Yarmouth’s Bass Hole Boardwalk is a great spot to view the sunset. Starting at Gray’s Beach, it crosses over the marsh for a half mile, ending at an observation deck with views of the creek, Cape Cod Bay, and the tip of Chapin Beach.

I can’t believe it has been almost a year since I published a new blog post! Been spending too much time on facebook… Here is a brand new image from this weekend. I was out at the end of Crowe’s Pasture, looking for a snowy owl that I have photographed there a few times. No owl this time, but I saw some fascinating forms in the sand left by the retreating tide. After downloading and sorting the images, I chose one to work on. I loved the flowing pattern, but decided to have some fun in Photoshop. I took the image, copied and flipped it, and attached it to itself. Then I added contrast and darkened the edges. I stepped away to get some tea, and as I approached the computer screen, I saw the total image instead of the elements that I had been concentrating on. I saw a face of sorts, and remembered the sand worms from Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novels.

After posting the photograph on facebook, a friend commented that it looked like Yoda from Star Wars. She was right!

Diane and I are back from two weeks in Puerto Rico.  We stayed at Palmas Del Mar, a resort in Humacao, on the eastern, Caribbean side of the island.  We went on a side-trip to the island of Culebra.  We had reservations at Mamacita’s Guest House, a short walk from the ferry terminal. When checking in, I saw this glass block window and was amazed at the colors!  When I stepped outside, I saw that the window was on a narrow alley painted in bright, tropical hues.

The alley led to the rear of Mamacita’s, where there was the bar to one side, and a fine waterfront restaunant on the other. You can see all the colors that ended up showing through the distortion of the glass blocks. Another feature- a large iguana considered the deck area his own.

During the middle portion of our trip to France, Diane and I travelled by train to southwest France. Our first stop was in Bayonne. We walked the old part of town, where one section of the outer walls was built by the Romans, visited the gothic cathedral and the Basque museum, before having dinner along the riverfront.

The next day another train took us up into the Pyrenees Mountains to the town of Saint Jean Pied de Port. This is where many people start the El Camino de Santiago, also called the way of Saint James. It is an ancient pilgrimage route that crosses 500 miles of northern Spain. Diane wanted to check it out, as she wants to hike it next year. There are many things to see in town, including the Bishop’s Prison Museum, a Roman bridge, and the citadel on the hill, to name a few. We even found a potter’s studio to visit. Lunch by the river, followed by a shuttle van ride to our next stop.

We spent the next two nights in Pau. The walled old city overlooks the nearby Pyrenees. The chateau where Henry IV was born is the prime place to visit, parts of which go back to Roman times. Plenty of places to shop and dine.

This fall, Diane and I spent ten days in France.  We were visiting our friends Richard and Robert, who live in Paris.  After a few days in the city, we went on a train trip with them to southwest France- Basque territory in the Pyrenees.  We spent a night in Bayonne, took another train up into the mountains to the small town of Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port, then a van ride to Pau, where we spent two nights.  Another train ride brought us back to Paris for a few more nights.

Paris

During the days in Paris, we spent a lot of time walking, and on two of the days, I explored on my own.  Not speaking french was challenging, but not really that bad.  With maps and Metro tickets I got to see much of the central city.

While I was at my son’s house this weekend, the neighborhood turkeys stopped by.  Not shy at all.  As I photographed one of them, it became agressive, loud, started pecking at the lens shade of my telephoto lens.  I backed up slowly, and reached in my truck for a piece of pipe.  No- I didn’t hit it, I am a nature photographer.  But it did take the hint and rejoined the rest.  This image is of one of the others, and as you can see it wasn’t bothered by the action going on around it.

I just added a new gallery of photograpghs to my website.  It’s all about the clouds.  Sometimes I look up and end up mesmerized by the changing forms.  Then  I reach for the camera, and select areas that move me…