revjim.net

Texas Coast, Day V and VI

Jul 17th, 2009
by Jim Reverend.

Day V

sunrise over Crystal Beach

Sunrise

Sunrise this time of year on the Bolivar Peninsula is a photographers dream. The angle of the peninsula causes the sun to rise in EXACTLY the right spot over the shore to allow you to photograph the sun, the shore, and the sea all from the best possible angle. Standing on the shore before dawn is surreal. You can see, but just barely. The waves are crashing against the sand. The sky is enormous. And everything is waking up all at once and you’re there watching it all.

It religious. I don’t care what religion you subscribe to. If a sunrise like this isn’t a religious experience to you then I don’t think there is any level on which you and I can relate.

a suitable meeting place

NUDE!

Two things have been on my list of things to do for a LONG time now: 1) Visit a Nude Beach and 2) Go Skinny Dipping. So, when I heard that the Bolivar Peninsula has its very own nude beach, I had to visit.

So I set out to do just that. I wasn’t sure if I’d even be able to get out of the car. I’m pretty shy and fairly modest unless I’m really comfortable with you. But, I knew I had to try.

The road there is not welcoming. All signs tell you to turn, but you go straight. Then the road you are driving on is tore up, bad. Eventually, it turns into nothing but sand a large rocks. There is trash everywhere. The shoreline is not sand but, instead, mud. Black mud at that. Despite all of this, there are people camping and swimming every where. I’m not sure why, since there are perfectly nice and free beaches less than a mile away. None the less I continued on.

More dirt, more sand, more trash, more gross, yet I continued on. The directions said go at least 3 miles. I have 4 wheel drive with locking differentials. Even then I felt like I might have gotten stuck a time or two. Yet I continued on. I drove for 5 miles. There were no cars, no people, certainly no naked people; nothing but trash and gross. So I gave up and turned around.

Not even 30 second after I did a truck approached and passed me. Perhaps I hadn’t gone far enough? Perhaps I should have turned around right then and went even further? Regardless, I didn’t bother. I continued on and headed back to base camp.

water, life

A Nice Swim

Once back at the beach house, Justin and I went for a nice swim. His mom drove down and met us for the ocassion. I love swimming in the ocean. Even on the peninsula where the water is more shallow (and a bit more sandy) then other ocean locations, it’s amazing and so very powerful. The waves weren’t too high so I swam out a bit, floated on my back, and let the waves carry me where they wanted to. I ended up a hundred yards or so down shore by the time I’d had enough.

After our swim we got some lunch, hit the liquor store, and started making Pina Coladas.

bolivar lighthouse

Looking for Decay

After a few drinks, Justin and I set out to Port Bolivar and the surrounding area to take photos of dilapidated and abandoned buildings. I got quite a few great photos.

In particular, there is an abandoned motel. The carpet and doors and windows and furnishings are all missing. The walls are busted and broken. Yet the structure is mostly still there. It was beautiful.

Then we got home and set Bonnie up to spin Poi on the beach as the sunset. Another spectacular experience that I was happy to get to photograph.

the light in her eyes

Day VI

We got up early, packed the car, and headed out. We drove straight home so, aside from good music and good conversation, neither of which reproduce well here, there isn’t much to tell. I did get to see Dolphins in Galveston Bay from the ferry though, which was awesome.

As soon as we got home, we unloaded the car. Then I put the carseat back in, gave Justin’s car a jump because he’d left his lights on, and headed out to pick up Celeste from daycare.

I almost cried when I saw her and saw the smile on her face. I had been doing everything I could not to miss her. So when the moment I got to see her again finally came, all that missing came flooding with it. I managed to hold the tears back long enough to get her in the car and get on my way back home.

We had a nice dinner, an awesome walk, and a fantastic evening.

So good, in fact, that I’ve decided to extend my vacation through to Sunday. So you’ll have three more days of updates. Ha.

Posted in: life, life-blog.
Tagged: · · · · · · · · · · ·

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  • http://twitter.com/FarrisGoldstein FarrisGoldstein

    Wish I could have been a better tour guide, but I think I learned as much as you did about the Texas coast this week. Awesome trip, awesome company, and awesome recollection.

    Fun fact: That's actually the FIRST lighthouse ever built ANYWHERE. It's true, look it up.

  • http://revjim.net/ Jim Reverend

    It'd be terse to say that this trip changed my life, but, in a nutshell, it did. We found what we found in the way that we found it. I wouldn't have had it any other way. Awesome trip indeed. I've decided that it needs to be vacation around here more often. Because that's fucking important.

