Beachcombing Again

"It" is finished, -done.  Adding Dragonflies was the last bit to be done.  Keep in mind this is a 6 foot wide painting which is why it has taken me so long to get it finished.  As my sister commented today when she saw it, "There's a lot going on in that."  And I said "Yeah, there is". 

I started the drawing onto the canvas just after Labor Day.  I didn't work on it every day but in spurts, as time restraints of running a gallery allow.  I also stopped long enough to paint an abstract watercolor to enter in the Jacksonville Watercolor Show, (bringing home a 2nd Place Award, so it was time well spent).

But it's finally come together.  One more coat of varnish and it is ready to go to its new home.  Now I am ready if the weather holds, to take a day and just go fishing.

And along the edge of my favorite fishing hole, the Atlantic ocean, I took a stroll just before the DST change over, which makes it impossible to go after work, and after one of our several Nor'easters.  I found lots and lots of shells.  Some I put back in the water because the inhabitants were still alive.  The resident of this shell was not alive, but had living shellfish attached.  There are two kinds of Pen Shells in our area, and this one, without rough ridges is the Sawtooth.  The other with 15 rows of horny ridges is called the Rigid Pen Shell.

This lovely Channeled Whelk was quite alive, so it was tossed back into the sea.

Walking allows a better encounter with the birds, because of the ability to get closer than was possible with my noisy old beach buggy.  I just got news recently that the Park has inherited a broken ATV, which they were able to repair, so it looks like I may get my wish and be able to ride the ATV next Spring.  It is so much easier on the beach environment to ride this kind of vehicle.  Of course the top on the buggy was nice when the weather was bad, especially Nor'easters with the blowing sand.

Here are a couple of the varieties of birds, especially the Black skimmer, which we don't usually have on our Park beach in the summer.  I do see them mid island.  There was one very big fellow in the group.  I believe this is a juvenile Greater Black Backed Gull which is the largest of the gulls.  Not totally sure on this, but the Lesser Black Backed Gulls, one of which it might be, do not winter over here.  He could just be heading South.  When fully mature, its color will be the traditional white underneath but with a very black back.

There were piles and piles of shells and interesting pieces of driftwood.  The light was sinking low, giving the translucent Pen Shells a special glow.  It looks like both kinds of Pen shells laying together.

This pile hosted a variety of species of shell with the prettiest, the Cockle shell, lying here with its hinge still intact.  Lots of pretty pinks, oranges, and even lavenders are in the mix.

Another pile of drift wood and Pen Shells washed with the warm late afternoon sunshine.

Looking back toward the pier, you can see the first line of the piles of shells.  There was another line further up, left over from the really bad Nor'easter in the middle of September.  That is where the coolest driftwood was left.  It was being picked over by other beach driftwood collectors.  Of course what appeals to me are the small intricately shaped ones which other people would overlook.

I had never thought to stop by the overlook in the Park to catch the Lighthouse while it had its light beaming out across the way.  A beacon to warn shippers and mark the pathway for them to enter the channel and the port.  It is still very much a working Lighthouse.

Even in this light, the Rock Tenn Plant looks interesting.  A new thought about the problem with the sea turtles, and these lights this year, is that so many of the other problem lights have been corrected with proper "Turtle" lights, that these are now showing up comparitively brighter than they once did.

Especially after a stormy sea, I like to look for fossils which have washed up.  The long piece I had hoped would be a Saber Tooth Tiger's tooth but Lisa says it is just a deer antler was still a nice find.  Much more fun for me to look for Turtle shells and Sting Ray mouth plates than sharks teeth.  The bottom piece is part of a Pond Turtle's shell.  I'm not sure what the large bone fragment on the top is but I believe it is part of a fair-sized  sea-going animal's vertebra.

Having not read the paper, I was surprised to see a parade outside my front door.  I was puzzled at first trying to think what its significance was, but then I realized it was the Homecoming Parade for Fernandina Beach High School.

The kids had much fun, it looks like, making this float.  Fun to watch the youth of our community.  Such young faces.

One of the prettiest booths at the Farmer's Market on Saturdays, is this booth with it bounty of organically grown vegetables and beautiful bouquets of flowers.  These were so artfully arranged that I couldn't resist getting a shot of it.

Zinnia's are one of my favorite flowers and I am always trying to grow them, usually unsuccessfully.  Those bouquets usually include Sunflowers also, but I didn't notice them this time, maybe it was too late in the season.

Saturday before last was the Veteran's Day Parade (almost a week early) honoring those who served in the military.  Our friends and one of the Park Rangers, Frank, brings his old Army truck to the parade.

There were many veterans in the group with the number of WWII slowly diminishing.  I salute you all.

