Sunday In My City: A Relaxing Ocean View

On a warm spring day such as today there is nothing better than a relaxing walk along the shore in the Ocean View Beach Park, Norfolk. 

After my last little jaunt to the ocean front with Max, Mrs. G and the kids decided they wanted to come and watch Max play on the beach. 

It was so beautiful. This was the first time I had been at the beach when the tide was out, it made for some great photo ops.

Like this one with all the rocks that have been hidden under the waves every other time I have been on this stretch of beach. 

The water was so clear today I almost wanted to walk a little further out to snap shots of the sea life. Then I remembered that Mrs. G wouldn't be happy with me if I tried to get in her brand new car with my shoes and pant legs soaking wet. And well it may have been 70 degrees out but that water was still pretty darn cold. 

This is Greenies Bar & Grill, it is a very popular night spot. My oldest son took me out to Greenies once and I have to say I enjoyed it very much. The atmosphere is lively and fun and the food was good.

As we were walking back to the car I looked up and this is what I saw. I am not sure what type of plane it is but it was huge! 

I hope you have enjoyed this little visit to Norfolk, to continue your virtual travel click the link below.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: Flight

I hope you will enjoy my submissions this week. From time to time I like to try and capture all of the prompts in a single shoot thus resulting in a cohesive theme for the series. 

This week's prompt list: Shine, fast, left, peace and plain.

My chosen theme: Flight

Shine:

 Following this gull with my camera I shot straight up directly into the sun shine as he swooped over my head.

Fast:

 He was so fast. For this shot I wanted a stronger motion blur to the background than the bird which was accomplished by moving the camera with the bird.

Left:

 He looped around to the left and turned to come directly back towards me.

Peace:

Alright, I know it isn't a dove but he still looks so peaceful.

Plain:

Although I am more drawn the the shots with delicate of fluffy white clouds in them this one with the plain blue sky is alright.

I managed to capture all of these while I was at the beach with my family. Shortly after taking these photos I took my camera back to the car so I could get in the water and enjoy some fun with my kids and grand kids. While in the water a flock of gulls decided they liked my oldest daughter's bright red hair and were circling and swooping down at her. At her request I created these two composites to remind us of the episode which with our rather odd sense of humor we found very funny.

Although my daughter liked the first one I wasn't completely happy with it so I did this next one also.

Please be sure to fly over to Ashley Sisk's for more Scavenger Hunt Sunday submissions.

Remembering Special Times

Today was a special day twice over. I got to swim in the ocean! On top of that my grandson Little J overcame his fear of the ocean!

Over the past few years each time I have visited and gone to the beach it was just to walk along the shore and take pictures. This time I wanted to actually go swimming in the ocean. It's been nearly eighteen years since I have swam in an ocean. To some it is no big deal but having spent more of my youth swimming in the ocean than doing anything else it was huge.

Like myself my daughter and granddaughter Little H, must have some mermaid in them, we all love swimming in the ocean so much. Val and I both thought we would probably have to take turns, with one going in the water while the other watched from the sand with Little J. This would have meant that we couldn't swim out beyond where Little H could go, as we didn't want her in the water without one of us near.

At first that is exactly how it went. Then Val coaxed Little J into sitting in her lap just inside the surf. Gradually she inched forward until the water was at his waist and he decided it was not so bad after all. Eventually he decided he didn't need to be held or even hold one of our hands and played in the gentle waves. We each were able to take turns swimming out farther while the other stayed with the two little ones and we all had a wonderful time. My only regret is that I do not have a waterproof case for my camera or a waterproof camera. I would have loved to have gotten pictures of the kids playing in the surf.

I did get a few photos after we got out and had lunch. Little H wanted to feed a seagull but we warned her that it wasn't a good idea even though a few of the gulls were rather determined and watched us eat from a rather close distance.

Unfortunately a young boy not far from where we were sitting did not know the dangers and tossed a gull one of his chips. I don't think he will be doing that again.

Although I didn't get photos of the two things that made this day so special the photos I did get will help to remind me of this special day. Often memories are tied together in this way and will work as a sort of chain reaction with one memory triggering other memories. When I add these photos to my memory album I am sure they will bring back the special memories for me without even making a single note of them. However, I will include this story of the day so that future generations will understand the significance of the photos.