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Another shot from the kite festival earlier this year at St Petes Beach Florida. In addition to standard kites, there were a few of these enormous balloon kites that bounced up and down in the breeze. And of course that’s the perfect invitation to come play under the colorful billowy fabric. Of all the photos I took that day, the shots of the children playing around the kites were my favorite.
Pass-A-Grille is an odd name, I’m sure there’s a good explanation; maybe I’ll find out one day. In the meantime this is a quiet community just south of St Pete’s beach in Florida. I’m standing here at the southern end on a Thursday evening. Little did I realize a WWII bomb was found here under the sand and today as I write this the beach was evacuated and the bomb squad detonated it: so much for being a quiet little community.
The weekend is finally here, I thought it would never come. Not that I have a lot of hair, nevertheless, time to let it down, kick back and enjoy some much needed R and R. I don’t know about you but I would love for my weekend to be uneventful, not a lot of stuff going on. I think there was a lot of that going on here in Boca Grande last weekend when I took this at the beach. Yup, just a whole lotta nothin.
When I took this I was sitting on a towel right next to the gentle waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Sanibel Island. It’s hard to convey the feeling; maybe it’s the sand, the warm water, the breeze; maybe all these combined. Sometimes the waves are so small you might think you were on a lake. The bigger waves along the Atlantic coast of Florida are fun to swim in also, but nothing compares to the calm waters of Florida’s west coast.
Being one of the more popular destinations in the area, Holmes Beach has a big parking lot. But if you walk a little ways north or south you can find all of these hidden paths from quiet residential areas which provide less used access. Unlike the beaches of Miami and Ft Lauderdale, the beaches of Anna Maria Island are laid back. And even more so when you can find your own little path leading to a stretch of beach to call your own.
This is from a series of photos I shot with my old camera recently. The camera I normally use was in the shop and to my surprise I really liked the handling of my old reliable friend. I always tell people that it’s not the camera that matters but the person behind it and even a cell phone camera can take great pictures. Even so I was surprised at how much fun I had with my old camera. I guess I my likes and preferences changed in the last year and when applied to the old equipment seemed to yield different results. Or, …this is all just in my mind and much ado about nothing. Whatever. 😉
These little guys are not shy. For the most part they’ve become accustomed to humans and you can usually get within a few feet before they skitter away. I was about ten feet from this fellow as he fished from a pier at the beach. One day I came out of a store only to find one standing on my car. I walked up and got in and he never even moved. We have a tall one that lives near our house and I usually spot him on our driveway in the morning. As soon as I walk up with my dog he nonchalantly skips to the next driveway. One of the fun things about living in Florida.
Another day comes to an end on Anna Maria Island. Sometimes it’s nice to just sit down on the sand and stare out into the water and let time go by. Nothing wrong with passing a little time on the beach.
It always amazes me to see people leaving when I show up at the beach before sunset. To my way of thinking the best is yet to come, yet to scores of others it’s time to load up the car and leave. I guess that’s understandable especially if you have small kids or commitments. After the exodus there are two types of people left, folks like me who came for the sunset and, the rest of the beach stragglers that will not leave until they’ve seen the final act. In the end I suppose all that matters is that we all had fun and got what we came for.
I believe we are so much more than we think. That we are intrinsically light and that while here in this life we have an affinity with things that remind us of that. We stare at the fire, watch the sun go down and marvel at the colors of the clouds. It’s more than just that, I believe that the light is love and so we are drawn to reminders of love also. I see love in eyes. Eyes of people, but undeniably eyes of animals. My best friend passed today, my four legged sidekick named Marley. He gave me and so many more unconditional love. And today he returns into the light.
