Fog and Palm
Heading back North tomorrow. We had time for one last walk on the beach today, but had to bail. Very odd conditions. Foggy, misty, windy, and loud from the roar of the surf. It was very disorientating and made walking difficult. It was hard to stay balanced and the conditions made us both a bit dizzy. Went for a long walk away from the beach and it was nice. Had a bit of a thunderstorm late this afternoon to cap it all off.
Happy 2014 to you all.
Beach Again
We are back on the beach for a bit. It has been quite cold here in South Carolina until today. The ocean was really roiled up this afternoon, and the tide was just ebbing from its high point. There were lots of really beautiful small shells at the tide line.
The biggest of these guys is about an inch across.
I especially like the bottom one here.
Recently
Sometimes I get a bit frustrated when I don’t post here as soon as I have some interesting (to me) photographs. / We were up in Maine for Thanksgiving at my brother and sister-in-law’s house. They live near to Higgins Beach in Scarborough, ME and on Thursday the ocean was really kickin’. I went for three separate walks to the beach the next day and each one was interesting in its own way. The surf was up (especially by East Coast standards) and at one point there were at least 40 surfers out.
On the morning walk I noticed that tons of sea creatures were washed way up on the beach, including this guy. Very alive and, I hope, happy to be put back into the ocean. Would have made a nice little lunch though.
On our way home on Saturday, I finally stopped to take a shot of this structure on Route 1 in Scarborough. I liked the light, and it is nice to see how helpful the owners are in identifying just what this thing is.
Further (farther?) down Route 1 is Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery and since Peter was with us it seemed a nice time to stop in for a bite. As usual, amazing fried clams.
Next stop was in Boston for our annual walk around the outside of Fenway Park. So sweet to have the 2013 World Series banner hanging.
And I have always liked this statue, especially Dom DiMaggio’s specs. / We ended the Boston leg of the trip with a stop at the Blue Ribbon. For Peter, this day was a triple play; clams, Fenway, and Blue Ribbon. He was a very happy boy.
And finally, there is this. Image-wise it is kind of an orphan here, but I love the floating cone in the middle. I spotted this on a walk with Pete yesterday afternoon. / I take him to the train in New Haven tomorrow, and as usual, it will be difficult to say goodbye. Cris and I have had so much fun being with him for the past few weeks.
End of a Week
Last Saturday I posted pictures from the Amherst Farmers’ Market. On Thursday I got an email from Casey at Old Friends Farm asking if he could use some of the photos in the farm’s weekly newsletter. I was more than happy to oblige and went into heavy negotiation mode. Pictures for flowers; quite a good deal for us both.
Earlier in the week I went to watch Cris teach an undergrad class in one of the UMASS School of Ed. buildings. The class meets in a now-closed elementary school auditorium. Down a hallway and behind a set of doors with a “NO ENTRY” sign was this school gymnasium. I can remember being a kid at the East End School in Meadville and being in a similar gym (they all look pretty much alike). I especially like the climbing ropes and the cargo net.
Today we drove to Williamstown to meet up with Peggy Ross, her husband Peter, and their friend Pierette who is visiting from France. We met at the Williams College Museum of Art and then walked into town for a beer. It is a lovely small New England town with 2 great museums (the other being the Clark, which is a gem).
Driving back along Route 2, I was compelled to stop and grab a few shots of the Deerfield River.
I hope to have the willardsuitcases.com site up and running tomorrow. I am so excited and will post an update as soon as it is online.
Block Island Again
We are back out on Block Island visiting our friends Scott and Lisa. They are so nice to include us in their vacation. The ferry crossing yesterday was quite rough and kind of fun on the rolling waves.
Cris and I went for a nice bike ride to the North end of the island this morning and then came back and played cribbage. I love this little travel board. It was my gramma Krieghoff’s and it is so sweet. I especially like the Michigan Abrasive Company playing cards that came with it. / Back home tomorrow. Before we left I tried to set up an “out of the office” auto-reply in my mail program and it totally buggered things up. Some of you received a ton of email from me with the announcement. Sorry; I disabled it as soon as I realized what was happening. / Happy Fourth of July to you Americans who follow this site.
