Bye-bye beach

Had a walk on the beach today, after Irene, the hurricane, passed. Won't see the ocean for a month, as we are going to Provence for a month in Rose Cottage. I have started a new blog for the trip. Just go to www.twoweekesinprovence.blogspot.com and, by Friday next, there should be some content. See you back here in October.

Japanese flag 1, Jacksonville Beach

In one of his books, I think it was Looking at Photographs, John Szarkowski used a very spare, direct picture of a round tree in a field to illustrate how, sometimes, flying in the face of the rules of composition, works out. The tree was directly in the center of the rectangular frame. Szarkowski referred to it as a Japanese flag, as it was a circle in the middle of a rectangle. It struck me as a lovely picture and I liked the composition. Every now and then I see an opportunity to do the same.

A strange little cover.

A lot going on here. First of all why wouldn't you fill it well. Are you meant to do it badly? Observation and monitoring? This is a 3 inch hole in the ground. That's a lot of watching. And where do Hialeah-Fla and Brazil come into the equation.

It seems as if I have too much time on my hands.This could almost be Japanese Flag 2.

Mother and daughter

There a lot of giggles coming from these two.

Wave lines

The beaches recently had new sand dredged and pumped onto them. The new sand is from miles out on the sea bottom and seems to be a bit finer than what lies beneath. When the waves are of the gentle sort they leave these fine lines, about four grains thick, as they wash up and recede.

Now is the only time I know

I went out today with my new little camera, a Panasonic Lumix GF3. It is tiny and has a larger sensor than most tiny cameras. I was going to wait for the G3 to become available but we have a long trip to France in our near future and I wanted to sort the camera out and get used to it before we leave. So far I love it. This is the last picture on my first card and it did just what I hoped. It is an easy jpeg file to work with (the RAW files aren't readable on ACR yet) and looks as good to me as my Pentax and Canon files. The G3 will be a welcome addition when we return, but I don't feel that I'll be hampered by the smaller camera.

Tag, Jacksonville Beach

This was on an abandoned car dealership in Jax Beach. I just liked the brushstrokes (can strokes?)

Notch 4

As predicted, Martina.

Band posters, Jacksonville Beach

Sorry I missed 'em. Well, maybe not.

Bird Monster, Jacksonville Beach

This large sticker is showing up all over the beaches. I'm worried.

The next batch of peppers to dry.

Sand art

Seagull art

A lovely simple piece.

Seagull critic

Not everyone understands minimalist art.

Sand trails, Ponte Vedra Beach

At this time of the year there are a lot of little critters making their marks on the beach. This one seemed lost.

Sand trails 2, Ponte Vedra Beach

Tire tracks, Jacksonville Beach

These were very strange, they were raised instead of indented.

Nancy's Dance Boutique, Jacksonville Beach

Drying peppers

The fruits of my labors. This is the first of many batches of chili peppers that I'll be drying for the long pepper-less winter. These are Datils and Cayennes, the cayennes from seeds I bought in Provence last year. All are quite hot but full of flavor.

No dogs on fields, Jacksonville Beach

Notch 1

It's wonderful when other people open your eyes to what's right in front of you. Both Carl Weese and Martina have sharp eyes for graffiti and tags. On my recent walks in Jacksonville Beach I have started to see this stencil a lot. Here are the first three notches.

Notch 2

Notch 3

Valves, Jacksonville Beach

These stand on an empty lot. They seem awfully large and important for such a small lot.

Two couples and a dog, Jacksonville Beach

Early in the morning there are as many dogs as people on the beach.

Florida weed patch, Jacksonville Beach

I think the weeds are on to me. I walk on this sidewalk a lot and this patch of weeds has grown into the shape of Florida. I didn't have a short enough lens, but most of the Keys are represented.

Atlanta Dairies

I was driving back from St. Augustine and stopped at a farm stand/bakery/fishmonger for some dinner. This was out back. It is an old rail car that they use as their refrigerator.