These guys were a mystery to me.  I could tell they were vets but wasn't sure what the Rats were all about.  So, I did some investigating.  They are part of the National Order of the Trench Rats.  It is a secret organization open only to those who are disabled veterans, so now you know.  They are looking for men and women who qualify to join up.  So there you are.

There were several dogs in the parade who were up for adoption, and this fellow was also up for adoption, but this pretty one was watching, not walking in the parade.  My friend Fran Clark does fostering and rescue for her favorite breed of dog, the Australian Shepherds, one of my favorites also.  If I had not sworn off having pets I would have certainly been up for taking this one home.

They are very smart dogs but need to be kept where their instinct for herding, especially cars, won't get them in trouble.  This beauty is a smaller breed of them, and although he looked like a youngster, he was full grown at a year.  This one is a 'special needs' doggie though, as it is deaf.  You would have to communicate through sign language.  Already she knows several of the signals.  I bet you can't keep from talking to her.

A young mom and her son are watching the parade and waving at them all.  As a mother of boys I am sure she is secretly wondering in her heart, "Will my boy want to be a soldier?".

Leave it to the "Beyond Taboo" Tatoo Parlor to have a very funky vehicle in the parade.  The things that catch a guy's eye...

One of my favorite Pirate wenches stopped by to say Hi and report a new job.  Cindy is mom to Austin and Britney who often show up in my photos and came to live here, indirectly from my taking them under my wing, when they were camped in the park.

I had to make a trip to St. Augustine for the Jacksonville Watercolor Society's Fall Show.  I was told I needed to be there, which means I won something.  The mystery mounted as they called all the names out in reverse order starting with the lesser awards, on up to the top.  I was expecting an Honorable mention but that came and went without my name being called.  Finally there were only two awards left the Silver and the Gold.  I didn't win the Gold but I was proud to accept the Silver and second place.  On the trip back I barely made the ferry.  I hopped out of the car to photograph the pelicans which were gathering nearby.  One of the pelicans looks like a ballplayer with a big chew of tobacco in his jaw.

In a few minutes I found out what it was, as up and out it came.  I think it must have picked up a freshly filleted fish, hopefully without a hook still in; looks like a Flounder, because it doesn't look as if it is intact.  Whatever it was, Mr. Pelican obviously bit off more than he could swallow and had to spit it out to try another approach.  The ferry left before I learned how he resolved the problem.    It is good to think of being back out on the beach and seeing the birds.  Lots to see with birds we don't usually have visiting for the winter.  I am anxious to see the White Pelicans but usually that is done from a boat as they are pretty reclusive.  I am ready to get back out there and if the weather if good, then tomorrow may be the day.  Of course, with my gimped up knee, and Fran, my fishing buddy's gimped up foot, we are having to think of a different course of action.  We have lightened our load dramatically but still you have to have some things and carrying them on the sand is tough. Maybe the bridge or the pier will let us just sit and fish without too much walking or toting.  Lets hope I can. And so, the sun sets on another story of nature and island life. Some sunsets are so photogenic they don't need anything else.

Getting Into the Way Back Machine

In a distant past, (about a month ago), that seems like only yesterday, I got the opportunity to take a special voyage to a place I hold most dear to my heart.  My finding Cumberland Island and the natural wonders which existed there, led to my discovery of Amelia Island just next door, resulting in a truly life changing event for us.   One of my friends, Lynne, called me one busy afternoon at the gallery and said "I have a ticket to Cumberland Island tomorrow but I can't use it.  Would you like to take it?"  Thinking that it was one of the day trips from St. Mary's on the Park Service Ferry, I politely declined because my knee would not hold up to the amount of walking that trip would require.  Later that evening I got a note from Dickie Anderson who does the "High Tide Women's Weekends", saying how nice it was that Lynne thought of me first to take her place.  The "light bulb" finally lit up in my brain and I realized that this year Dickie was highlighting the National Parks in the area and this was no ordinary trip to Cumberland Island.  With shaking hands I grabbed the phone, praying I was not too late, and called Lynne, apologizing if I had awakened her, and asked if the trip was still available.  YES, YES, I WANT TO GO!!!

Lynne had feared rain and the heat since she is still recouping from a recent bout with some health issues.  The morning started out to be beautiful as I showed up early, not wanting to miss the boat, with my pack, my new orthopedic inserts in my walking shoes, and raring to go.  The recent rains had mushrooms growing galore all over the island and these were the first thing I saw as I walked toward the docks.  In the early morning light I could not pass them up without a few shots to start off the day.  It was a 70's flashback when mushrooms were a big subject for me to paint.  I'm sure there are still many of  my mushroom paintings hanging on walls in the Chattanooga area.  That was the time when framing in barn wood, reading Foxfire, and Adele Davis's dietary books (who lost favor when she died of cancer) which all told us how to live simply, eat healthy, and be environmentally friendly, the new hot ticket in living.  The dawning of the Green age; and you thought Al Gore invented it...

