Road Trip to Florida

Our destination was Melbourne FL and we did the calculation between flying/car rental and driving - deciding that for two people without significant time constraints, it was less expensive to drive. The drive from Maryland to Florida is a trek on I-95. One passes around Washington DC and Richmond VA and then I-95 becomes a highway that misses any major city. I had thought we might see some fall color as we traveled southward; there was a little in Virginia but by the time we got to North Carolina, the pines dominated the roadway. There were miles of them. Sometimes there was a cotton field visible along the highway. Once past the Roanoke Rapids, there were more swamps and broad rivers. It was still sweat shirt weather all the way from Maryland to South Carolina where we stopped the first night.

By the time we got to Florida, it was warm and wet. I enjoyed the dolphin sculpture at the welcome center. Since it was raining, we stopped for lunch at MacDonald’s rather than picnic.

As we got out of the car the rain slowed down and I noticed two wood storks on a grassy area next to the parking lot. What a great way to start out our week in Florida! I’ll be posting more about our time in Florida over the next few weeks.

The road trip to Florida included a return trip too. On the way back I captured the sunrise in Georgia. We were up early for a long day of driving to get back to Maryland.

Vacation Sunrises…and a Sunset

Catching images of sunrises and sunsets is a typical ‘vacation’ activity. Our recent trip to Utah (and transit of Colorado) was no exception. I was up well before dawn every morning - transitioning to Mountain Time but keeping to my regular morning routine which usually starts between 5:30 and 6 AM; this time of year that means that I am ready for photography before dawn.

The first morning there was a thin bank of clouds to catch the morning color of the dawn in Monticello UT.

The second morning there was snow on the ground and I used the early morning light to capture my favorite tree on the golf course below.

A few days later the clouds gathered at sunset to capture the last color of the day.

And then the sunrise on the last day of vacation from the hotel near the Denver International Airport - full of celebration for the new day and a wonderful vacation.

Arizona Sunrise - June 2013

Getting up for an Arizona sunrise in June is for early risers. We did it twice the week we were in Tucson. The first morning was the best because there were a few clouds to provide the canvas for the colors of the sunrise. The saguaro cactus that looks that a Gumby with a wild headdress and round nose provides a sync point for the sequence of photographs below. There is a cactus wren - in silhouette - on top of the tallest branch in the last picture.

I’ll post some morning light photos in a few days. The first hour after sunrise is the best for outdoor photography. 

Sunset and Sunrise as Assateague Island National Seashore - May 2013

I visited the Assateague Island National Seashore in Virginia this week. There was a brisk sea breeze at both sunrise and sunset - enough to keep the mosquitos away.

The sunset was observed from the Toms Cove Visitor Center. We arrived a bit too early but there things to photograph beforehand - birds getting a snack before darkness and the lighthouse. The lighthouse in undergoing renovation and the cables used are seen in the image. The sunset itself was made more interesting by a lower bank of clouds. After the sun was behind the horizon the swirls in the clouds became more apparent.

The sunrise was observed looking out over the Atlantic from the beach. Again we arrived early but were shortly joined by a few others. It was before 6 AM! One person arrived on a motorcycle and headed off down the beach with his camera. A group of five people walked halfway down to the beach but then stopped and just stood huddled in the morning coolness to watch the sunrise. A man got out a folding chair and walked halfway to the shore and then sat. After photographing the lighthouse in the near darkness, I walked down to the beach. There were no shells to pick up but there was a sandcastle that someone had constructed the day before that incorporated a horseshoe crab into its structure and the waves were crashing to shore; it was good to hear them without the beach repair machinery noise of the previous day.

There was a boat visible in the morning mist. I took a few pictures of birds waking up.

The clouds were thick enough that the sun was hidden until it was well above the horizon and the color did not extend to all the clouds. It was a misty dawn.

Maryland Sunrise - May 2013

It is good to be home again. I was up in time to catch the sunrise yesterday. The picture above was taken a few minutes before sunrise at 6:03 (sunrise was at 6:09). This time of year the view of the eastern horizon from our house is obstructed by trees. The oak tree in the foreground is full of blooms and rapidly growing leaves. But the clouds captured the color of the day’s beginning. What a difference from the sunrise over the Atlantic from a South Carolina beach I posted about a few days ago!

Observing sunrise is one of my favorite ways to start the day. The more beautiful it is - the more positive I feel about the rest of the day.

South Carolina Sunrise

Last week I was in South Carolina and managed to get up early one morning to catch the rise as the nearby beach - Surfside Beach, between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. We checked weather.com for the sunrise time the night before and got to the beach about 6:20 AM which was just before the sunrise. The moon was still out.

The sky was full of oranges and reds when we arrive but the sun  had not broken the line of the sea at the horizon. It was clear so the light simply filled the sky above the waves. The sun peeked over the rim of the ocean and the reds faded away to oranges and pinks.

We walked along the beach, picking up shells. The morning chill and damp kept us away from the water but the damp sand made walking easier.

There were other things to notice: the people surf fishing (they did have their feet in the water), walkers that briskly made their way along the beach, birds feeding at the boundary between sea and beach, pelican skimming the waves flight in formation toward the north, seagulls chattering, and at least one other with a camera there to capture the sunrise like me.

It was an excellent way to start the day.

February 2013 Sunrise

The sunrise is creeping earlier but the trees are still bare so there is still a sunrise view from my front porch. By March it will be iffy.

I like the stark blackness of the branches against the brightening sky and the sun just peeking from a rooftop.

The morning I captured this picture seemed to be full of school buses coming through the neighborhood. I noticed the first one before 6:30 AM! That is an early morning for the students. And it was below freezing with the sun not yet contributing any warmth to the day.

January 2013 Sunrise

It is easy to capture the sunrise in January because I am already up and about at sunrise. The one in this post was taken at 7:15 AM yesterday from my front porch. The only negative was the temperature; it was in the low 20s so I got the picture I wanted and retreated to the warmth indoors.

Dawn is an every day celebration….the overcoming of night….another day full of potential…the return of color to the world.

The First of 2013

I did not stay up to celebrate the first minutes of 2013. I enjoy getting up to see the first sunrise instead (although it was cloudy so I took the picture at the left of wind chimes and winter trees at the time of 'sunrise').

New beginnings are so full of potential. Just as sunrise is a prompt to review the plan for the day, New Year’s day is a good prompt for writing some goals for the upcoming year. This year I am using a start - stop - continue grouping. I’ve learned over the years to include specific ways to measure the goal in the goal statement itself or as an associated note.  Here are some examples from my list for 2013.

Start 

• Losing the last few pounds to get down into the ‘normal’ range for my height by April 1.
• Upgrading landscaping and garden around the house by early summer

Stop 

• Drinking soft drinks (diet Pepsi is my downfall!)

Continue 

• Volunteering with the Friends of a local nature center (4-8 hours per week).
• Reading about even numbers of fiction - history - arts/social - technical books at about the same rate as previous years.
• Writing 3000 words per day when I am at home.
• Gardening in pots on the deck
• Using travel or hosting guests to break up the year.
  • Monthly visits to public gardens or conservatories
  • Tucson in the early spring
  • House guests in the early spring
  • South Carolina in the early summer
  • West Virginia in the fall