The 23rd of the 8th

One mind lost...if found please return to the nearest homeless shelter.

 

After not doing a show in two years I have agreed to attend the New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge at the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse on the weekend of Oct. 20, 21 at

Anglesea, NJ.  North Wildwood.

 

It will be great to see some old friends and be on the beach again.

  

 

More info and propaganda as we get closer.

 

the 20th of the 8th

In the "I need a life" category.

Whilst crawling on ma belly on Saturday, looking for critters to photograph of course, it dawned upon me that I needed to mow the lawn.  This too falls into the category of time moving too fast.  I mean I just did it a day or so ago...or was it maybe it was a week ago?  Who can keep track of time anyway.  Still one of those imponderables.  I mean if a deaf person goes to court, why is it still called a hearing.  Just baffles me.

So out comes the implement from Hell!

This kinda reminds me of the chain saw I use once a year.  Get it out of the garage, which still doesn't have a place for the two bikes, gas and oil it up and then try to start it.  First pull.....you wish.  Outboard motors are the same thing.  Pull......pull.......pull....swear.....pull......pull.........rest.....swear.....pull...then it's now what I am calling "Getting lucky"....it starts.  Times do change.

Once the grass has been chopped to a reasonable height, then one needs to get out the weed wacker.  That stuff growing along the edge of the gardens needs to be gone.  The first thing you notice is that you haven't but on your safety glasses as a speck of dirt or worse has lodged itself in your eye.  That happens about the same moment the cord has caught around something that certainly wasn't there when you first started.  Sigh !!!

But I was successful.  Does anyone want a photograph of a fire ant hill.  I found it after being bitten three or four times.  And you all thought photography was easy.

THE 18TH OF THE 8TH

Schools start next week in most places.

  School...Really?

Does it seem to you that time seems to be moving faster these days?

That's sorta like asking if you can cry under water.

Maybe Bill Gates and Apple have teamed up and are conspiring on some kind of time machine.  Maybe they are running marketing tests that we all don't know about.  That must be it.  At least that's my story and I am sticking to it.

But it does seem my days go by with the speed of light.  Well wait a minute, when you think about it they really do.

I thought it was just spring!

And the snow melt was still going on.

I mean like yesterday!

But pretty soon it'll time to go chasing the fall colors somewhere.

And God, it's already after ten in the morning.  A minute ago it was only seven!

It was only yesterday when my daughter was crawling up to a wall outlet and reaching with all that curiosity a small child can muster.  I was right behind her sneaking up unseen and as she reached I screamed unseen but certainly heard.  She must have jumped two feet....but never tried to touch another.  Last week she took her daughter off to college.  When did all that happen?

Well, it's time for another cup of Pike Place Roast....or is it my third?  I guess my bladder will tell me.

THE 17TH OF THE 8TH

St. Augustine Lighthouse

One of my favorite lighthouses is the one in St. Augustine, Florida first lit in 1874.  Not only is the light there, but there is also the Alligator Farm and a large fort called Castillo de San Marcos  built in 1695.  So lots of stuff to visit. 

One of the best parts of visiting this light is that it is tucked away amidst a bunch of old southern oak trees. 

The Keeper's house and museum just oozes southern charm and gives a traveler a welcome break from  summer heat.  The first light of any kind built on Anastasia Island was a wooden lookout tower built in 1586 by the Spanish.

The light is located just a short walk away from the Alligator farm, which is where I have gone a number of time to photograph the nesting wading birds.  So trading back and forth between the two places is one of the better places in Florida to photograph.

The 15th of the 8th

OK, so I am crazy!

I only fell off the bike once getting this shot!

This is called "His and Her stupidity"!

See, when the apocalypse comes, we have transportation.  Or gas prices get over $5 per gallon.  Wait, that may be the apocalypse. 

We are going to exercise!

Now all I have to do is find the room in the garage to hang these beauties up for the next ten years or so.

The 14th of the 8th

A different kind of search.

Just like lakes, salt water fishing leaves one very few clues as to where the finny creatures hang out.

Where are the fish in all that chaos?  Are there any fish in that mess and can I reach them?

Well, all I can tell you is that there are a few special and renowned salt water places in this world that require the risking life and limb to fish. 

Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

Montauk at the lighthouse on Long Island, NY.

Block Island in Rhode Island.

Cape Cod, MA.

The Chesapeake Bay

I am not proficient at saltwater fishing by any means.  Probably have done more fresh water angling in this life.  But as far as the ocean and bays are concerned....Time and Tide, Time and Tide, Time and Tide.  That seems to be the secret.

  It's sorta like when a client asks...."How did you ever get that photograph"? 

"Just had to be there"!

Monday the 13th...That's good luck.

More Picastory Anticipation!

Amazing when you have a big body of water....there are no rocks visible to seek the finny sporters.  At least spots that are apparent.  But, reading the water is a whole different thing.

Where do you go to fish....there's so much to cover.

A couple of years ago, I tried to document where we caught fish on our annual trek to the Big Lake in New Hampshire.  I took an ariel image from the Internet, took our trip logs over 42 years, and plotted where the fish were mostly caught. Then because we trolled for land lock salmon, I made a track(white line) showing where we were most successful.  This is a cool way to figure out where to fish....all it takes is 42 years.

This is only a small part of Lake Winnepasaukee, and those large bodies of land on the left are islands.  The small island is a classic.  Lots of choices and if you look closely I have marked the starting point as "House" on the right middle.

One of the easiest decisions is when to go fishing and when to play cards.  This looks like a "Deal" day!  When the wind blows like this out of the Northeast, Suicide is not an option.

But when this is the "Anticipation"!

And this the "Satisfaction"!

Awwwwwww...let's go fishin!