I recently read an article in the Jan/Feb issue of Cloth Paper Scissors about Blogging by Kelly Rae Roberts. She said to blog for your Soul. Don't over think it just begin.
So, here I go...I've never blogged before, but I'll just start sharing and trying to be more productive with my creativity and we’ll just see where this takes me.
My life has changed a lot over the past year. I'm in a new place, the nest is empty and the future is wide open! We moved here to Florida last summer from Ohio. Being a native Floridian, the thirteen long winters that we lived in Ohio were pretty rough on me. It was a major move and a long stressful summer of packing, selling the house, and sending our youngest off to school. That was a tough day! It’s a lot to adjust to all at once and while I really love the weather change, I have been having trouble getting back into my artwork. The only artwork that I have taken the time for recently is digital scrapbooking and the little paintbrush strokes you see in the header here on my website. I love to paint and experiment with all different kinds of media. Now it’s time to get back to it!
In January I started walking everyday on the beach. It is a little cold here still, but no snow! I just bundle up and go. I walk for at least an hour every day and it has done wonders for me. I feel like I can breathe better and think clearer. We are very fortunate to live in a place where we have access to an incredibly beautiful beach. As I walk along the beach I just feel in awe of the beauty, the smells and the sounds. Feels like home. I'm grateful to be here.
By the way, when a Floridian says it’s cold…that means it’s about 50-60 degrees. It didn’t take me long to revert back. March 2, 2008 The Giant Bird
Since I have been walking on the beach I have seen some pretty cool things. To get to the beach there is a long boardwalk that is about a ten minute walk through a marshy area with sand dunes and inlets from the gulf. Looks like this…
At first I wasn’t bringing my camera along and one day I missed a great opportunity to photograph a deer that walked right up to the boardwalk. I couldn’t believe how close I was when I saw him. I stood perfectly still and watched and gave him a little time to get some distance from me before I began to walk again. As soon as I took a step he turned and saw me and then he high tailed it out of there!
Another day there was a gigantic bird just off the boardwalk that scared the hell out of me. I didn't even see him at first, but then I heard a crunch of dry grass when he took a step and when I turned to look he was only about 5 feet from the boardwalk where I was standing. I think he had to be at least 4 ft tall. I had never seen one up close and I had no idea those birds were that big!
Luckily the next day I encountered him again in almost the same spot. This time I had my camera. I walked a little farther away (because I'm such a chicken) and I crouched down on the boardwalk and just started clicking away. I was really nervous the whole time. He would look at me and take a step towards me and chills would shoot up my spine. I thought surely he would be scared of me and take off in flight if I made any sudden moves, but if he would have decided to take me down I'm pretty sure he would have won because my lips just aren't quite as sharp as his.
To see more of my big bird photos check out my photography page. I did a little research and I believe this is a Great Blue Heron. You can read about the Great Blue Heron here on Wikipedia. March 3, 2008
Getting Clean
It was very windy today on the beach. The waves were really rough and there was a lot of foam and suds gathering on the shore.
Yeah, that's a bottle of Dawn dish soap laying in the foam. Weird thing to see on the beach. Usually I see cans, broken glass, balloon strings, cups and plates and the occasional shoe! I always carry a small grocery bag for picking up trash on the beach. I call it my bag of good karma. I benefit so much mentally, emotionally and physically from the beach I feel that it is important for me to give something back. March 4, 2008
It was a rainy day today so I didn't have a chance to get to the beach. But I did a little bit of painting, mostly on my hands and shirt I think. Nothing spectacular to share in the painting department. But I thought I would share one of my digital scrapbook pages.
This a photo of me that Steve took back in January when I first started walking. A pretty nice day for Winter!
I started digital scrapbooking a little over a year ago. I really love it! You can see the digital supplies that I used for this page at the following sites. Scrap Girls and Scrapbook Graphics.
Detailed credits--
from Scrap Girls
Keri Schueller- A Collaged Holiday (snowflakes)
Syndee Nuckles- Collage Art (lace/button embellishment)
Amanda Sock- Princess Brush Set (sparkle trails)
Melissa Renfro- Star Bright Style (makes those glitter trails sparkle)
Melissa Renfro-Lifted Jounal Papers (journal strip)
Melissa Renfro-Downtown Brush Set Special (date)
Erica Hite-Paint Stroke Brush Set (white brush stroke-love this brush set!)
Lori Cook- Fractals Brush Set (swirly brushes that I love!)
from Scrapbook Graphics
ONDesigns Scrapbook Graphics-Lined Paper (very pretty blue lined paper blending into my photo) March 5, 2008
The thrill of the hunt!
We had a big storm yesterday and today the beach looked gross and smelled bad and still I stayed out there for 2 hours!
Mother nature made a mess! There was a ton of garbage washed up on the shore. Also, what seemed like a minefield of jellyfish. They were everywhere! All different sizes, but this one was huge! I sure wouldn’t want to encounter him in the water!
