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bolivar

this and that

Aug 31st, 2009
by Jim Reverend.
4 comments
Straw!

Straw!

We leave for Galveston/Bolivar in 3 days. This time with Celeste along too. Temperatures are supposed to top out at 90F with 76F dew points. So, hot and humid as expected. My biggest concern is sun exposure for C and trying to find stuff to do other than swim on a peninsula that has practically no shade. Because 12 hours a day at the beach for 3 days in a row probably isn’t such a good idea. Maybe we’ll take some short trips to The Island, the Boardwalk, etc and find some shaded things or indoor things to do.

Celeste didn’t sleep very well last night. She woke up quite a few times crying and difficult to console. Around 2am was the worst. She cried for a while. Then asked for milk. When I brought her milk she cried because it wasn’t in the “blue cup”. When I told her she could have the blue cup in the morning, she started crying again. Eventually we ended up staring at the fan together and taking about the lights. An hour later she fell back asleep. Not sure what’s going on or really how to handle it except to continue to be patient and give her love.

I guess I found some chiggers yesterday. I think I know where and I’m glad I was holding C when I was there. I have yet to find any on her. I’ve got quite a few bites on my ankles and even one up at my hip. Of course they itch terribly.

I’d been going back and forth lately about buying another camera. Something smaller than a dSLR, but better and more capable than the pocket SD1200 I carry around now. Saturday sort of sealed the deal when I tried to hike, photograph, and carry Celeste all at once. If she was a little older it’d probably be okay. The trouble is that I have to wear a backpack since I have camera stuff, my stuff, and Celeste’s stuff. So I have no quick place to put the camera when she wants to be lifted. So, when I lift her she either gets a heavy camera in the face or I get one bashing against my elbow. I’m trying to not rush into buying anything this time, though. So, I’m going to give my big rig another shot during our trip to the coast. And Bonnie’s going to lend me her G9 at the same time so I can sort of get a feel for both since the G10 is what I’m looking at buying.

I went to bed at 9:30 last night and I’m still exhausted this morning. Not sure if I’m still a little sick or if it was due to all the waking up Celeste did. But, regardless, I’m not looking forward to going in to the office today.

Celeste got her first goose egg on Saturday. I let her do all sorts of things that many people don’t let their kids do. So, I’m sure those of you who know me and my parenting style are saying “I figured that would happen!”. But here’s the funny thing: she didn’t fall off the boardwalk I let her run on, 10 feet above the ground with no railing. She didn’t hurt herself jumping off the stool on to the living room floor all by herself. She didn’t hurt herself playing the “oh oh oh” game that she loves so much, which is basically her running in place on my chest. No. She hurt herself walking. No not on a trail, or in the sand, or in the water. She hurt herself walking on the sidewalk in front of a commercial establishment. She tripped on something (I don’t even know what), and hit her head on the large decorative rocks that adorned the place.

I’ve been going back and forth about buying a photo printer. This weekend sort of sealed that for me as well. My local CVS does just as good as my Dad’s photo printer and is much, MUCH cheaper.

And that’s all we have time for today. The end.

Texas Coast, Day V and VI

Jul 17th, 2009
by Jim Reverend.
13 comments

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.

Texas Coast, Day IV

Jul 15th, 2009
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

Sunrise on Aransas Pass

sunrise over aransas pass

Sunrise on Aransas Pass

I woke up before the sun and headed down toward Port Aransas to find a good spot to catch the sunrise. I guess I didn’t look very closely at the map before I plotted my course, because I didn’t realize there was a ferry between where I was and Port Aransas. Opting not to spend the time and money on the ferry, I found a decent spot on the pass just before the ferry and set up.

Later that day as we were well on our way to Galveston I would realize that, having avoided that ferry trip meant that I didn’t see Port Aransas at all. Looks like I’ll have to come back. Which is okay by me.

The Big Tree

Just North of Rockport, Texas lives an oak tree estimated to be over 1,000 years old. It’s quite beautiful and absolutely amazing to look at and consider all of the winters and summers and storms the tree has seen. The parks system has built metal crutches to hold up some of its limbs, planted grass below it’s spanning branches, built a chain link fence around it, and posted bad poems on large signs near by to commemorate it. Clearly, they are trying to protect the tree and help it to live another 1,000 years. But in reality they are only isolating it and shutting it off from the environment it’s known for 1,000 years.

Sometimes we don’t realize that by trying to prevent change in something, we end up changing it the most. That which lives, let it live.

Galveston

salt water reeds

salt water grass

I didn’t realize Galveston is as large as it is, so that was my first surprise. My second surprise was how unpopulated it was. Of course, it was the middle of a week, on a very hot day, and the region is still recovering from a bad hurricane. So, that makes sense.

None the less, I had a good time photographing the old buildings, eating good food on the bay, and walking along the seawall.

Bolivar

The Bolivar Peninsula, or what little of it I’ve seen so far, is quaint. It reminds me a bit of Manitoulin Island in that it seems to have it’s own vibe and it’s own way of life separate from the communities that surround it. Last night, well after midnight, I stood on the beach and felt the wind blow through my hair and listened to the waves crash into the shore. In that moment, I feel infinite. I felt not like Daniel, not like Human, not like Earthling, but like one single organ in the larger being that is Universe.