AT&T Park, Giants v Nationals
Yesterday I went to see the Nationals play the Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco. It was an interesting game. Very few hits and not much scoring. The Nationals won in 10, 2 to 1. As you can see it was a beautiful day, perfect for baseball. I was at the mercy of the guy selling the tickets, and just asked for a very cheap seat. Ended up in section 302, which by my estimation is the nicest place to sit in the whole park. The only problem was that for the first time in all my years of going to baseball games, it was difficult to concentrate on the action with this amazing view of the bay always pulling me away from the game. Even if you HATE baseball, it is totally worth $24.00 to sit up here for an afternoon drinking a few beers and being part of a crowd of very friendly people. / After the game I blasted over to the offices of Collector’s Weekly and met with Hunter Oatman-Stanford who wrote this article about the suitcases that really opened a lot of doors for me. We were joined by two other editors and had a great chat about this and that. I was totally blown away when they told me that the story had generated roughly 600,000 views on their site. I really owe a lot to Hunter for his great interview and interest in the project. / Made it out to the airport in time to catch the redeye back to Boston. Got home at about 9.30 this morning and was happy to see the Pearl, who after a bit of a scare this weekend seems to be back on her feet.
California Coast
This will be a picture heavy post without too many words.
We stopped in Pismo Beach, which is a sweet little town with a nice pier. I like being able to shoot from above, which is a great angle to document guys with metal detectors.
Morro Bay is another pleasant town. We were blown away to see these sea otters rafting at the end of the day so near to the town. The wide angle lens doesn’t make them seem so close, but they were right there.
Next stop was the amazing elephant seal beach just near to San Simeon. These seals have been coming to this location since the early ’90s. Noisy and smelly (but in a very nice way). Remarkable to be so close to these creatures.
They are molting at this time of the year and aren’t particularly active.
Next up, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park near Big Sur. Well worth a visit.
It is Spring out here and wild flowers are everywhere. This looks to be some sort of iris.
This spectacular field is just off Highway 1. We came around a corner and this scene took our breath away.
California poppys. Cris says they are the state flower.
Point Lobos State Park is a wonderful place to hike and get close to the ocean. The trails are extensive; it would be easy to spend a whole day here.
I had never been in the redwoods before. This same photo has probably been taken a million times, but who could resist. Big Basin State Park is just north of Santa Cruz.
Since I’m in California, I can get away with the word awesome. Truly amazing.
Had a nice walk yesterday from the Exploratorium up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Finally saw “The Changing Face of What is Normal” exhibit and will post some shots and my reaction soon.
Backlit Shell
I loved the way this little shell was translucent and backlit by the sun. / We are winding up out time here and I am really going to miss the beach.
South Carolina Beach
Cris and I celebrated our 25th anniversary yesterday with a very long walk on the beach. It was a beautiful day and the light was perfect for me. And as you can see, it was mostly deserted.
When we walk, I am constantly stopping to take photos. She usually just keeps moving but I eventually catch up.
Some of these guys are really tiny. The shell on top with the red bit was no more than an inch across. The guy above was probably 3 inches.
I have only occasionally seen the above type of shell. Reminds me of an exotic African cat.
This shell was very small, but so beautiful.
There is usually quite a bit of plant matter laying about. We saw what was left of a huge palm tree at the high tide line. I am not sure if the plant above is a water or land based plant.
Sand dollars are somewhat rarer this year. We didn’t see any until yesterday.
I say it to people all the time when I am complimented about my photographs, because it is important for me to give credit where it is due. I absolutely could not do what I do without the constant support and encouragement from Cristine. Not just emotionally, but in practical terms as well. She works very hard at a demanding job to provide us with all the things that a photographer with a spotty income could never provide. For that and the last 25 years I am more grateful than I can say.
Flotsam and Jetsam
Cris and I are in South Carolina for a bit. My brother and sister-in-law generously invite us to stay in their place down here and it is amazing. We usually come in January, but since Cris is on sabbatical this semester we decided to come down in March. We were walking on the beach the other day and talking about flotsam and jetsam. I was spouting off about the distinction between the two. A few minutes later Cris looked down and saw this. It was clear that it wasn’t just dropped on the beach; it had been in the water a long time and was quite near the water line having just been washed up. It is completely dead, but we couldn’t help wondering about the life of the owner. 21st Century jetsam (or is it flotsam?)
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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