I Hear the Roar

Some mornings,
early and quiet,
with the face of the water
smooth and reflective,
I hear the roar.

Over the water,
past the barrier island,
the Gulf rumbles.
The in-land breeze rests, yet
 - something is coming.

When I hear the Gulf of Mexico
speaking up in conversation to
what drives the seas,
I know that
deep within my soul
they affect me.

But under the water
far from the waves
driven by currents,
moved by another
are
creatures
living and oblivious
to the roar.

Waiting for Sunrise

Waiting for the sun to rise this morning. Standing on the seawall in nightgown, slippers and a coat, drinking coffee and waiting. The seagulls are screaming at each other well before the sun peeks over the horizon. They are active today. I'm just waiting, looking and listening. A high flying jet starts to show itself with the sun...most likely from a military base east of where I live.

There is another airplane I hear and look north - this is a commercial airplane.

Something is wrong with my camera, or my lens or both. I'm taking this opportunity in the early morning to change settings and record with intent so when I download the images I can see if it's true or it's just been me - something is wrong with the equipment. Time to send it in. But today I'm also looking and listening for anything interesting. Even with faulty equipment there is still a lot to enjoy!

Sun reflecting on cloud then on water

Morning Moon 

Resting

I'm Not THAT Bored!

A few Saturdays ago as I headed into Pensacola for errands, I called my sister Cathi to chat. I told her in relation to the way I felt that day that "I was so bored I could turn to dirt". Who really knows what that means but I said it. I had put my camera in the car because I was so bored with the running of housekeeping errands I was doing that I thought it would be a great diversion if I came across something to photograph. As I passed St. Michael's Cemetery, a historic location in Pensacola, Florida I decided to go in and take some shots. I had thought about doing it before but never had.

As I entered through the iron gate I saw that I was quite alone. Not a lot of visitors. And as I walked through the cemetery trying to be respectful of the location of graves and looking for what might be an interesting shot what I had said earlier to my sister came back to mind, being so bored "I could turn to dirt" - ironic and humbling - and I decided that I really was not all that bored any more! Anyway, I made use of my time and came back and worked on the photos I shot which helped me be even less bored - I am posting what I thought of interest, below.

Family Plot

Sounds like a nice guy

Contrast in style

I found this one funny - no "do overs" in stone

Oak tree holding head stone - looked like it was reading it

Shapes and Shadows

This is a link to information on the cemetery - http://www.stmichaelscemetery.org/

Pensacola's 17th Ave Trestle Art

I shot this photo of the 17th Avenue trestle some years back when someone had painted the then popular saying "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL" on it. Everyone in the Pensacola area knows about this place - the one place in Pensacola that graffiti is allowed and is a type of must visit place for prom or graduation. I have often wondered just how thick the paint on the surface is.




 Well yesterday I decided to revisit the trestle and look around it to see if there is more to the trestle's artwork than meets the eye from traveling under it. I hope you enjoy these photos - I enjoyed taking them!

Not too sure the porta-potty business appreciates the art...

Just married and headed straight for the bridge...

Tools of the trade

Below are some links to web sites that I found with history of the graffiti bridge:
http://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/17th_Avenue_railroad_trestle
http://teriheyer.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-graffiti-bridge-in-pensacola.html

Some of My Favorites - Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago - what a nice visit we had at this museum last week. Following are a few examples of what I really enjoyed within the many exhibits at the institute - whatever I'm showing here  is but a small example of  what you can see at this museum but I hope you enjoy these photos anyway, and make plans to visit the institute in the future - I'm sure you will be just as impressed as I was.

Artist, John Philip Simpson

Artist, Albert Schindler

African Art

Asian Art

Contemporary Art

Resting - Artist, Antonio Mancini

Part of Folk Art exhibit

John the Baptist

Georgia O'Keefe

Porcelain

Artist - Ferdinand Hodler

Van Gogh - my personal favorite - The Room

The Shepherd - Artist, Eugene Zak

Van Gogh

LINK TO ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO -   http://www.artic.edu/

Riding on the City of New Orleans and Bob Dylan

I liked Chicago. I don't think I was prepared to like it, or even thought very much about if I would like it as I planned our trip, but it was nice. My husband and I took an Amtrak train from New Orleans to Chicago to see Bob Dylan with Mark Knopfler in concert, the City of New Orleans train. My purpose was to have a short get away trip for us with low stress - (husband NOT driving) - and to see Bob Dylan. Dylan is 71 and you know, how long will he tour? Anyway, I really liked Chicago, as did hubby.

We left New Orleans on a Thursday afternoon, 1:35 PM. New Orleans is a 2.5 hour drive from our house in Gulf Breeze, Florida and so we made sure we arrived in New Orleans with enough time to eat at Mother's before we boarded. That place is great! Had gumbo and oyster/shrimp Po'Boy with coffee, a creamy blend of coffee that is different than regular brewed coffee, but I haven't figured out how they do that. We made reservations on Amtrak in a Roomette - a private sleeper car that allows you to sit and sleep in privacy while you test the strength of your marriage. It is the smallest of the Amtrak sleeper cars. It has wonderful windows to gaze out of but when it comes time to sleep, a prescription sleeping pill is a must in trip planning.

Riding Amtrak gives you the opportunity to see the back side of lots of towns, some of that is interesting. Going north out of New Orleans I heard the comment a few doors down, "I saw an alligator"! I did not see an alligator this trip but I did see lots and lots of crab trap buoys stuck in bushes from previous high water.








And I saw the following:

I don't know where this was but is was interesting for a few minutes.

You can also see lots of older train cars along the way. If you really like trains, and I'm starting to, it is almost like a museum!

Arrival in Chicago  - 9:00 AM the next day - breakfast and lunch with total strangers along the way who are not so strange after the meal.

On Friday we went to the Art Institute of Chicago which was absolutely fabulous -

Lion in front of Art Institute


I will do another blog post on that museum as there was so much I enjoyed there, then we went on to United Center for the concert. Took a taxi to United Center, public bus on way back to the Palmer House where we were staying.


 Here is a photo from the room at the hotel, when we arrived from Amtrak.

Really nice place, the Palmer House - we saw Geraldo Rivera that night in the lobby. He was so happy to see us. :-)

The trip was great. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry the next day where there are more exhibits than you can see in a day...

and boarded the Amtrak at 8:00 PM that night, Saturday, to head back south. I'm glad I went. If you haven't tried Amtrak sleepers cars yet for a trip, give it a try. It's a unique experience.

Below is the link to the review of the concert from the Chicago Tribune if you care to read it - it was truly a great night with the artists. They were happy to see us too.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/turnitup/chi-bob-dylan-concert-review-20121109,0,817318.column