Beach Handling

Yup. I'm on the beach again. Only this time there is a wicked, orange, hand-like apparition creeping towards a group of unsuspecting seagulls and royal terns. How could I resist?! It reminds me of some old, B-rated horror movie I watched as a kid. It was aptly named "The Hand" because a disembodied hand went creeping about in the night killing people.

A Flower Blooms - On the Beach

 

So many beautiful things wash up on the beach. This one has been dusted with sand from a chilly, northerly wind. The silly part is that it looks a lot like snow. But maybe that's not so silly, given that if all things follow a circle, two opposites would be so close to one another.

Beach Reflections

The combination of bright sunshine, warm relaxation and water seems to spontaneously ignite bright colors along the beaches.

Sometimes I wonder if it is the explosion of colors at sunrise and sunset, painting everything in ranges of reds, that inspires us to such riotous colors, or if it's the relative lack of color on the beach during the blinding days that demands intervention.

But after collecting images from all different times of day, I am left with the notion that the range of perspective and color, combined with the recreational nature of the beach is what opens people to creativity. Suddenly a palm branch can become a monster's jaws expelling a tendril tongue reaching out to lasso a retreating beach walker in the distance...

Residential Distortion

I live so close to the beach and when I need to clear my mind I walk across the street and bare my feet in the sand. Usually this happens in the evening - these days as the sun is setting. And I do my best to allow myself to absorb the beauty of the scene as if I hadn't seen it a lot. But really? The pictures all look the same. So I took perverse liberties. Maybe I'm a bit more stressed than at first appeared...

Do beach bars create beach bums?

There's something about the Florida sun, the beach and the tourist attractions that cultivate an atmosphere of vacationism behavior. You know what I'm talking about. When you say to yourself, "I'm on vacation so why not order dessert?" or "We're on an adventure, let's let loose and act wild?" Just check out this fun-lovin' sign from an outdoor bar across the street from from the beach. But I'm suggesting that this vacationism behavior doesn't affect natives, who are far and few between, just transplants. Like me.

Except that I've gotten it backwards. For those of you that know me this will come as no surprise. But for those who might not - surprise! I moved down here in 2008 and was, at best, conservative. Not too many drinks at the bar, bouncing my head to the music. Calm. Quick trips to the beach to avoid sun overexposure. Cool. Now? Occasionally on a Friday night I have - gasp! - gotten up to dance on the dance floor. FINALLY I've realized how close I live to the beach and have actually gone and - OMG - gotten sand in my hair doing yoga and then jumped into the water. I have a beach umbrella ... with a sand anchor so I can hang on the beach.

Yes, Florida is infectious. Some people get a little...okay...a lot...out of hand. I can't see myself getting out of hand, but it sure feels good to enjoy the joys of the warm Florida sun, the beautiful beaches, the hot-tub-like summer pools and, yes, those ridiculous bars with outrageous tourist entertainment!