Summertime...

 

If you said, "A song written by George Gershwin (1934, for the opera Porgy and Bess) and covered by everyone from Billie Holiday to Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong to Sam Cooke to Janis Joplin to Sonny and Cher to a bunch of others," you get 15 bonus points.  Partial credit will be given for any of the listed names.

There have been other songs by that same name, by artists from DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince to Beyoncé.  No bonus points given for those, but thanks for playing.

It is summertime in most places around the country.  Some will tell you that summertime officially starts Memorial Day Weekend, others will say when the local temp first hits 90º.  "Meteorological summer" starts June 1st.  And, of course, there is the Summer Solstice which will happen on June 21st.  Some will tell you that is the "longest day of the year"... not true - that day will have the same 24 hours that all the rest of the days have.  It will, however, have the longest time of daylight in the northern hemisphere.

One nice thing about living this far south: we don't have the big variation in daylight/darkness that you see up north.  I kinda enjoyed our time in the Pacific Northwest, where daylight came early and hung around longer this time of year.  OK, there were other things I really enjoyed about our time in the PNW: like the very moderate weather (certainly cooler than the Tropical Tip or most of the company).  I also enjoyed living on our boat in Friday Harbor... walking to work... the buttermilk donuts at King's Market... seeing the wildlife on a daily basis.  Yep, good times.  Well, good in memory; I don't mind not having a work schedule.

The Facebook Memory from 9 years ago talked about a typical day...

https://captnjim.blogspot.com/2014/05/thats-what-im-talking-about.html

Summertime here will be a change of pace on our island - it is still pretty quiet after the holiday weekend, but it will get busier as families come here to get away from the heat of the Valley.

We will start gearing up for RVing our way north to get to some good motorcycle riding.  In a few weeks.  Next project for us before that: the summer version of "Trash to Treasures" which is like an organized garage sale on our island, held in our Events Center.  I have reserved a table... some boat stuff, RV stuff, and some camera stuff.  Maybe even some tools.  Looking to sell this stuff so I don't have to move it.

:-)

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Got out for a walk this evening, then took the big furry boy out.  The sun was down by the time we got back, but still a bit of light in the northwest sky...

 Not the most striking sunset(ish) image, but a warm glow.

Life's a Beach...

 

Alternate title: Be Stills My Heart.

I sometimes talk about riding by the beach... but you don't really see the beach.  When we go into Isla Blanca Beach Park, there is a gorgeous boardwalk that runs along the beach.  But, when I am riding my motorcycle, it is usually along Gulf Blvd, which is the road closest to the beach.  This morning while out for a ride, I decided to show that there really is a beach here.  In fact, the best beach in Texas.

I brought along my Insta360 One X2 camera; this is the camera I use most often for the 360 videos I post.  It also does still photos.  To be more specific, it does 360 still photos... meaning: if I choose to export it that way, it would be a photo that you can scroll around to see the view from every direction.  Most often, though, I pick the view and export the image as a regular photo... and that was my plan for today.

It's been a while since I did a photo essay post.  Getting ready to roll..

 This camera is like most action cams in that it utilizes a wide angle lens, sometimes distorting the view from the way your eyes see it.  The trade off is being able to decide what angle you want to see after you press the shutter release.

Crossing the swing bridge off our island...

Both of those images above are from the same exposure - that is the magic of shooting 360 images.

Onto the causeway, and crossing the Laguna Madre...

Three shots from the same image...

I have mentioned this recently, but I am trying to be fully absorbed with the views of the Laguna as I cross the causeway.  This is what I will miss most about living here.

Onto SPI...

I will take a moment here to talk about "processing images."  It seems that a lot of people think "Photoshop" is a bad thing, that it is used to distort reality... make someone look slimmer... make skin look smoother... change a background.  Yes, it can be used for all that, but I generally use Photoshop on every image you see here in this blog; not to change things, but to crop and enhance the color and contrast... it's the same thing "the lab" did for you when processing your photos back when you used to shoot film.  Just for a change of pace today: every image here is straight out of the camera, with the addition of using the 360 aspect of it to change the point of view.

