“The sea, like a crinkled chart, spread to the horizon, and lapped the sharp outline of the coast, while the houses were white shells in a rounded grotto, pricked here and there by a great orange sun.”
Had to get out of the house last night so took a drive to a shore and soaked up some waves, fresh air, and a nice walk through a marsh and sand area. More later…
Well, the windshield repair guy came out this am to fix the windshield. It’s a lot better then it was but there’s still a little crack, the original hit was pretty bad. I suppose I could just go for a new windshield but I don’t know if it’s really worth it. I can live with the little mark the way it is.
Actually I changed my mind, I set up an appointment for them to come back on Monday and just replace the whole windshield.
Today a good part of the day I spent manicuring the front and back lawns with mowing and edging. Took a good part of the afternoon – the warm of the day didn’t bother me – it actually wasn’t all that bad. Also some folks are starting to get some of their photographic items and they sound very pleased with the result, so that makes me pretty happy. Please get the word out!
Bout time they arrested that cop in MN. Ridiculous it took so long, but I suppose that’s part of the systematic problem.
Alright, appointment made for the windshield repair dude to swing by tomorrow morning and fix the cracks.
There’s this House Finch that for the last week or so has been squeaking out in front of the house at the top of one of the pine shrubs. I don’t know if he’s trying to attract a mate or what but it’s pretty fascinating.
Decided to cook some salmon on the grill outside tonight – pretty good night for it.
Kinda bummed that on a drive home a rock hit my windshield on the highway and left a nice chip with small cracks coming out of it. Guess I’m going to have to have that looked at. Balls!
I am pleased with the garden results thus far. The Butterfly Bush out front is growing kind of wild though, so I’d like to rein that in a little bit. My purple rosebush is starting to bud, which is nice which sits right next to the butterfly bush. The two sets of columbines are in bloom, one the usual baby blue and white, and also a purple variety which looks really nice. I noticed the clematis has purple and a red which I never saw before. The azaleas out back are in bloom, but the lilacs are starting to fade a little bit. The Fuchsia is in bloom along with the dianthus, dahlias and creeping buttercups. Speaking of dahlias, one of the strange varieties that we planted may be starting to break through the topsoil. Same thing with the butternut squash seedlings. Not sure why some of the lettuce is already flowering and possibly going to seed. Seems a bit too early. There’s a lot more other plants too but I’ll describe their status better as they come closer to fruition.
Too often life is merely a squalid succession of days; whereas in fact it can be a great, living adventure.
Nothing Earth-shattering to report at the moment. I did venture out to local grocery mart this morning, it wasn’t very busy and they have their act together. Wow, I’m pretty boring. I probably should be using the time a bit more constructively, and I will, but at this moment I’m just gliding through the day. I have been devoting some of the spare time to the gardening. I’m pleased to say that all seem to being well, and I think the butternut squashes my be starting to bud. I need to another survey, maybe later in the week, and share their statuses for posterity. The thing with as many plants as we are currently cultivating – it actually takes some time to water them all!
The story behind the photo: This was taken while driving around Newport, RI, just in an exploratory type of drive around – something we used to do quite a bit on the weekends. Anyways, although I don’t remember the exact location I do know it was along a tiny strip of road with a waterway on either side. We decided to pull over and I took the shot. I took notice of the water in the puddle which I thought would look cool, along with the sailboat and further away, the mansion on the hill. Side note: just around the rock in the front to the right was a little cove where I discovered a scrawny white egret searching for food. I took photos of him too. There was also a man in waders clamming around the water – I cropped him out of this shot but do have some of him doing this which I may share at a later date.
Not going to be the typical Memorial Day. Still sailing into the unofficial start of summer ⛵️. Possibly more later. I’ve also made the full shot of this one available now on the store.
I do think it’s rather interesting that some older things are starting to come back, like we’re back in the 50s – drive-ins, carhops, even the milkman deliveries!
Thanks to any and all who have been helping support me so far! I really do appreciate it! It helps allow me to continue to create. I’ve still got to find my way a little bit. Hopefully, in time, everything will all work out.
Tonight’s movie watch was Shutter Island.
Someday I will pick up shells of every color, and probably even rob the sea of its wonder. Yet I won’t find a single piece that’d resemble the broken pieces I gathered years ago thinking those grains of sand were whole.
Had a really nice day yesterday – was good to be out on a deck facing the bay and just lapping up the sun and the ocean wind. Felt blessed to be able to have a chance to experience that. I did develop a little bit on sunburn on my arms however it’s not too bad – been a while since the sun had gotten me like that. Was also able to get some firewood while there for the fire pit which I definitely want to start using more and more. Also was given a lupine to plant and grow out front – she has amazing lupines, apparently they seem to like the salt air, but hopefully it’ll do okay here. It looked a bit wilted when I got it back home but I planted it and gave it a big drink so hopefully the little guy will bounce back. Everything else meanwhile is starting to do pretty well, so our green thumbs are actually somewhat green!
