To Study War No More...

I heard the news over the weekend that the President had decided to declare the war in Iraq officially over and was in the process of removing all troops from the area.

The thought of our troops coming home brought to mind all the men and women who would not be returning and I decided to visit the local Veteran's Memorial Wall. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

What I find particularly poignant about this wall and the one in Washington is the list of names. So often we think of wars in grand scale but somehow forget the individual who was a son, a daughter, a father, or a brother. Here was a chance to reflect person by person, to really see the human cost of war.

I stood for a moment and just touched the carved names of people I would never know personally, but in my own way wanted to honor. Touching the names somehow gave them life and helped me imagined them alive and vibrant.

My hope for the future is that each family connected with those names somehow finds peace in knowing that their relative meant something to someone who just wanted to stop for a moment and remember them as they lived. Someone who prays that we will study war no more...

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

Robert Frost wrote that good fences make good neighbors and since the purchase of the house over eight years ago, I have been talking about replacing the fence that faces my corner lot. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

I promised myself I would do it during the Spring this year but the time passed without movement on my part and the fence remained. Now the prospect of the Florida Winter approaching and the fence almost falling apart forced me to take action.

Those of you who have followed me for awhile are aware that I hold money quite tightly and the prospect of paying almost a thousand dollars to replace just one side of the yard really forced me to take on yet another project.

The decision to take action required enlisting the aid of my niece with her truck and a visit to my favorite project place, Lowes. I thought about just replacing the fence with the type of fencing already there but opted to go for complete privacy with "board on board"... and away we go!

Deciding to do the job by myself was truly a leap of faith but I felt like Archimedes ("Give me a lever long enough and I will lift the world") as I planned out how to move the panels into place to remove the old panels and replace the new.

A dolly helped tremendously in that I could single handily move what had taken two of us. My neighbors watched with great interest as one by one each panel was moved into place.

A clerk at Lowes made a great suggestion that I use screws rather than nails to prevent a year from now having to return to hammer protruding nails back into place and I followed it. I used my trusty drill to first bore a hole and then followed with 3 1/2 galvanized screws which made the job go fairly quick. I now understood why guys spend so much time in hardware stores, because the right tool really does make the job easier!

My neighbors thought I was genius and I did not want to dispel that belief and tried to look smart while I sweated to the oldies.

In no time I had covered almost half of the length and felt pretty good about my progress. Notice the prized bird feeder which I came to hate as I moved the panels and had to maneuver around it.

And now comes the really fun part. In any job there is always something that slows you down or makes the job much harder than you anticipated. In this case it was rotted posts. I took the lazy man approach and left in the existing posts and simply (that is a great word, "simply") decided to replace the posts that were rotted through. This required digging a couple of holes that nearly broke my back. But, I got it done.

The people who put in the original posts seemed to have planned for them to last a lifetime by the amount of concrete they put around them.

I started at nine in the morning and finished at five that evening but with great pleasure stood back and admired my work. One neighbor drove by and remarked that I had done a good job and made a decent "handyman", to which I gave him a shake of the drill which indicated: "Keep moving if you hadn't offered to help!"

I will return later to replace the gate, which requires more detail work than just replacing the panels. But, sunny-Girl and I really enjoy our new found privacy and board on board also acts as a great noise buffer.

Despite the sore muscles and the aching back, I saved myself closed to $500 based on the price I was quoted. And, as I enjoy the complete privacy of the new fence continually marvel that Frost really was correct that "Good fences do make good neighbors!"

For the Love of Marjorie and Cross Creek

Is it possible to be in love with someone you have never personally met? I found out a few weekends ago that it really can happen. On the trip to Tampa back in June of this year, I passed a sign that pointed to the Marjorie Rawlings Museum and made a mental note to return and visit Cross Creek. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

There is something about the way she described rural life in The Yearling, and Cross Creek that made me enjoy the works of Marjorie Rawlings. And, Just before arriving at the museum I stopped at Locloosa Lake Park and understood the beauty of the area she loved so much.

This panoramic view of the lake gives a sense of the wild nature of the place she found so fascinating. I stood there for a long while to just take it all in and try to see it as she might have.

And, by chance I encountered a volunteer at the museum and realized I had found someone who was truly in love with someone who lived sixty years ago.

He lovingly described how he and others worked to keep the sense of Marjorie alive in the house and their work was rewarded with a feeling that at any moment she would walk out of the back of the house and welcome you in for a great Southern meal.

The barn sits there with her apron waiting to wrap around her to do the small chores that the place requires.

I fully expected to see her walk out of the back of the house ready to drive off into town in her car that has aged but not grown old. He knew so much of her habits he really brought her to life.

The kettle sits on a tablee ready to brew a fresh pot of coffee for the latest round of writing.

And the view out to her garden I'm sure let her know that life on Cross Creek was never far away.

This final view from inside the house as he described her routines took me back to the lazy days of country living and you understood why she loved it here and how much he loved her.

Rawlings may be physically gone but her essence is lovingly cared for by those who love her, and the rural feel of Cross Creeks lives on.

The Sun Also Rises...

I now understand the full implication of working in a school with children. One day a child told me he had a sore throat and a few days later I was feeling faint and down with some type of flu.


It made the rounds and then made the rounds again. And now, two weeks after being a member of the living dead I can say I am finally back.

Right now I am in the process of editing pictures from a recent adventure that I will post soon. Yes, the sun also rises and it is good to be back in the land of the living.

Impressions at the Beach

Despite the heat, Summer is slowly winding down and a day at the beach becomes precious. The Labor Day holiday offered a chance to spend some leisurely time enjoying a quiet day of play in the still refreshing waters of the Atlantic.

What surprised me as I took pictures was the results I received near the end of an almost perfect day. As usual click each photo for a better view.

I never use filters so I am always amazed how light will play in a photo. I particularly liked this photo which is slightly out of focus, yet gives an almost Monet feel of broad outlines cast against an early evening sky.

Again the play of light. I moved a little and once again took another shot that is now more in focus with a blue cast. There is sharper focus but the figures still have the outline effect which somehow I find appealing.

There are always walkers on the beach and this bird is taking his (or her) evening stroll while looking for treats left on the beach by sunbathers.

And yet... this walker somehow seems very similar to the little bird as he and his dog have been caught in mid stride. I am fascinated by the way the man is looking up and off into the distance and the dog seems to be dragging him along, straining to get to some unseen something in the sand.

I like Vilano Beach because it is a somewhat undiscovered area that after 6pm is ruled by dogs. This miniature poodle, named Paris, caught my eye as she walked along the beach. What got my attention were her paws which appear like little high heels as she stepped lightly along the sand.

If you are a regular follower then you know I like taking pictures of the commonplace to illustrate how the things we see everyday possess a degree of uniqueness. I too took a walk down the beach and was struck by the patterns made in the sand as waves moved back and forth against the beach shore.

The patterns demonstrate a random beauty that when viewed in isolation can truly amaze you. This shot was taken a little before sunset and the patterns are a marvel for the eye. I never tire of viewing it as my eyes seem to roam the shot and wonder how the water flowed to create each line. If I had not told you what it is what you would have guessed?

Yes, we are in the heat of Summer but each day reinforces to me the preciousness of a day at the beach.