Riding along Gulf Blvd...

The image directly above shows the bike lane (to the right) that I have mentioned here before.  It is for walking, jogging, and bicycling only.  On more than one occasion, I have seen cars driving in that lane... because people are stupid.

On the far side of the buildings you see along Gulf Blvd is the beach and the Gulf of Mexico.  With the exception of the previously mentioned Isla Blanca Park, there is development (houses and condos) all along the beach.  You really can't see the beach or the Gulf from Gulf Blvd, other than the occasional glimpse between buildings.  There are beach access areas every block or two, where you can park and have immediate access to the beach.  If you drive north of the town of South Padre Island, you get away from any development and can drive on the beach, if you choose.  So, in this area, you have options for how you do the beach.

I stopped in one of the beach access areas, parked, and got off the bike to show a bit of the beach here...

Several different views from the same image once again...

It's a good walking beach close to the water; much softer when you get above the usual tide line.

No, I didn't walk the beach today - I was geared up with motorcycle pants and boots.  Another day before we head out of here.

Back on the bike and my require pass by my favorite Whaling Wall..

Then after more riding around, back across the causeway and the Laguna...

Back into Port Isabel, and past the Lighthouse...

Back onto our island, then home...

Another gorgeous day, and the holiday crowds and traffic have moved on.

A Feat of Daring Do...

 

And how often do you get to use that phrase?  Actually, the phrase is "feats of derring do."  The expression logically should be “feats of daring-do” because that's just what it means: deeds of extreme daring. But through a chain of misunderstandings explained in the Oxford English Dictionary, the standard form evolved with the unusual spelling “derring-do,” and “daring-do” is an error.

I'm going with the error.

"What was your daring do feat, Jim?"  Thanks for asking.  We generally cocoon here on holiday weekends.  Once off our island, traffic can get crazy, with all the people heading to the beach.  Yesterday, there was an accident on the causeway that closed the eastbound (heading to the island) traffic for several hours.  At 2:00 in the afternoon.  On a holiday weekend Saturday.  Traffic was backed up for miles.

Even boat traffic on the water gets crowded.  And there's a lot of water out there.

My feat of daring do: I got out on my motorcycle.  Road across the causeway.  Around SPI.  On a holiday weekend.  I'm no dummy: I got out early this morning, and was back home by 8:30.  The riding was good: mostly overcast, so it wasn't hot out (77º feels really good when riding).  Most people were still in bed - the condo, motel, and hotel parking lots were full.  Plenty of small fishing boats out as I rode across the causeway.  I got caught for a few minutes at the bridge onto our island, while two small fishing boats went through...

 When I got home and put the bike away, as soon as I opened the front door, Rufus came bounding out - he was ready for his morning walk.  Joan already had put his harness on him, so I just had to clip on the leash, after I followed him outside.

We walked around while Ruf checked out grass, the neighbor's grass and the neighbor's grass beyond that.  This time of year, the sand burrs are in their "little yellow flower" stage, which means we'll have those nasty burrs in a couple weeks.  Then, there are these...

 I think that is a Mimosa pudica (by looking it up from the photo) - that variety of plant is supposed to be "shy," meaning it closes up when touched.  I tried it on this one... nope, it's prickly to the touch.  Seems like another nasty burr to me.  No, I did not let Rufus get close to it.

I have mentioned that Rufus and I communicate pretty well.  I left that small folding bike beside the cargo trailer... that's a "route" he likes to walk.  When heading towards that bike, I said to him, "I can't get through there - we need to go around."  He stopped, looked at the bike, looked at me, then turned and went the long way around the trailer.  The boy understands me.  He's a good boy.  :-)

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The Memorial Day Golf Cart Parade...

It was supposed to happen at noon, but got postponed to 3:00 - rain delay.  Lots of flags and red/white/blue decorations.  Unlike other golf cart parades, there was no hollering "Happy Memorial Day" while they were going by.  I was glad to see that people understand the reason for this holiday.  Some of the carts...