  • http://blog.ianbattersby.net Cranialstrain

    Great shots fella, nice to see you pick up the camera again and take it on the road. Definitely should do the nude beach thing one day, it's both liberating and much more comfortable ;)

  • http://twitter.com/FarrisGoldstein FarrisGoldstein

    Delayed:

    Your first section sparked a bit of a debate a few days ago. I can only speak for myself, but it's curious.

    1) If I'm passionately irreligious, and emphatically non-spiritual, then what exactly is it that you don't care about?

    2) Given the same condition as 1) above, is my innate sense of wonder and calm when viewing materially explainable celestial events, such as a sunrise, somehow less profound than yours, since mine can't possibly be a religious experience?

    3) How do you reconcile your and my obvious (and, if you ask me, significant) connections with your statement that you “don't think there is any level on which you and I can relate?”

    4) Is said reconciliation necessary?

    Since 4) is the only one I can answer, I'll do so:

    No.

    I'd like your answer to each to be written in 140 characters or fewer. ;)

  • http://revjim.net/ Jim Reverend

    1) Though it's not at all the true sense of the word, here I am considering atheism and agnosticism to be a religion with science/nature playing the role of god. A bit of a stretch, I know.

    2) I would say that your experience is potentially as profound if not more so than those of many other “religions” because of the nature of your beliefs. Generally, the watch maker is more in awe of the watch than the watch wearer.

    3) We relate on many different levels including our appreciation of such things as a sunrise. You are more passionate about your “religion” than the majority of people I know.

    4) No. Not at all.

    (I think I made the 140 character mark on each of these, though I didn't actually bother to count.)

  • http://revjim.net/ Jim Reverend

    Thank you very much. It's nice to have it play a strong role in my life again.

    I will some day visit a nude beach. It will happen. But sadly, probably not this year.

  • http://twitter.com/FarrisGoldstein FarrisGoldstein

    You overshot 1) by 46, 2) by 88, and 3) by 32. It's official: You're 75% incapable of retort via twitter, but I'm 50% incapable of prompting via twitter, so let's throw out all but 4), which is really the only important one.

    If I still had a copy of Stranger In A Strange Land, I'd go through and mark out all the “art” verbs and replace them with “ain't”:

    “Thou ain't God.”

  • http://revjim.net/ Jim Reverend

    Damn, not only am I too verbose for Twitter, but I can't even estimate it's length very well. I also have a 16″ penis.

    I should maybe read Stranger in a Strange Land.

  • http://twitter.com/FarrisGoldstein FarrisGoldstein

    Delayed:

    Your first section sparked a bit of a debate a few days ago. I can only speak for myself, but it's curious.

    1) If I'm passionately irreligious, and emphatically non-spiritual, then what exactly is it that you don't care about?

    2) Given the same condition as 1) above, is my innate sense of wonder and calm when viewing materially explainable celestial events, such as a sunrise, somehow less profound than yours, since mine can't possibly be a religious experience?

    3) How do you reconcile your and my obvious (and, if you ask me, significant) connections with your statement that you “don't think there is any level on which you and I can relate?”

    4) Is said reconciliation necessary?

    Since 4) is the only one I can answer, I'll do so:

    No.

    I'd like your answer to each to be written in 140 characters or fewer. ;)

  • http://revjim.net/ Daniel

    1) Though it's not at all the true sense of the word, here I am considering atheism and agnosticism to be a religion with science/nature playing the role of god. A bit of a stretch, I know.

    2) I would say that your experience is potentially as profound if not more so than those of many other “religions” because of the nature of your beliefs. Generally, the watch maker is more in awe of the watch than the watch wearer.

    3) We relate on many different levels including our appreciation of such things as a sunrise. You are more passionate about your “religion” than the majority of people I know.

    4) No. Not at all.

    (I think I made the 140 character mark on each of these, though I didn't actually bother to count.)

  • http://revjim.net/ Daniel

    Thank you very much. It's nice to have it play a strong role in my life again.

    I will some day visit a nude beach. It will happen. But sadly, probably not this year.

  • http://twitter.com/FarrisGoldstein FarrisGoldstein

    You overshot 1) by 46, 2) by 88, and 3) by 32. It's official: You're 75% incapable of retort via twitter, but I'm 50% incapable of prompting via twitter, so let's throw out all but 4), which is really the only important one.

    If I still had a copy of Stranger In A Strange Land, I'd go through and mark out all the “art” verbs and replace them with “ain't”:

    “Thou ain't God.”

  • http://revjim.net/ Daniel

    Damn, not only am I too verbose for Twitter, but I can't even estimate it's length very well. I also have a 16″ penis.

    I should maybe read Stranger in a Strange Land.