A perfect morning to climb aboard a boat and go on a very excellent adventure.  It was so calm it was almost as if I wasn't sure which was the upside of the photograph as I looked back toward the street on which my gallery sits and thought how great to just walk away for a day.  [Thank you to Lynne and to Bruce for making it possible.]  I whiled away the time waiting for the official Cumberland Island Park Service Ferry to show up at OUR dock,  enjoying the reflections through the camera's lens.

It was indeed a perfect morning for a cruise.  I suppose Gilligan thought the same thing when he set sail for that short cruise that ran through many seasons.  Although Cumberland Island is just a short distance as the boat sails and the crow flies it usually seems much further away since actual landing on the island means a trip to St. Marys and making reservations on the Park Service Ferry or spending the big bucks to go with Greyfield Inn which leaves from our island.

It was almost too calm as the water became a perfect mirror and I like the abstract in the water not realism.  Come on now, give me a wave or two.

Finally a boat came by and gave me some interesting images to capture.  Some day I will have an exhibit of all the wonderful things I see in the water.

With lots of bigwigs from Washington with Park Service affiliations on board and with women who had come from near and far for this trip, most were eager for a top side view as we left the harbor.  Dickie had outdone herself in arranging this great one of a kind event.  So thankful was I, to be able to be on board.  My yellow pack and camera bag sit in the foreground.  I should not have bothered.  Every thing was provided from water to a pack in which to carry our "stuff".

At that time of the morning there were many of the wild horses of Cumberland Island out along the grassy beach areas, as we paralleled the shoreline.

Our first stop was Dungeness, the home of Lucy Carnegie and her family, previously owned by and the home of the Phineas Greene's.  We strolled with the very informative Park Ranger down Coleman Avenue as we listened to the stories of the people who had lived here from the knowledgeable park ranger.  The canopy of Live Oak Trees and Spanish Moss fills you with expectations of what might have awaited you beyond the turn in the road as you traveled once upon a time in Miss Lucy's carriage as her guest.

Lots of wild turkeys were scattering as we interrupted their quiet morning of dining on the lawn bugs.

I had forgotten where this wonderful old fountain was, while on a previous trip and was determined to not miss it this time.  It was located on the backside of the oldest remaining building on the island, a nice tabby built by the Greene's who had built the first Dungeness.  This building had housed the tutors for the children who lived at Dungeness.  It had also served as an office for the tutor who stayed on to be Miss Lucy's right hand man after her husband died fairly early in life.

In the museum at the dock, which is actually the old Ice House for the estate, you can see the pictures of the mansion when it was a real live home.  It is impressive now but must have been a true wonder for its time.  The Carnegies had the latest in technology, and when only 7% of the country had electricity, they were generating their own here in their private island paradise.

Since there was so much to do it was time to re-board the boat much too soon, but we had a lunch date with the folks at Greyfield Inn.  It was not something anyone wanted to miss, either, as walking around the ruins, we had worked up an appetite.  This horse was enjoying a morning brunch of Spanish Moss, which it was harvesting off a downed tree.  A glimpse into part of their diet on the island.

These two were grazing on the sparse grass found growing on the sand flat.  I loved the twisty gnarly branch forms from the trees which have been uprooted by the eroding shoreline.

This was my favorite of the horses I saw.  Such a pretty pattern.  The horses through the years have mixed with those from the all the families who lived there.  My friend Cindy who lived here, and whose grandmother was Lucy Carnegie, can tell you whose horses influenced some of the colors especially the ones with the white blazes on their faces.  Sometimes a horse just gets through the fence and spreads his charms around the whole island.

A tour of the main floor of the house, now Greyfield Inn, which was given to the daughter, Lucy, as a gift.  The library here is filled with rare first edition books, some signed, which you are free as a guest to browse through.  The lunch was substantial and pleasant as the whole group assembled to chat, get acquainted, and pose for a group photo.  That's me with the red shirt, hat and water bottle in her hand sitting on the first step underneath the rather large flower pot on the right.

We had 20 minutes to go until the boat would leave us but I just had to walk with a few hardier souls to get a glimpse of the beach I had for so long loved.  This is the Main Road, which goes from end to end on the island and which I have hiked many times with my backpack loaded with a weeks worth of food on my back, and then later on my old three wheeler with Bruce once we found a cottage we could rent.  I stood remembering that first walk on my very first trip as four of us, 3 women friends and one male, when the sounds of the Armadillos would startle us as they rattled the stiff Palmetto fronds scurrying away when we passed by.  We couldn't see them and was not sure what was making the noise.

