Great Blue at Canoe U.

Today, after catching up a little more on some sleep, I returned to my normal home base routine. Minimalization picked up at Day 9, and four shirts, one pair of tech underwear, two pair of shorts, one travel pillow, and a race jacket all made their way into a Planet Aid clothes donation bit out behind the Veteran's Center in West Annapolis.

Day 9 Victims of Minimalism

I really liked that NASA shirt, but when put to the test it just didn't make top billing in things that are truly important to me.  The other stuff basically fell into the category of "just in case," but as discussed, I've concluded that this "just in case" isn't all that useful for being able to live in the present. I always hated the red 5K fun run shirt. It was thick cotton and trapped heat, showed sweat, and the silk screen wasn't very comfortable. I didn't really want it when I got it, but I'd done the run so it represents the "identity" argument for keeping things I don't like. Anyway, it's all gone, and it was a good way to start of the walk this afternoon.

The spring weather was ideal if a little breezy. The cobalt blue sky was spectacular and the mid-70's temperatures kept the pep in my step heading down the trail.

College Creek Under a Cobalt Sky

Spring has sprung in the area and the forests are greening up nicely. The Dark Ages have been vanquished for another season, and there is real promise in the air.

Toward the end of my ramble, I stalked a Great Blue Heron from one end of the boathouse dock to the other trying to capture the perfect shot. The heron was sporting the dark plumage, and the bird carried a magnificence that proved difficult to ignore. After a few laps of pestering, I caught a passable shot as the heron broke free of our little round of shenanigans and moved on to better (or at least quieter) hunting grounds.

Great Blue at Canoe U.

Riding along the wavetops with graceful ease, there is a freedom to be envied as the heron goes about living day by day. He doesn't fret a mortgage or wonder about taxes, credit, retirement, or college funds. He stalks his prey and eats as he must, but let's be honest, I've never seen a heron carrying a bit too much weight around the middle.  He catches the sunrise and the sunset, and he even experiences the occasional rainstorm.

I'm going to try to adopt the way of the heron and be open to be surprised by what tomorrow may, or may not, have in store.

Back in the Mid-Atlantic for a Little While

Successfully made it back to the Mid-Atlantic states. Travel will continue until morale improves, and as such this is about a fifty two hour stopover, some relatively local travel, and then we'll see what shakes out.

I took to opportunity to get in some much needed rest this afternoon. As I get a little older and wiser, I believe I'm getting better at listening to the body tell me when I'm pushing too hard and adjusting accordingly. To a degree, I wish I'd learned this a little sooner.

Departing CLT

Nothing to terribly exciting on the picture front, although I caught the above gem on the window of the A320 hauling me to Baltimore after a quick trot through the airport to catch this connecting flight. It's good to be back and I'm grateful I managed to basically keep up with all aspects of the daily practice in one form or another during a relatively challenging time from a schedule and sleep perspective.

I read a quote on a running website the other day that I think has some real applicability. It said, "Motivation gets you started, Habits keep you going." That's speaking with Big Medicine  from my perspective, and it's more than a bit heartening to realize that I've managed to develop some of those more positive habits over the last couple of years. It's been quite a trip.

Looking forward to what tomorrow's sunrise will reveal.

Back on Land

Got back from about three days out in the Gulf of Mexico. Quite a bit of work and not to terribly much sleep, so I'll keep this short. The day we headed out was clear and cool and generally gorgeous.

Moblie, AL Skyline - Heading down the River to GOMEX

During the trip I saw the sunset twice and the sunrise once out at sea. Going out on a ship again sparks a bit of nostalgia. The hard decks do a number on the knees and ankles, and there's nothing quite like the night sky in a place with limited light pollution. Dolphins swam in our wake, and a birt caught a ride on the anchor. She used her perch as a hunting stand to stalk flying fish, and her two catches that I saw seemed to prove the wisdom of this approach.

Back in the sky tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to what the day sends my way.

Headed to Sea

Today, we head out to sea where the air is clear and connectivity, at least for me. doesn't exist. That being the case, I'm doing something that I don't normally allow myself to consider in sharing some photos from yesterday. Normally, I confine the photographic content of N2N-TCP to contemporary photos, but I woke up this morning and these panoramic shots from yesterday had come together overnight, and I won't have connectivity to share anything that comes together today.

The best area that I've found to see the sunset in the immediate vicinity (so far anyway), are the bluffs overlooking the municipal pier in Fairhope, AL.  There are about five or six individual vistas that are quite spectacular, and yesterday I managed to get to three of them during the setting of the sun and have these photos to share.  They are presented in the order they were taken.

Sunset -Fairhope, AL

This pier is publically accessible, so it's a great spot for a little romance during the setting of the sun.

Sunset #2 - Fairhope, AL

The piers to the left are private piers, but the one directly in front of the lamp in the foreground is publically accessible. This shot is taken from the bluffs overlooking the beach park at the bottom from the walking path and grass park at the top of the drop-off. There is access via wooden stairs between the to areas of the park.

Fairhope Seahorse at Sunset

This welded metal seahorse on the bluffs overlooking the beach is a great location to watch the day fade over the horizon. There are a large number of public art installations throughout the City of Fairhope, AL. I may have to take a day to lay them all out for a comprehensive visit. I suspect it would result in a fairly long walk as well.

By custom, I'm looking forward to the next couple of days at sea. I hope to get some time to relax and really enjoy the experience as well as successfully close out some concerns we have with a ship for the folks that currently fund my walking and writing habits.  It should be good.

