Where are you from?

Sean Poynter
Sean Poynter

This is a pic, I took a while back, on the Island (Amelia Island, Florida), which use to be known as Fernandina Beach, until the Amelia Island Plantation was developed on the south end. Such is real estate; sales and marketing. It’s all important, WHO you are, and WHERE you’re from. Location, Location, Location.

Sean Poynter grew up surfing on the island, and has gone on to be one of world’s best SUP surfer. Last summer, he told me what transpired in his life, altering his surfing path to the SUP. I thought, what a smart man. What a nice guy. And that’s what I think of him, today. He is an incredible, over the top, athlete. I admire Sean.

Today I made a remark on my photography page, concerning him calling his hometown, a California beach community. It was an editorial comment and one I thought was interesting. I was blasted by a few people. It seems they took it as I said—-I don’t even know what they thought, but it was obvious I had hit an exposed nerve. Such is social media.

I think I’ll leave all editorial comments alone. I don’t want an opinion. I just want to take my photos.

Surfing, where my home break is, in a foreign country, I often get asked by tourists, “where are you from”? It’s a common, everyday question, like little kids asking, “what’s your name”? Sometimes, it’s one of those identity, snide whips, like teenagers wanting to know, “who’s your Daddy?”

I rarely answer the Westside of Jacksonville, Florida. It’s fame hinges on a statistic: it’s known as a dumping ground, for dead bodies and the southern rock band, Lynard Skynard.

But hey, who gives a ____. I’m just a lowly kook, trying to get a life.

Cheers…

(It takes a kook to know a kook)

Tragedy Strikes!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is a documentation.

I felt shock and dread last night, as I passed this dead deer on Atlantic Avenue. It had been hit by a car. It’s sad. However, it’s something that happens when nature meets development.

Deers don’t travel far from where they are born. I’ve been told, that they will live their life, within a one mile radius. I’m not sure if that’s correct. I’m not an animal expert. And I couldn’t tell you which side of the street that she lived on. I didn’t witness the collision. I don’t know who her survivors are. All I know is, there is one less beautiful deer walking the woods. Continue reading Tragedy Strikes!

Day 5 ~ Turtle Time

Several hundred residents of, and visitors to Amelia Island braved rain and wind and were on hand to bid farewell to Captain, released back to the sea today by the wonder-workers of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center staff after being hospitalized for three years with wounds to upper and lower shell and spine. Dr. Norton of the GSTC asked that all who walk the beach keep an eye out for Captain and make sure he/she made it back to the sea safely. Godspeed, Captain! 10/21/2013
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAYesterday, I tried to share a story about this turtle, Charlie. I had stumbled upon his release, by having my coffee at the beach and seeing a sign announcing his arrival, at 2 O’CLOCK.
It was a red carpet, ocean, sea and sand event. Charlie was paraded through the crowd of onlookers, who were held back by ropes. Cameras were everywhere. Charlie was elevated to the celebrity status that he deserved. He was going home.

Continue reading Day 5 ~ Turtle Time

Day 4 ~ Picture Perfect/Not

I have been reluctant to write.IMG_3815 

Last Sunday was an exceptional day in my life.
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It’s fall. 
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And I got to surf in one of my favorite spots.

There were just a few locals in the water.

Everyone was friendly.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I caught all the waves I could,and then headed to my favorite fishing spot.
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 I caught this Jack. I know it doesn’t look like much.

But I had to bring him in through this wave.  I was trying to catch a trout, but that wasn’t happening. Either I couldn’t get the fish on the hook, or I’d lose it in the wave.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Then it was back to the Hacienda.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Encountering others, out on the trail of their happy destiny.

It was a picture perfect day. I documented with my Olympus TG-2. These are not perfect pictures. But I had fun.

*I’ve been reluctant to write, because of my concerns about the internet. In my life, I trudge the road to my happy destiny. Trudge meaning to walk with purpose. I felt I had to slow down, so I did.

Day 2 ~ A Butt Competition

Amelia is a beautiful city by the sea; but San Francisco it’s not. West Coast/East Coast….Big City/Small Town.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

However, I can always find something to do.
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Southerners take their Cook Offs  seriously, as you can see by the portable smoker.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And their sitting around.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

This – Cook Team Hilliard – had a great set up.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I am a sucker for old cars.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And nothing in town would be complete without Felix.