It’s going to be a wonderful day today in New England with temps in the high 70s. I plan on spending some time down by a friend’s beach house this afternoon, social distancing and all of course. What plans do you have for today?
“Here, in some way, we are young forever.”
Not to be too spammy and all but I have to promote myself so if you like this photo there’s a landscape version showing a much larger area available for purchase on a variety of items. If you’d like to support this site and my photography journey I would appreciate someone buying something or even just helping me to promote the items by sharing the shop link with friends and contacts.
In unrelated news, last night’s movie watch was Benny and Joon starring Johnny Depp and I have to say – it wasn’t bad in the least. Hard to believe it’s been so many years since it came out (1993). Interestingly I discovered that there’s much debate over what exactly kind of mental illness Joon is suffering from, possibly obsessive-compulsive schizophrenic.
Also finally getting around to reading The Power Broker by Robert Caro. It’s getting good now. Build those New York Parks and Parkways!
The ocean can’t solve everything, but it’s a good start.
This photo is from some of the gardening that we did the other day. I put together the planter (it has much more in it now then when this pic was taken) and LD planted and arranged it. NECN has really been liking my stuff as of late! Remember you can always get some of these on your wall from my shop if you really like any of them. I would much appreciate it!
Actually after taking a mini survey it’s quite an impressive collection we have to get started. Besides the petunias there are marigolds, lettuce and squash varieties, peas, ageratum, various dahlia species, verbana, rosemary, lavender, basil, eggplant, chives, snapdragons, cucumber, various tomato species, bell pepper, kale, salvia, zinnias, cat grass, bee balm, columbines, butterfly bushes, roses, hydrangeas, foxglove, clematis, azaleas, creeping buttercups, violets and various lily plants all starting to either starting to or already blossoming. There’s a few more as well but I forget their names. A good start though!
I’ve literally taken lots of photos of the Nubble over the years. This is one of them.
Figured I’d play around with some editing on this one. The original is very green, I do like how I framed this one though with the real swan in front of the swan boat. And yes, this picture is from a couple years ago. I like to say this is from another timeline. One in which we should be in right now. Sci-fi geek in me.
But yesterday was a good day. Not only did we finally get the fire pit going, but we LD finished up some gardening and I got the BBQ going for some corn and turkey burgers.
“I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.”
Albert Einstein
The story behind the photo: This property lines Ocean Avenue in Cape Arundel, Maine, in the Summer Colony Historic District – just a bit down the road from the Bush Compound. Coming just around a bend I was greeted by this cool looking house sitting just above the rocky crags. I’ve heard tales that it was built by a prosperous sea captain back in the day and chose the location to retire. I mean, if that was me I’d do it too. I can only imagine what looking out into the sea from the back of this wonderful manse must be like.
“A sunset is the sun’s fiery kiss to the night.”
Head over to my shop to order prints just like this one for your home or office, available in a choice of different media!
The story behind the photo: This one was really lucky, LD got us tickets aboard a puffin cruise that goes out of Maine near Booth Bay Harbor that circles a little island in the Gulf of Maine where scientists have been slowly getting the puffin population to return to nesting sites there. We thought this trip might be a bust but then all of a sudden a bunch of these birds just came flying out and all around us. It was one of the best experiences I can remember and a memory I will always treasure. Side note is that puffins are my favorite bird – I just love the fact that these little tiny fighters live in such a cold harsh and arctic environment for much of their lives. A true testament to the force of nature.
And also thanks to Maine Magazine for the feature!
Thanks for featuring another one of my photographs NECN (New England Cable News).
Today was a pretty good day – I installed both the firepit and put together a new metal planter for some more plants, a bunch of my accounts are starting to see some development, and the webstore where you can buy prints is up and running. I’m always adding pictures to that so keep checking it, or if there’s something you want that I took let me know and I’ll see about adding that as well.
In the midst of all the bad news here’s some good. I’m excited to announce that my photos are now available for purchase in a variety of media! Here’s the first sampling with more being added weekly. Please check it out!
My mantra for today and moving forward: Letting go of negative thoughts. I highly recommend it. Here’s a shot I took a few years back of some seals lazing on a spit. It’s actually a much larger landscape shot with more seals and details but I cropped it for Instagram. I especially like the little baby in the background. I also have some cuter shots of him in other shots. I will probably make the large version available for purchase soon. Anyways my mantra appears to be paying dividends already as today we were able to set up some things and I put the fire pit (which I cannot wait to start using) together. Still more stuff to get done but it is happening little by little.
The story behind the photo: Just another hot July night as sunset was approaching in Cape Cod. This part of the bay, when low tide comes in, goes out for what seems like miles. Also I like how the sky seemed to be purple-colored that night. This photograph will be available as a print coming soon!