I came across one section of the beach covered with starfish. Amazing! I’m learning so much. I didn’t know there were so many different types of starfish. There are 1800 species of starfish according to Wikipedia.
One of the parks/maintenance guys (not sure what they are actually called) drove past me as I was walking. He drove out to the point where I could no longer see him, but when he was driving back by he stopped to say hey and asked me if I had found any good shells. I very proudly presented my one treasure of the day, a lightning whelk almost the size of my hand and almost completely intact.
Cool find huh? So, then he pulls two much larger whelks from behind the seat in his vehicle and says do you want these? umm...YEAH! (Thanks for the shells John!)
Wow! Now, he drove really far down the beach to find these. One day I’m gonna walk all the way down to that point and check that out. I’ll probably need a bigger bladder to make it that far though.
So, with my new treasures in hand I was so excited thinking maybe I might find something else if I just walk a little farther. The thrill of the hunt! So, I kept walking, but mostly I ended up just picking up more and more garbage! Finally I had to turn around. The weight of the shells in one hand and the big bag of karma (garbage) in the other were really beginning to stretch my arms. As I was walking back I thought it was interesting that my bag of treasures weighed about the same amount as the bag of trash that I had picked up. It all balances out in the end. March 6, 2008 Full of it
We met our good friend Al B. for dinner tonight at Cheeseburger in Paradise. I had a Pain in the Bahamas drink. The photo came out blurry, but that’s how it looks after you drink it anyway. I’m too full to journal tonight…
March 8, 2008
Diamond in the Rough
We recently submitted an offer to buy a house. We are still anxiously waiting to hear if our offer has been accepted. It’s a nice size house, but it has been let go and needs a little love.
This planter was in the yard and I think it sums it up nicely. A beautiful planter that just needs a little life.
Steve says that I am also a diamond in the rough. I’m still trying to decide if that’s a compliment or not… March 9, 2008 Happy Birthday Mom!
March 9, 2008
BIG day on the beach! Steve and I went out for a walk on the beach today and it turned into a 3 and half hour walk! Today was a shell pickers dream on the beach. Shells galore!
When you have an exciting find it becomes addictive to keep walking and see what else you might find. You just never know what you might come upon.
Like this BIG guy!
This is a Sun Fish (thanks for the info Logan!) which you can read about here on Wikidpedia. Unfortunately, this one appears to have had a run in with a boat propeller. So sad.
This was Steve’s spectacular shell find of the day.
There it was just sitting on the shoreline pretty as a picture.
Todays loot!
Van Hyning's Cockle both sides still connected. Viewed from the side it's called a Heart Clam.
The Ocean Sunfish March 10, 2008
I added more photos of the Ocean Sunfish on the photography page. Since we saw the Ocean Sunfish washed ashore I have been reading about it online and what a fascinating fish this is!
A sometimes very large and yet gentle creature.
I can't stop thinking about it and I came across a fantastic site that has wonderful photography and information from a research team that studies the Ocean Sunfish. Check it out! oceansunfish.org
Also be sure to watch the video from Marine Biologist, Tierney Thys.
The Ocean Sunfish and Sea Turtles eat Jelly Fish and I read that said they sometimes mistake discarded plastic bags for Jelly Fish and of course that cannot have a good end. It appears that this Sunfish met his end with the propellor of a boat, but on the day that we saw this we also picked up around 20 plastic bags off of the beach. Anything from small candy wrappers, ice bags, grocery bags all the way up to large trash bags. It's just unbelievable how much trash we find on the beach. I'd like to get on my soap box now and say...the ocean is NOT a trash can!
Beach Photography March 12, 2008
I have been working on putting together photo galleries of some of the photos that Steve and I have taken. It's a very time consuming - hair pulling out - eye crossing -cussing - neck aching process for me...augh! I finally today finished the Beach Photography page. Well, what we have so far. I plan on adding to it as we go along. Hopefully soon I will have up more photo galleries of our Birds, Creatures, Shells and whatever other strange things we might come across in our adventures.
For now I must step away from the computer and rest my aching neck...
Pirate Fundraiser
March 14, 2008
When my daughter was playing volleyball in High School we sold those little rubber bracelets with the school name and colors as a fundraiser for the team.
I found this bracelet washed up on the beach yesterday.
Maybe from a Pirate fundraiser?
Ahoy There! Buy me bracelet for only 200 pieces of gold and I’ll not plunder and pillage your village! ARG!
Absolutely Amazing and Inspiring video!
March 15, 2008
I have discovered a very cool site Ted.com. Very interesting and educational videos on a variety of subjects. I watched one and then that led to another and before I knew it 4 hours had passed and all I had done was watch videos. But Wow! Amazing stuff! I learned so much!
Here is an AMAZING video that I saw today from Jill Bolte Taylor, a Neuroanatomist talking about her experience of having a stroke. This is so inspiring and moving you have to see it! It's about 18 minutes long but absolutely worth taking the time to hear her story and learn how our brains work. Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight.