After walking around, smelling the food cook and listening to the good ole’ bluegrass; I walked home with my Olympus TG-2

When I envision all the money invested in this hobby. I don’t feel so conscience-stricken about my own endeavors. Everyone needs something to do that they enjoy. Something that maybe no one else understands, but those that invest in a similar enthusiasm.

Big butts/little butts – Good butts/bad butts ~ How do they judge?

Good photos/bad photos?

The only bad photo is the one you don’t take. I had to get out there to get these pictures.

It’s comparable to a good wave that comes to you and you don’t go for it. You have to charge!

I’m not in San Francisco or New York or even Atlanta, but I live on an island that’s culture is as important as any.

I’m right where I belong.

Yew – Debbie

IMG_2780vvMeet Debbie. I did, this morning.

I was on my way to the pier. I saw some surfers out. I went to go get my camera. One day, I’ll learn to keep it with me. Returning to the beach, armed, I saw this really cool looking rig heading down the road. A guy on a bike, was towing his long board. I thought, “what a great picture that could be.” So, I pulled over, ahead of him, and waited. He turned!

I thought, “that sucks.” What did he do that for?

I guess he’s private. Or maybe he just likes to bike around the long way. Who knows?

So, I followed him to the water.

That’s how I met Debbie. She is a student surfer and professor of law. Dealing with the laws of gravity, she was catching, one wave after the other.

To take the pic above, I should have run around, with the sun at my back to get a better shot, but I felt like I only had a few seconds. She was busy with her lesson.

In the brief few minutes that we talked, she shared with me her enthusiasm for the sport and her philosophy of a simple life.

I agreed with everything she said.

What a nice way to start the day.

Turn the Page

 

Patience and perseverance is the key to all success. 

I am once again wanting to turn the page, on my life.

I am reluctant to write, because what’s on my mind seems negative and contrary to the desires of most people who I come in contact with. Almost, everyone. From time to time, I run into kindred souls here.

Last night, I went fishing, and listened to drone of a barge that was spewing black smoke and drowning the peace and serenity, of the sunset. Such is the island. They, the prevailing powers, want to pump sand out of the river and on to the south bank. It’s such a waste of money.

It’s been proven that beaches can be re-nourished, by utilizing artificial reefs. Years ago, before leaving the country, my husband appealed to his Congressman, he talked to anyone that would listen, about artificial reefs. He had pictures of the successful restoration of the beaches on the Great Lakes. There have been many deteriorating coastlines saved, in the last thirty years. There is now a company called Reef Beach that contracts this work.

But hey, why do something that works.

I’m at odds with many people about health. (At my age, it seems to be the topic of conversation a lot.) I ask myself, why do these people eat all of these processed foods, and go to the doctor and get pharmaceuticals for symptoms that are related to lack of exercise and poor nutrition. Fast food restaurants have to be the worst. Do doctors concern themselves with this? I don’t think so.

NO ONE HAS THE TIME

And driving too fast, where the hell is everyone flying to, anyway.

I’m not in so much of a hurry that I would risk my life, or someone else’s to get there.

What’s the point!

From today forward, I turn the page.

Once again.

I practice service to others~this is the path to happiness.

Patience and perseverance is the key to all success.

Home Sweet Home

On one hand, it’s good to tell the truth. But on the other, it’s just not. The truth often seems so negative. A real buzz kill ~ bad energy.

Who would ever move to Amelia Island, if they first considered the paper mills, the bad smell, the ugly billowing grey chemicals, being forced on the sky. The nebulizer of febreeze spraying it’s acid aerosol. But we don’t know it. We’re unaware. It’s best to not think about it.

And what about our muddy waters. Sales and marketing experts, tell the tale of runoff, from the river and the marshes. It seems to me that if that were true, the water would have been muddy when I was a kid. But it wasn’t. It was blue and clear. You could see your feet under the water. Continue reading Home Sweet Home

My Ego is not My Amigo

I like that ~ this was a comment, made to me, in reference to my calling Fernandina Beach a dumping beach break, in my last post,

Rocks Are My Friends.

Yes, the waves there can jack up and break over shallow water, and the people, that surf that break, are awesome! I’ve always admired that. But I can’t surf it. I want to get in the water and catch some waves.

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This is my home break, in CR, and has been since 1996. When in Florida, I use to surf the Pier, Huegonot, and the Poles. Now I’d rather be Secondhand Surfer when I’m there. It’s been exciting for me, to get my photos, learning my camera, and giving away the many photographs, that I have taken of the Fernandina Beach Surfers. It makes me feel whole and connected. Continue reading My Ego is not My Amigo