2 DIFFERENT SUNSETS

I post some of my photos on Flickr and the volumn of sunsets offered is just endless.
Each one more beautiful than the last. Whether over a body of water or over dry land, the
variation excites the senses. The two sunsets above were only one night apart. And
within each night, the changes that occured from one moment to the next was remarkable.
So....I just start shooting and shooting and continue shooting. Later when I have them
on my computer screen, then I can really see what I have and which is the most exciting.
And I always think that each one I'm currently viewing just has to be the most perfect
there could be. Until the next second...........

AN ARTISTIC POOCH

To tell you the truth, I can't remember where I saw this dog. I think it was at one
of the Monday paint out's that Georgeanne holds once a month. This dog has me
just wanting to get in close for a big hug! I really like scruffy dogs anyway and this
one fits the bill.

FROLICKING PUPS

The black dog was the stranger to the other two, and younger.
But the shepherd and lab just had to check out the new guy on the beach.
The first few shots, which aren't shown here, clearly show the black pup with his tail so far down like he was hiding
it. His owner cut him loose from the security of the leash and off he took down the beach, looking over his shoulder frequently to see if he was outdistancing the two predators. They came up rapidly from the rear and to the pup's surprise, wanted only to play in the surf, not eat him!! So the game of chase and catch took off.
Up and down the beach they all went. Every once in a while I heard the pup give a little yelp. Maybe the
bigger dogs were a little too rough, but no damage was done and off they were again. Frolicking for all they were worth and having a great time.

ON THE BEACH

Again on Whiskey Run Beach, I saw this man seemingly reflecting and looking out onto
the water. He stayed there for a while and down the beach dogs ran in happy chaos.
After a bit, he got up and began strolling down the beach, again looking out at the water.
All his movements seemed contemplative and quiet.
This evening I'm looking at this photo of him and noticing how thin he is. And betting
that HE didn't over-indulge in turkey, sauce, potato, stuffing, gravy, peas w/ onions and rolls.
AND didn't top it off with a rich (oh-so-wonderful!) white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry
swirl and oriolo cookie crust.
Oh!!!! But it was SO, SO good!
Thank you Nanci and Ray!!

WHISKEY RUN BEACH

We made a quick stop by Whiskey Run Beach today. The beach itself is flat
and would have been fairly barren except for a number of people walking their
dogs or doing some beach combing.....you'll see those in the next few days. But here
I wanted to show you the beauty in the hillside.....the colors and variation of
vegetation struck me as being very beautiful against the blue sky. The second
photo was shot a bit lower and captured a few dunes with sea grass....again, I think
quite beautiful. And the third, of course, is a group of rocks off the shoreline.
Most of you who live up this way know that this beach acquired it's name by the
whiskey smugglers that used it to unload their goods. Probably during prohibition.
For those of you who don't live around here....."now you know the rest of the story!"

A DAY TO GO CLAMMING!

Wow!! Was it a beautiful day! The sun was bright and very little, if any, breeze. It's the time of year that the sun is low in the sky, making it right eye
level for me, so more often than not, was shining directly in my eyes. In Charleston these clammers looked like they were having a great time just mucking about! These photos were taken in two different directions but both have pretty good reflections, which I always love to see.
And we might have a beautiful sunset today. There was a lot of field burning and the air was smoggy as we traveled back down south into Curry County. Seems funny that something that's not-so-good can produce just lovely colored skies.

LBM

LBM......Little brown mushrooms...That's what an experienced mushroom hunter used to call these different brown
mushrooms that you weren't sure of their names. This one looks like leather, though.
I don't know if it's eatable or not and I think I'd pass in any event. The worms have
started working on this one, I think. It is that mushroom time of year and we should
see many unique types of the fungi around now.

HAVE A DASH OF COLOR

It's rainy and windy out so I set up a little photo scene of my own since
Mother Nature isn't cooperating today. A beautiful red pomegranate and a couple of apples in one scene. The other is the always-attractive-and-in-good-taste, Burmuda onion and avocado. Yum!

ANOTHER STORM COMING

The other day we were coming home via Ocean Dr. in
Bandon and a quickly snapped these couple of photos. I'm just a sucker for big
splashy waves......although I think to see them up close and personal is probably more impressive than the photo.
This one has a couple of pelicans trying to fly right through the wind. The second photo is a group of oyster catchers hunkering down from the wind......although I'd think they could find a more sheltered place than right on the ocean. I think they'd probably be a dull bird except for their wonderful bright orange beck.

HUNDREDS MORE PELICANS!!

Some more photos from Bandon yesterday. There were hundreds of these big
birds trying to hunker down from the winds. It was pretty funny to see them
gracefully soar over their packed-like-sardine buddies on the pier and then just sort of DROP.
Guess the ones on the pier had to move or be landed on. The second photo shows
2 of them "dropping in". They are funny birds....they can be graceful and then
turn around and be the clods of the sea. And SO many of them!! I know I read
that there were thousands stopping by on migration south, but I'm wondering if they just
aren't going to stick around all winter. An amusing show to watch.

A ROUGH BAR TODAY

Up in Bandon today and we took at quick trip over to the jetty. Wow! The wind
was really blowing and the tide coming in was throwing a lot of water around.
It's always exciting to see. I'd like to get up to Cape Arago sometime this winter
and capture some of the action up there. That's spectacular! Although over-photographed.
I got a number of shots like these but these were two of the best.

MICHAEL THE TRUCK

For those of you who are Oh-so-curious as to what Michael, Norm's
new truck looks like.....well here he is! Ta-Da!! What REALLY catches
MY eye is the reflection of the clouds in the front window. Rain
tomorrow.

OLD GLORY

I'm sure that all who live around the south coast area are familiar with the
sight in Bandon of our Old Glory waving in the breezes. It is an ENORMOUS
flag! I mean REALLY, REALLY big. And it never fails to stir our hearts
and our national pride when we see her. I read that this year they will take her
down and fly a smaller flag when the weather is nasty. That's OK so long as we
know that they'll be flying her again when we have our sunny days back.
Isn't she beautiful??

VIEWS OF COOS RIVER

A few of the views of Coos River looking towards Charleston.....except the first one. That looks toward 'Hollering Point" to the north. I wish I could
have spent more time there as the colors and view were changing so rapidly.
Charleston always reminded me of the setting of the TV series "Murder, She
Wrote" with Angela Lansbury........for those of you old enough to remember!
A quaint little seaport town and, I'm sure, filled with it's own share of human
characters. Part of the charm............

AUTUMN SUNSET

Norm finally bought his new truck today. This gorgeous sunset is what accompanied
us home from North Bend. I think Norm was feeling very pleased with himself and his
new toy and he readily agreed to stop off and give me a chance to take a few quick
photos. Then I saw what he was REALLY doing! He was checking out some new
something or other on the front of the truck......which he has named Michael. Michael
is the young salesman that sold us (himself, AND) the truck. He is newly over from
Sligo, Ireland. I think he calls his Mom everyday and probably his girlfriend too. He'll
be going back for a holiday month long stay and is hoping to talk his girlfriend in moving
to the states also. He was really such an open and fresh personality....the kind you'd hope
to see more of. So....if any of you are thinking of buying a Toyota....be sure and ask for
Michael of Ireland.

CACTUS

This Christmas cactus hasn't bloomed since last winter....now here it is pushing
Christmas on us already! As if the stores weren't bad enough! It's such an unusual
color and is looking so lovely, it's to be forgiven. But a reminder that the holidays
are coming fast.