March 17, 2008
Happy St. Patricks Day!
March 18, 2008
Stinging Winds
Yesterday Steve and I walked on the beach and the winds were 15-18 mph. I took this photo while we were out and those white streaks on the ground are the sand blowing. Man, did that sting hitting the back of my legs! The winds today were 25 mph and my big adventure was a trip to the grocery store and out to get season three of BattleStar Galactica for Steve. That means I will be a Galactica widow for the next couple of weeks while he crams the whole season three in before the start of season four...what the frack..(that's Galactic talk, there's no escaping it). March 19, 2008
Bird Photo Gallery
Check out the Bird Gallery on the Photography page. I have never really been a bird watcher or really into birds before, but since I started walking on the beach I've become fascinated with all of the different birds that I see here. Some are quite entertaining!March 23, 2008
No Caffeine
Our new motto-
"I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead."
Jimmy Buffett- Growing Older, But Not Up.
Steve and I tried a new diet last week. The suggested plan for this diet is 2 weeks of vegetables, nuts, fruit and elimination of ALL caffeine and sugar. Then after the two weeks you could slowly add back in some proteins. I started cutting back on my caffeine a little each day before we started the diet because I knew it was not going to be easy to just quit cold turkey.
Our first official full day of no caffeine was on Thursday. No problem, just felt a little tired and crashed early that night.
On Friday we were sluggish and had no energy, but not doing too bad until the afternoon and then the headache set in and we were out of commission for the remainder of the day.
Saturday we were in really bad shape. Couldn't think, had no energy, we had muscle pain and horrible headaches that lasted the whole day. We were lying on the couch thinking well this just isn't working. We decided we just couldn't go on this way. Either we add in protein or caffeine. But neither of us had the energy to get up and cook dinner so we ordered a pizza.
It was an emergency pizza.
That was the best pizza we ever tasted and we started to feel a little more alive.
We were done with the diet plan. We decided to modify it to fit the way that we want to live. Veggies, nuts, fruit, some meats and CAFFEINE!
When I woke up this morning my headache was gone and I thought I heard the song Oh! What a Beautiful Morning playing in the kitchen, but it was just the beautiful percolating sound of the coffee pot. When I came into the kitchen Steve had a big smile on his face and he very enthusiastically held up his mug in the air and said, "HAVE SOME COFFEE!! IT'S WONDERFUL!"
Today we had a wonderful, healthy day with lots of veggies, grilled chicken and the best cup of coffee we have ever tasted.
Here I am working on my computer last week during caffeine withdrawals. Well, trying...the screen was so bright I couldn't even look at it even with the brightness turned low! I didn't accomplish much last week.
March 25, 2008
Unexpected
I have been hoping to get a chance to photograph a White Egret during my walks, but they are usually too far away from the boardwalk for the camera that I have. Today as I was driving back home from the beach just a block from our house there was a White Egret standing right on the side of the road! I quickly pulled over and grabbed my camera. He walked across the road right in front of my car and then down into a ditch and continued on his way. Sometimes things show up when and where you least expect them.
March 26, 2008
Gallery of Shells
I added a new gallery on the Photography page to share photos of the amazing shells that we have found. It's a work in progress and I will add more soon. We have collected so many shells I don't even know what to do with all of them.
March 31, 2008
Gulf Coast Salute 2008 Tyndall Air Force Base Air Show
Thunderbirds lined up early Saturday morning.
Saturday was the air show here at Tyndall. Steve and I got in early since we volunteered to work the early shift selling soda and water at a concession stand. Once we were all set up I had a chance to get a few photos before the crowds started getting heavy. By noon it was nearly impossible to take a photo without someone walking into the picture. It was a beautiful day and perfect weather. It did get a little overcast in the afternoon during the Thunderbird show so I ended up with a few gray cast photos. But overall I had a great time just me and my camera snapping away all day!
Oh yeah…Steve was there too… WE had a great time!
On Friday night just before sunset we went to the club on base and sat outside to watch a mini pre show that is held there the night before the actual air show. It was such a cool experience!
As we were walking up from the parking lot an F-22 came flying in low over our heads. It was so fast and so loud it scared me to death! I thought we were goners! I had my hands full and I’m dropping everything to cover my ears and wondering if I should just hit the ground because OH MY GOD I’M GONNA DIE! And then it just shot straight up in the air and seemed to go forever. It was incredible! I see the F-22 flying around when I’m walking on the beach everyday, but I had never seen it like that. It’s my new favorite plane! I made a mini movie of the F-22 on Saturday, which you can see here.
You can view my air show photo gallery from the Photography page and there is also a mini movie of the Thunderbirds you can view here. I was so excited when I got home and saw how this video came out because you can hear Ray Charles singing American the Beautiful in the background and I LOVE Ray Charles!
Click on the journal link to read prior entries.
March 2, 2008
