with John W. Howell
This week’s photo shows a little of the debris that has washed up as a result of Tropical Storm Bill. It wasn’t too bad and what you see here are the charcoal remains of fires on the beach. The surf rolls in such a way as to unearth them even if buried in the sand. The yellow morning glories are in bloom, and the beach has been washed clean by the surf. (the nice side of a tropical storm)
You can see from last week’s photo the water has receded this week.
Today’s view shows the effect of a high tide on the beach. The water came up to where it looks wet. You can see some residual water out where the kids are playing (don’t know whose kids). The sky is a little overcast and we are expecting more rain. You can see the yellow and purple morning glories to the right on the dune.
Last week’s photo shows where the tide normally stops.
We had a glorious week. The sun was out every day, and the water was as clear as a swimming pool. The winds were relatively calm, and so the daytime temperature of 85 degrees seemed even hotter. The water temperature is also 85 degrees, so it is like taking a bath in the Gulf. If you look very carefully you can see purple morning glories to the near right. I tried to get a little closer so they would show up. That car came into view just as I took the picture. Yes, driving on the beach is allowed (darn it). Way off in the distance you can see a boat hauling a barge. The little dot is the boat and the dash behind it is the barge.
last week’s scene wasn’t too much different although the winds made the wave action a little stronger.
Today’s view of the Gulf has a bit more optimism in it as opposed to previous photos. The sun is out, and a camper has spent the night without getting drenched.
Compare to last week (below) the weather is fine indeed. Also, there is a couple of morning glories, who have decided to brave the sun and make an appearance. The camper is not supposed to be there since the rules require them to be in an area that has portable toilets. I don’t want to tell anyone since I do not wish a portable toilet at the bottom of the dune walkover.
As you can see it is a little overcast today. The sky to the right looks like rain in the photo, but it is merely clouds. The guy in the foreground is a tourist who I had hoped would move, but I think he fell asleep there. He was fiddling with his camera and the mosquitos were bad enough I could not wait for him to finish. You can see the tides are not coming in as far as they were last week and the beach is clear of any seaweed. The seas are still rough so I would expect more seaweed later in the week. The family in the back got here early to protect a space. Also, we have severe thunderstorms forecasted which will cause additional water on the beach.The morning glories on this side of the dune are sleeping in today.
Last weeks photo shows the effects of the rains and heavy seas.
This weeks picture was taken following a lot of rain. You can see the wet sand in front of the dunes and what looks like a little river approaching the cross over. The seas are still quite rough and one more morning-glory has decided to brave the wet weather. The sea weed that was in last week’s photo has all been washed into the dunes. The high tide actually came up to the dunes which seldom happens. If you look to the right and in front of the dune you can see some of the erosion.
Last week’s picture shows rainy conditions but not the results of ten inches of rain which we got after last week’s photo was taken.
It occurred to me that I have mislabeled this feature. Instead of fifty-two views of the Gulf it should be called one view of the Gulf fifty-two times. You’ll forgive me, right? I thought so.
The photo above is the fourth picture of the Gulf taken from the dune walkover. It is the fourth picture taken while it is raining. While it has not rained every day for the last month, it certainly has been when the photo time comes around. Compare this to last week’s photo and you can see the rain is not hard enough to keep folks from walking on the sand.
For those who haven’t joined before, I plan on taking a picture of the beach once a week for the next year. The scene will be the same and the idea is to look at how things change over the course of the year.
This is picture number two. I have placed picture number one below for reference but will discontinue this since I expect the changes to be slight from week to week. (as you can see) Today’s photo shows the effects of the wind on the sand. The sand has blown up onto the cross over. Also, we have had rain all day.
Happy Easter all. On a walk yesterday I had an idea that is a riff on the Japanese artist Hokusai Katsushika’s One Hundred Views of Fusiyama. (Mt. Fuji). I thought I would take a picture a week of the Gulf from the same location and then add a line or two of whatever pops into my mind. So with the introduction here is the first.
The temperature is in the high sixties and wind is about twenty-five miles an hour. It is overcast, and this picture is almost devoid of color. The white railings are part of the walkway to the beach that goes up and over the dunes.
