We visited a park recently and came upon this sign which made us laugh. Well the joke was on us, as we really did need to watch out for flying discs as this park had a Disc Golf Course within the park. My husband and I had never heard of Disc Golf but the players were kind enough to explain the game to us and show us their many discs. Just as in golf there are different clubs used for different plays, so too in Disc Golf. Some discs are lighter or heavier than others. We walked along with a group that was playing, it really takes a lot of skill to get the disc within the basket!
I read up on the game and learned this interesting fact:
A great fact about disc golf and course design is that it is not destructive to nature. Unlike golf, disc golf utilizes the natural landscape to build courses. Trees can make great obstacles and mandatories. Hills and turns can make a hole interesting and requires players to think about how to best approach the basket.
I must share the sky I witnessed at sunrise at the beach this weekend. I have not altered any of the photos with filters or changed their color. Breathtaking was all I could think, first as I stepped out on the small balcony of the Inn, and then as I walked along the boardwalk and finally the beach. A perfect way to begin the day.
The theme of this week’s challenge is “A Special Place“. Many of us have a special place; maybe it is a place you like to escape to when you need a break from the ups and downs of the everyday; or it may be just a place you enjoy spending time. Your special place may be a certain room in your house, it may be a place you like to visit, or it may be a building such as a library, museum, or church.
I have shared countless photos of my special place. It is a tiny town along the New Jersey Shore by the name of Ocean Grove. It abuts Asbury Park, made famous by Bruce Springsteen. We started visiting eight years ago, taking a day trip drive to see a new area, a little over an hour away from home. We found a lovely bed and breakfast which has become our “go to” place, not only for stay overs, but also on our day trips to stop in and say hello.
The proprietors have become friends who we have come to know more personally as our visits have become more frequent. The B&B is a short block from the ocean, which you can see from many of the rooms.
It is a peaceful town lined with Victorian homes. Summers are busy there but it is not a “party” town, the boardwalk has no amusement areas. People and their dogs can be found taking early morning walks along the boardwalk, everyone saying hello as you pass by. It is all these things that continue to draw me back time and time again. In October school was getting to me so I headed down for a one night stay by myself as my husband had to work. The owner of the B&B told me I was brave to come alone. I laughed and said coming fills me with a sense a calm, the view of the ocean, waking with the sunrise and walking on the beach, seeing him and the others I know so well who work there. A welcome escape.
Heading towards Asbury Park at daybreak…
Heading back from Asbury Park…
We love to go any time of the year- the cold is no deterrent as the boardwalk is empty and the view even better. I found myself the only walker on the boardwalk at sunrise in January.
The house next door to the B&B had a for sale sign when we were there in January, I can dream, can’t I?
March already? Amazing! I always feel winter is on the way out once March rolls around. Brian invites us to share the last photo we took with cell phone or camera, no edits, just the photo as is.
The last photo (s) I took with my Nikon were of a Red Tailed Hawk I saw fly into a tree in my backyard late in the afternoon on the 28th. He was obscured by the branches and if I hadn’t seen him fly in would never have known he was there. I couldn’t get a good view from inside the house so ventured into the backyard and attempted to take some pics while standing under the tree. They are not great, but I was happy I got any.
My last cell phone pics were taken on the 27th, at a lake we have visited before. It is filled with Swans! We walked the three miles around on a bright a sunny albeit cold Sunday!
Do you have a favorite book you read as a child? Our school celebrates Character Day in February, spending the day focused on reading. Activities are planned, DEAR time is scheduled- that’s Drop Everything And Read, and everyone dresses up as a character in a book. This year I chose Pinkalicious and the Pink Parakeet.
The kids all dressed up and needless to say it was fun seeing everyone is costume walking the halls. Here’s some more…
Pinkalicious is a series, and another teacher dressed up as the Pinkalcious depicted in the first book in the series.
Reading is so important to a child’s development, to their learning language, comprehension, spelling, everything! Get lost in a good book 😀
I worked for many years as a receptionist/administrative assistant. One job was in the office of an all boys High School, where the boys not only went to school, but also dormed. I loved that job. Some of these boys were far from home, many states away from where they lived, and only 13 years old. My office became a haven of sorts for those boys who needed to chat, to hang out for a bit, to take a break. There were constant interruptions, and the boss was highly disorganized compared to my highly organized way of keeping things, which sometimes made for a challenge. I loved my five years there and am still in touch with some of those boys who are now grown men, married with children. This was in the early 2000’s- cell phones did not take pictures yet, so every moment of every day was not captured. One of the boys did have a real camera and so there are just two photos of my time in that office.
Someone catching me offguard here.. probably interrupting me when I was busy…
and my practical jokers with their dust cans getting me good…
Oh how I love tablecloths. Years ago I entertained a lot, and part of the entertaining was setting a beautiful table. My mother in laws advice was always to use two cloths, one under another, so the table felt “cushioned” and I always I do. My grandmother and mother always set a lovely table so I suppose that is where my love for a well set table began.
My grandmother’s Thanksgiving table circa 1962
My mother’s table on a Thanksgiving in our home. She had a beautiful lace Quaker cloth she usually used.
Here are some of my cloths. I do love Damask and a runner dresses up the cloth.
Melanie invites us to Choose and share a favorite song that you like which has a great beat.
What song immediately came to mind? Rock the Casbah- The Clash released in 1982. Haven’t heard it in years, but there it was first song that came to mind. Dance it out my friends!
The original. A foggy boardwalk one early morning, still wet from the overnight rain. I loved how the fog obscured the boardwalk in the distance.
For my first change, I used a filter that changed the hues so the photo looks like it was processed in the 1960’s.
This filter was called color change beautify. It changed the color of the boardwalk and sky, making the photo look like it was taken on a sunny day with the sun casting shadows on the boardwalk.
And a black and white giving a feeling of the boardwalk in days gone by.
This is the last photo of January 2022 taken with my cell phone. We had a pretty major snowstorm come through on Saturday leaving 7 inches of snow before moving north. Sunday brought bright blue skies but temps in the 20’s. Brrrrr it was cold but I needed to get out of the house. The roads were cleared so I headed to Starbucks to get a Latte (my favorite) at the drive thru. The wait was taking a bit, but I kept reminding myself it was Sunday and I had no place to be. When I finally pulled up to the window to pay, the girl behind the window told me the car in front of me had paid for my latte. What?! I was non plussed. I quickly drove out honking my horn, arm out the window waving to the person who was already pulling out onto the highway. His arm came out of his window so I knew he received my thank you. I was so touched by this random act of whatever you want to call it , I was between smiling and tearing up, and just got on the highway and drove with the radio blasting. Not in the direction of home, but took one of the local parkways, that was now lined with hills covered in snow. No traffic, blue sky, good music, perfect. I needed to capture the moment and keep it.
Sunday morning after the snow the birds flocked to my feeders and I captured some images with my Nikon. These were the last on my camera.
A Day In The Life 
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