My knee was reminding me that I still had to walk back, and it was quickly nearing departure time.  Thankfully a fellow came along in one of the golf cart vehicles from Greyfield and I was relieved and thankful to accept a ride on his chariot right to the dock.  Yea, saved the knee for another time.

The next stop on the tour was Plum Orchard behind which we had found our little Pink Cottage retreat and left the tent camping behind.  Since it is about 7 miles up the island I don't often get the chance to revisit.  On the way we had to retrace our path a good bit to be able to access the river channel, with the large ferry   The channel took us very close to the Kings Bay Nuclear Submarine base.  The large tall structure on the top left photo is a gizmo (very technical words so don't get overwhelmed) through which the subs pass through on their return to discharge the static electricity that has built up on the outside of the vessel due to the friction of the high speed with which they travel through the water.  They have to do this so they don't create a spark when they refuel.  As luck would have it on such a perfect day a sub was in port.  Of course we also were being evaluated, but  as a result, able to get up close and personal with the gun boat which was guarding the base.

Plum Orchard was the largest of the homes Lucy built for her children.  They were all given the choice of a house or cash, with most of the girls opting to take the money and run.  This is one of the most beautiful, which the daughter-in-law added another wing onto, after it was built, needing more space, -for just the two of them and staff of course.  It has over 100 rooms although I was not sure what was considered a room.  I think the count had to have included closets and hallways as rooms, because it doesn't seem that big to me.  Of course it has an attic with living quarters for some of the staff which we were not able to see.  That means 4 floors of rooms including the large and cavernous basement which we were also privileged to explore.  There was an area the size of a room just to accommodate the motors for the refrigerator which was in the adjoining area.  Things were not so compact in the early days of electrical technology.

Because they could afford to do so it was tastefully furnished with fine furnishings and elegant touches like Tiffany Lamps and hand painted/stenciled wallpapers everywhere.  To me the warmest part of the house was this cozy fireplace which you stepped down into, located in the foyer area,  It would have been very warm and cozy with a roaring fire on those cool damp winter days.  Great touches like wood paneling in the Gun Room to give it a very masculine touch with billiard tables, a baby grand, and built in gun cabinets along with the tortoise shell Tiffany lamps in the picture above.  A great place to hang out at the end of a hard day hunting and prowling the beaches.  Even an elevator with hydraulic lift which later came in handy as the Carnegie son developed a muscle condition which left him in a wheelchair.  What had been a luxury became a necessity for navigating to the upstairs bedroom area.

The only time I have seen a horse in this condition on the island.  The Park Service lets the horses remain on the island on the condition that they do not have to do anything to keep them going.  This means if they get sick they do not help.  Sometimes a stallion will loose his place as head of the herd and is exiled.  He will then soon die of loneliness and this could be the case here.

There is a fresh water pond just behind the house, which I had remembered always had lots of birds.  That was back when I didn't know the names of our birds.  The tree was filled with lots of very skittish Great Whites, White Ibis (young ones still brown). a Green Heron, some baby Alligators, and mosquitoes the size of birds and ticks to boot which took their toll on me and I did not stay long.  It was pretty grown up and one of the longest snakes I have ever seen in the wild had run into this pond on an earlier trip back in the old days.  I like snakes but I didn't want to prowl around in their house uninvited.  Water snakes are noted to not be real friendly to such intrusions.

It came time for us to turn homeward.  I usually do not feel our paper mills pollute the air but from this distance I am rethinking my stand on this.  True we do not get the smells on the island associated with papermills of earlier times, but when I saw the clear pristine skies from this distance and the plume of low lying yellowish haze spreading to the Southwest from Rayonier and gray smoke coming directly on the North end from the Rock Tenn plant I was very disheartened.  I don't think they were both just having a bad day.  Now come on folks, even if your pollution doesn't stay on our island, it's still going out there.  Let's clean up our act!!!  Even on cloudy days...

The Marshes were at their prettiest green and the horses were enjoying it as if they had been turned out into a new pasture.

Only a few of us still headed for the upper deck on the journey back home.  There was wine and treats inside the cabin underneath and some very tired ladies to enjoy it.  The trip was exhausting but wonderful at the same time.  None of the buildings we toured had the new fangled air conditioning so perspiration had taken its toll zapping our energy.  As we rehydrated only a few rain drops added to the mix from the gray clouds overhead.  All around were the perfectly beautiful billowing clouds I love.  I took many photographs of them that day.  The next day one of my other friends from Jacksonville who had gone on the trip came to say she was disappointed that I had not made it to the mixer and fashion show later that night.  I said, "are you kidding?  I was sound asleep by 8 o'clock."  Am I getting old?