A Rare Day of Rest

After a brief stint at work this morning, a coworker asked what I had planned for the rest of the day and suggested that, if I wanted, I could spend some time kicking around with him and his family. I thought about it for a minute, and I told him that I, though grateful for the offer, I thought I might take a nap instead. He said, "A nap, man, that sounds like a pretty good idea." With that little piece of encouragement, I laid down for about three hours and slept soundly.

I would be fibbing a little if I didn't admit that the idea of turning on the television, "for just a few minutes," didn't tempt me a little, but, in the end, I fought off the idea. Waking up after a good rest, I'm glad that I resisted the devil in the flatscreen. My energy restored, I headed south to Fairhope, AL to get in a walk and catch the sunset.

On the way down to Fairhope, I thought about stopping off at a store and getting a book, but the reminder of this minimalism way of life convinced me that I really didn't need a book. I remembered I'd seen the first Little Free Library, the index case of my LFL infection so to speak, in Fairhope and decided I'd see what was on offer.

Little Free Library - Fairhope, AL

Unfortunate, nothing really caught my attention so I moved on. Making my way to the second LFL in the area, I fell in behind a small woman walking a very big dog. I snapped a picture because the sight of this unlikely pair taking a stroll through a true American downtown area is something that catches the eye. It' probably not as rare as I perceive it to be, but also not a sight that's easy to ignore.

Small woman with Large Dog - Fairhope, AL

Happily, luck favored me at the second Little Free Library, and I borrowed The Lobster Chronicles by Linda Greenlaw. The dust jacket advertises that it's a book about a swordfish boat Captain who returns to her small hometown in Maine for a change of pace and the book chronicles her adventures and insights along the way. Linda Greenlaw was prominently featured in  Sebastian Junger's, The Perfect Storm, and I'm looking forward to her observations about another small town in America.

Little Free Library #2 - Fairhope, AL

After getting in the better part of my walk, I relaxed a bit near the Fairhope Pier to take in the sunset. Disappointment was not part of the program, and the universe treated me to a rendering of the horizon rich in color and subtlety.

Sunset - Fairhope, AL

I spent the final moments of the day with the Fairhope Seahorse by Bruce Larsen on the bluff overlooking the municipal pier. 

Fairhope Seahorse 

Rest and recuperation were the order of the day, but it turned into a day of beauty, serenity, and adventure as well. Tomorrow I head out into the Gulf of Mexico if things go as planned, and I'm looking forward to another day or two of new sights and adventures on the rolling ocean.

Inconveniences

If you can possibly avoid the mistake of misplacing the keys to your rental car, you should. Misplacing the keys to your rental car presents the opportunity to practice patience, kindness, tolerance, peacefulness, and a number of other virtues in trying circumstances. Mostly, you wait on the phone, and the rental car company tries to tell you that you're on your own...good luck in as many words and hours as possible, The car company's trying doesn't end until you give up and call a taxi for a ride back to your hotel.

Thankfully, I was able to see the upside in the situation. The unlicensed cab and limousine company I called sent over a sedan which turned out to be a white 90's Buick that drove me across the causeway for the price of a very nice dinner for one. Sharing the backseat with a walker and two canes that I presume belonged to the driver or his partner was an added bonus.  It's an experience that I won't soon forget.

I did manage to get in some walking today on the Eastern Shore Trail. I took off on foot from the hotel in search of dinner. Since I'd spent my dinner money on a ride, I opted for the slightly less expensive, but equally gastronomically pleasing, "bag o' burritos" from the Taco Bell.  Not bad...not good...not expensive...filling.  Pretty good deal for a person on foot.

I captured the first "sharable" picture of an alligator on the way to my bean stuffed flour tortilla delights. The 'gator, an average sized bugger, was lounging around in D'Olive Creek annoying the fish in his immediate vicinity if they're aerial acrobatics are any real indication.

Alligator - Daphne, AL

I also noticed that the Easter Shore Trail kiosk on US 90 has taken it's second beating in less than a year. Rory Conlan asked me if I thought folks were hitting the trail map shelter on purpose just for the sake of mischief.  I sent him the following picture and explanation.

Eastern Shore Trail Kiosk - Down for the count a second time in a year

Those broken and leaning poles are six inch square pressure treated lumber. There is a broken hubcap, part of a broken windshield, and various other odds and ends that you might find at the scene where violence has been visited on a automobile by something solid and relatively unyielding. If folks are doing this for the sake of mischief, the must be a special kind of joker who likes to perpetrate very expensive (for them or whomever owns the car) acts of very loud vandalism. I'm pretty sure this is happening because folks aren't paying enough attention when rounding the curve that leads up to this point several meters departed from the right lane of the road.

Today I learned a thing or two about the willingness of a certain rental car company's willingness to help you get out of a jam associated with misplaced keys. They're charging you daily rent, and it turns out they're perfectly willing to collect the fee whether you're using their car or it's sitting uselessly in the parking lot at work. Fortunately the keys were located in the back seat of a friend from work who drove us all to lunch. I had managed at that point to extricate myself from the most pressing problem with the application of forty five dollars and without making an angry ass of myself with the folks who were going a pretty far stretch out of their way not to help me. When he called to announce the good news, I was pretty stoked.

You never can tell what lessons life my put in front of you to learn. I'll wake up in the morning an eager pupil with a taste for adventure.