Sunday, April 7, 2013

Sea Fever


I dug up "Sea Fever" by John Masefield (see below) because several shots in the latest batch from Mitch reminded me of the poem's first line. Turns out I had the line wrong and I thought it was by Melville. Oh, well.
I do not feel too bad about the Melville bit because of the first chapter of Moby Dick. Here is the first paragraph:
Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely --having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.
I have a "First Paragraph Test" for books: I read the first paragraph. Moby Dick passes. It would pass the "First Sentence Test" if I had one. For your convenience, the full chapter can be found here. 
Back to Mr. Masefield. The last stanza would resonate with my homeless crew. Most of them could find a roof, but roofs come with prices. Work took a nice turn for the better last week, but I had definitely started to envy those between homes their freedom.
Sea Fever
by John Masefield


I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, 
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; 
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, 
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.


I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide 
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; 
All I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, 
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the seagulls crying.



I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, 
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way, where the wind’s like a whetted knife; 
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, 
And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trip’s over.











"The poets say many wise things, but one call is constant, the call of the sea. People come from near and far, travelers all. Each searching for that special something be it the sea, sand, or the sun. When a person really looks at a picture it should make them wonder what the photographer saw in his lens. I only capture those rare moments in time that others miss. I spend hours sometimes waiting for that one shot. The poets speak of the beauty of the seas, I live my life by the sea watching the world wake, bringing new life to a beautiful world. By the sea is the place I choose to be. Mitch!!!!!!! "



And now let us bring Spring Break to a close with the rest of our shots....



Nice bichromal.

Nice...balance.

Nice.

"Hey, let's wear horizontal stripes today."


Mitch is really perfecting these double umbrella shots.
Even when they are closed!

Partial eclipse.
I cannot close without noting that only a few shots above were cropped, and until now I was cropping every photo. Mitch is one smart dude and as soon as he realized where I was going with the cropping he was able to duplicate it with ease. Nice!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Spring Break, 2013

Some things are a constant.



Ken: I'd like to think this is a waiting for Godot deal but I suspect
 it is more like waiting for a bucket of Coronas.

Mitch: There are some constants in life,but waiting on Godot
 is not one. In this case she was waiting for her family.

Ken: Mitch makes another friend.
Mitch is always making friends.


Mitch: I asked, she said OK.



Ken: Lauren of http://laurenskids.org/ seems to have made
a detour to come visit Mitch and O.G.


Mitch: Lauren Book was passing by on her 1500 mile walk to the capitol.
Shes wearing a necklace i made from what God provides.

"Yes!"

Ken: Daniel always looks impressive astride his ride.


Mitch: Big Dan, well, he's just Big Dan.

Not sure why I like this one so much.




Beautiful.

Ken: Mitch has made shots off the lifeguard station glass a specialty.


Mitch: My objective with the tower is how many shots does it take to get one really worthy shot.
All i can say about the shot that grabbed Kenny is its that one shot in a million that says, Made you look.. It's so abstract that in its plainness it captures the eye. No matter what I shoot we all see differently the same images, its only what our minds perceive that vastly differs. Mitch!!!!!!




We have not had much wildlife lately.