Paul Lester Photo

Remembering why

Man! Paul! I’ll tell you. Every time that I come down to the beach, I remember why I moved here. You can’t beat this!
–Billy

I’ve been here a month. It’s hard to believe that. During that time, I’ve started to establish a friendship with Billy. Funny thing is, Billy is about Pedro’s age. 25. At first, it seemed odd to me that I’d be able to be friends with someone who is my son’s age. However, if you take age out of the equation, well, it’s just another guy who has a great sense of humor, likes the same types of movies that I do, etc.

Yesterday, we decided to go have a drink at the beach after work. It was a fantastic evening. The temperature was about 85; there was a nice breeze blowing off the ocean, and we sat at an outside cafe, Banana Cabana, drank, and talked. I also got to meet a friend of his, Catherine, who is a waitress there.

By the time that we finished chatting, it was dark, but Billy wanted to go to the water and put his feet in. I had already been down to the beach to take some pictures of the last bit of light during the sunset.

While I stood there listening to the surf, feeling the wind, and watching the moon playing peek-a-boo, I noticed that Billy was standing in the surf, hands in pocket, and just enjoying the moment. I wanted to capture the scene, but didn’t have my tripod. As there was but a quarter moon, there was not much light, I increased the ISO to 1600 on my Nikon D40, placed the camera on top of my bag, which was slung across my shoulder, held my breath, and took a picture. The exposure time was 6 seconds! I wasn’t expecting much.

When I got home and opened it, I liked what I saw. Sure, it was very noisy and I could have removed some of the noise with Neat Image, but I felt that this one captured the moment just fine. It seemed somewhat surreal or impressionistic.

What do you think?

Vigilant

For now, the waters are still warm, calm, and inviting. For now. Today we received notice at work that if the track of tropical storm Hanna, which is expected to become a category 2 hurricane, continues on its present and projected track, our location will be closed on Friday. As a matter of fact, the ‘govies’, or government personnel, have been given liberal leave, which means that they are free to pack up their stuff and go out of town if they wish. They, if their work allows it, can work from home for the next few days.

From what I understand, when Hugo came through, the base where I work was closed for a week do to roof damage and lots of leaks! That said, if Hanna continues on her path, I’ll be making way for Charlotte a bit earlier than anticipated.

In one respect, it is kind of exciting and I’d like to hang out and take some pictures of the torrential rains, etc. On the other hand, maybe it’s better to watch it on TV!

I think that on Thursday morning I’m heading down to the beach before going to work. I want to see what’s happening there, but it will depend on the wave conditions. Already, the National Weather Service has issued severe rip tide warnings for the Carolina coastline because of the long-period waves that are being pushed ahead of Hanna. No storm surges yet, but swimming conditions are deteriorating.

Lastly, this evening when I stopped to get a few things from the grocery store, there were quite a few people loading up on canned soup and bottle water. I wonder if they are the experienced ones or the inexperienced ones. Hmmm. Anyway, I’m keeping a vigil and an eye towards the east/southeast! Cool, another experience!