fort Story just in time to see the sunrise.  This is called good planning on my part.  The sky is colorful with only a smattering of clouds and this is called good planning on God's part.  Or maybe just plain my own dumb luck.

Old Cape Henry lighthouse was the first light built on the Chesapeake bay and marks the southern end of the entrance to the Bay.  The construction contract was signed in 1791 and the tower was built in 1792 for a cost of $15,000.  That had to be a huge sum back then but they built the thing not far from where the English first set foot in Virginia.

Old Cape Henry Lighthouse

In 1872 inspections of the old tower suggested repairs would be too extensive and the thing had become unstable.  Congress appropriated $75,000 and a new tower was constructed and the light lit in 1881 at a cost of $125,000.  You can see cost over runs didn't bother congress any more then than now.  That's their job....to spend our money. 

Even to this day you can still get into the light room of the old tower to see the new.

New Cape Henry Lighthouse.

Interestingly  there has not been a great deal of change with either tower over the years.

The view in 1905.

1907

1914

1935-1950

1935-1950

1996

THE 26th OF THE 7th

More randomness!
(Sure that's a word...spellcheck confirms it)

Somehow of late I am looking more towards minimalism in the work that I do.  I guess I think that some of the images have more feeling than message.  Or maybe that is the message.

They say that size matters!  Well that may be either a function of message or age?

Maybe it is the message.

Death in the marsh at a place called Bombay Hook!

Or maybe it's simply there because no one tended to it this day!

Perhaps it is a message that only two of us know about.  Now that's a neat and not so random thought!

The 25th of the 7th

Some random thoughts of random images viewed through a random mind!

I remember fishing when I was so young and more stupid that I had to use a bobber!

Conjuring an artistic, moon, abstract taken through midnight tree limbs.

Reflections in a blue globe ...... tampered with random insight!

The 24th of the 7th

A place from which to meditate!

I just posted this to my FAA site in the Delaware gallery, but then thought......the are a lot of different places to meditate and or contemplate.  Whichever your choice.

It doesn't have to be a church!

Maybe an object?

Perhaps a friend!

Or maybe just the fact that we made it to another sunrise!  Thank ya Lord!

TOMATOES FOR SALE

The Big Table at Ellen's-3-

Ellen's.  Early!

"Morning guys, I was out early photographing....how you all doing?"

My days were spent either out shooting, in Ellen's or at the camera shop trying to sell stuff to any victims that came along.  By far the best part of the day was spent behind the camera, next was Ellen's and lastly ... working.

"I was over in Queen Anne's County looking at the crops this morning.  I needed some rural images for a magazine request and got a bunch of images."

Pat.."And you call that working?"

"Hey each to his own.  The only work you did as a school principle was to paddle a few miscreants.  Remember those days Pat?  Got some respect from those kids too...didn't ya?"

"Bobby, I know you got some land in farming and all those humongous chicken houses.  How's the drought effecting you?"

"It's tough out there...the worse anyone around here's seen"

Skip .. "This is what the corn should look like right now with a little water on it"

"It's nation wide.  Sonny, you couldn't even hide in today's corn fields to catch a poacher"  Bobby said to the retired Natural Resources officer turned court jester.

Sonny .. "Probably just stay in the truck like always.  Easier to nap that way."

Skip .. "Yeah, well this is what I found this morning."

"And that makes the corn look like this instead of what it should.

You guys know I used to work in the Commodity field, brokered futures to the trade and speculators alike.  I haven't looked at prices in a lot of years, but can remember the hyper inflation of the 80's and 90's and it looks like we got that coming again.  I googled the charts this morning.  Now I know you guys think that google is a sound your grand kids make, but I have evolved....unlike you guys.  It's called the Internet and has a whole lot more "Real" information than this table.

The statistical liars in Washington keep telling us that inflation is under control.  But I don't know.  Corn is up from $5 a bushel to $8 since June.  Same way with wheat and soybeans, but up about 30% since then.  All that stuff is going to make everything else a lot more expensive. And just not chickens, cattle and hogs.  Man, just go and look in the supermarket.  Whew!  Those prices are outrageous!  We better go an butcher a whole bunch of those chickens your raising Bobby!"

"Sure, lets all go out this afternoon and get us some.  But, its gonna cost you fellas.  Life's good twenty five cents at a time."  Said the self made millionaire who did it all on his own.

The Big Table at Ellens-2

Small towns idolize their local heroes, probably inordinately so.

  But they do. 

 This is a statue of the baseball player Jimmy Fox.  Gave the locals something to talk about for weeks when it was unveiled. They all knew his statistics, where he played and a couple were even old enough to have claimed to have known him.  That may have fallen into the "Tall tale" category, but nobody could prove it.

Other fodder for conversation was of course, big local  events of any kind.  Such as this controlled burn of a local building.  Old wooden structure which would probably have been torched by some thug anyway.  But it did give several volunteer fire companies a chance to show off their rigs.

  Before I was invited to join the big table, I remember listening to Pat and someone else arguing the Civil War.  They know their stuff.  If one closed his eyes and simply listened, one could just "Feel" being there.  They knew every battle.  Every river that needed crossing and every player of any significance.  One of the fellows was the town drunk, reformed.  The other, Pat, was and is a collector of tow soldiers and other town and county memorabilia (aka pack rat).  It was just a fascinating conversation if I remember correctly.  They knew the politics and players of that war so well, or so it seemed.

  They always told the truth .... or as close as they could get to it.

Local happenings were always good topics for the table.  But other more pressing issues also came up to be digested and regurgitated.

One conversation with Bobby, a self made millionaire who runs the local laundromat, went something like this as I recall.

 "Bobby, are you so successful because the government in Washington helped you out?" 

"Nah....only help I ever got was a friend who bailed me out of jail in high school for fighting on the street"

"And a local farmer that loaned me $500 to get started.  The bank wouldn't, but he did.  I paid him off right quick too"

"Life is good twenty five cents at a time"

"Course those Goment boys is always right there ready to take half of what I do make"

"Now I understand the IRS is hiring 4,000 or maybe it's 16,000 new people just to make sure I stay healthy.  They tell me I got to buy health insurance or pay a fine.  For me and my employees.  And even after I pay the fine, I still don't have insurance.  Hell, I might just start drinkin again.  Guess they figure they need that many to figure out who ain't buyin and who needs fining.   They's callin it a tax now.  Maybe if they told the truth once in a while it might be easier on the businesses.   Thinking of sellin out and "retaring".  Just gettin to be too much"