FOR THE BIRDS

In the late afternoon my Aunt often find pleasures in strolling on the beach and feeding the birds leftover bread. As I watched her I thought my life is really for the birds. It has gotten much too complicated, running from one task to another and jamming too much into one day. I need to slow down. The simple life (especially one on the beach) is really a gift. That said, tomorrow it's back to work.

POOL TOOLS

Today was a day for sitting in the sun, swimming in the Gulf and drifting in the pool with colorful pool tools. A day of pretending it is still summer when faced with returning to rain and cool autumnal temperatures tomorrow. I'd love to remain in the land of the sun where it is always a technicolor kind of day. I know that day will come, but tomorrow it is back to reality.

I DO

They said their "I dos" late this afternoon with the Gulf of Mexico as their witness and some uninvited folks strolling the beach catching a glimpse of the festivities. The pelicans flew overhead and I watched from the balcony. It occurred to me that I see at least one wedding on the beach every time I come to Lido Key. What better place to get married then here in paradise?

THE POOL OR THE GULF?

Tough decisions in paradise... the pool or the gulf? Neither today (way too much to do), but maybe both tomorrow.

PARADISE FOUND

Sarasota is my personal paradise. I have been coming here for at least fifteen years and it just feels right. As soon as I head over the bridge to Longboat and Lido Keys I feel at peace. Today we settled into the gulf-front resort we have been staying at for at least ten years. From our balcony we had a late afternoon toast to paradise found.

PICTURE FROM THE PENTHOUSE

There are penthouses and then there are penthouses in paradise. Life is really good when you have a penthouse in paradise with a breathtaking view. It doesn't get much better then this. This is the stuff dreams are made of and I am dreaming about a penthouse with a view....one of these days.

THE SHADOWS

It occurred to me today that when you are looking for light, you are looking for shadows as well. Sometimes I think the shadows lead me to the light. There really is something special about the quality of light in Florida It seems crisper, the edges more defined and the shadows so much richer. Light and shadow, it is as basic as that.

THE BEACH

The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon found Florida while searching for the fountain of youth. Maybe he was on to something because here life looks brighter and the possibilities, like the water views endless. Life at the beach is special. Maybe it is the shadows of the Royal Palm trees or maybe it is the promise of finding a special shell or just maybe it is the ability to dream about retiring to the beach.

COOLING MY HEELS

I thought a lot today about why I do this. At first it was the challenge... to make a different image daily. I thought it was a good exercise to keep me fresh, as well as an outlet for homeless images. A reason to take pictures that I would otherwise not take. I promised myself I would do this for a year. But that was before the flurry of people downloading my pictures without even asking. Because of that I have become disenchanted with blogging. Today I have gone back and forth about whether to continue Looking for Light. I haven't arrived at a verdict yet, so I am posting this picture that I shot months ago in Florida of me cooling my heels. I don't know if I will post again but I will always be looking for light in my life.

SUNSHINE

When I arrived home from work today there was a box of sunshine waiting on my door step. Every month my aunt and uncle send me an enormous box of oranges via a fruit company in Florida. My grandmother used to squeeze fresh juice for my mom and my uncle when they were kids. My Mom continued the discipline and squeezed juice for my brother and me each morning. And so it is that no matter what, every morning I squeeze fresh juice for myself (but at least I have an electric juicer!). I call it my morning elixir. For me it is like liquid gold. Without my morning dose of fresh squeezed juice I'm convinced I would be taking a lot more sick days!

A CORNER TABLE

I always seem to find myself in a corner. When I shoot photos, invariably I find myself in a corner trying to fit one more element into the shot. I even bought a house on a corner lot. But the corner table here at my aunt and uncle's condo on Lido Key is my favorite corner of all. For the past seventeen years it is at this table by the pool (the table with the open umbrella) where we have shared countless hours together and from which I have priceless memories. We have seen the dolphins perform in the Gulf, seen the pelicans catch their dinner and reminisced about times spent together in New York. Right next to the table is a big white life preserver. On every visit I recall how my Uncle bought me a Mickey Mouse life preserver on a family vacation to the Jersey shore. I was about three and he was worried because I couldn't swim. He made sure I learned how to swim, not only in the water but in life. I am leaving Sarasota tomorrow, but they are always with me.

ADRIFT

Life is good when the toughest decision to be made is whether to swim in the Gulf or drift in the pool. The pool won today. In this photo I love the shadow cast by Sonia on the bottom of the pool. No big plans for tomorrow and that's what makes vacation wonderful. No plans, just whatever the day delivers.

LIFE PRESERVER

This is what vacation looks like. When I shot this photo I just liked the simplicity of it and the strong geometry of it, even if the life preserver belonged to a noisy little toddler who disturbed an otherwise wonderful afternoon in paradise. As I looked at this photo I liked it on many levels, especially the metaphor it represents. A vacation is like a life preserver. The ability to get away and kick back, to put your feet up and let go of your troubles for even a few days, can save your life. It renews and restores you and enables you to jump back into the deep end of the real world.

FLYING SOUTH

This was the view from 35,000 feet up as we were winging our way to Florida. I loved the way the wing of the plane separated from the sea of blue sky, and especially the natural frame created by the window. Sunny skies and warm weather greeted us as we landed.