This Labor Day was a glorious day. It rained almost all day today due to Tropical Storm Lee pounding up from the Gulf Coast. For those of us fortunate enough to be able to take at least part of the day off today it was wonderful. For a few shorts minutes this morning I was able to sit on my patio and watch the rain and do nothing. It was great, but a time of solitude took me back to thinking about those in Uganda, many who labor very hard every single day. Matthew says “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (11:28), and we came across many who needed a little rest over there, as we all do everywhere. Margin is such an important thing in life. So important in fact that God put it 4th on his important list of things for us to do.
The photo above was so typical of the people we saw in Uganda. Super nice, hard working people, many moving goods from one place to another, by foot. I had never seen so many crazy things being moved around on a bike and moped; like a full sofa, a coffin, a refrigerator, and all kinds of agricultural goods. At some point I’ll do a post with just photos of things we saw people carrying on bikes, for now, this guy is my honorable labor day photo. Something like 50-75 pounds of trees being pushed up a hill in the mud, pretty incredible.
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It usually gets to be about this time of year when I start dreaming about being some place warmer where the days are not 50-60* and gloomy (yes I know if you live anywhere farther north than the deep south 50 is not cold, but it is to us). One of our favorite spots to go this time of year is the Florida Keys. We have made more than a dozen trips down there over the years but a few years ago we did something different and road our motorcycles from Auburn Alabama to Key West Florida.
You may be saying big deal, who cares, but if you have never ridden a bike, or haven’t ridden more than about 50 miles at a time on a bike, it was a pretty big deal to us. It is about 850 miles from here to there, and by car, usually takes us two days if we stop in Orlando. That means long driving time in short light, and cold. It was a great trip, and goal achieved, but one of the best and most memorable trips we have taken down to the keys (other than this one). We didn’t make it all the way to Orlando the first night, and we only made it to Islamorada the second night, so it was a whole lot of very sore riding by the time we made it to Key West, but a memory I wouldn’t trade for anything.
So there are a few shots done with a point-n-shoot a few years ago, one while I was riding next to Deb while she was on her Honda Shadow VLX 600. I was riding a Honda Nighthawk 750 at the time and loved to take pics of Deb while she was riding (of course). We took many trips on these two motorcycles but this one trip to the Florida Keys was one of our favorite, and in one of our favorite spots in the country.
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This was an extremely busy week again but today is finally Friday and time for Friday Feet. Today we drove out to Chewacla State Park to ride our bikes on the trails (paved that is). Is you live near Auburn this is a great gem right out of town, has a nice river, waterfall, and fishing lake. Along with a very nice route around the river, there is a bike trail just at the entrance of the park which is a popular running and biking spot. It was nice to get some exercise outside now that we are deep into winter, but it ended up being about 70* today and made for a nice bike ride.
We stopped at the lake to sit on the swing, which made for my Friday feet post today. I was able to work a little panning technique into the shoot today with Deb on the swing. I love the effect of motion but it isn’t all that easy to pull off and make it look half way decent. You can do this in a number of different situations, I just forget to give it a try sometimes.
No body else has jumped on the Friday Feet bandwagon yet, but I have found that it has forced me to look at different ways to do this weekly (short) shoot. It isn’t that each Friday has to be something spectacular, it just keeps me thinking about how to keep creating original ideas. It helps to have a nice mild day in winter.
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Today was our first and last full day on the gulf coast. For January, the weather was beautiful but very very windy. We went to one of our most favorite places in the Perdido Key area, the Gulf Islands National Seashore. We never really stay for more than a day or two down here but you pay for a 7-day pass ($8) and have access to one of the most wonderful white sand beaches on the Alabama/Florida gulf coast shore lines.
Every time we have been here the 5-7 mile stretch of beach has only a handful of people (today almost no one) and it seems to be one of those few areas in the country that still has pristine beaches and little sign of city life. Our other favorite area like this is over on the Outter Banks of North Carolina which also has some of the most untouched beaches in the country. So for my Friday Feet post today, here is my feet image, and also a few more. Tomorrow is it back to Auburn and back to work.
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I would like to say that every day is filled with a bike ride and a walk on the beach, but at least, today, it was. We use to spend quite a bit of time in Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and Perdido Key, but haven’t made it down here in the last 6 months. This is our absolutely favorite time of year to be down here. The beaches and parks are usually empty, the temperature is still pretty nice.
After getting some work done at home we drove down to a bike trail in Orange Beach that is easy to find but not on many maps or searches. The Hugh S Branyon Backcountry Trail, which starts and runs through Gulf State Park, is a paved trail that have several different 1-2 mile sections that runs through the sand dunes and some beautiful nature areas. We have driven by several times in the past but never stopped to ride the tail.
Of course no day would be complete down here without a walk on the beach. We made it over to the sand just in time to see the sun set. I walked a few miles down the beach and then we had dinner at a restraunt there on the beach, The Hangout.
I am always amazed at the beauty of the beach and the ocean. I have seen it so many times, in many different states and countries and it still has some magical, almost mystic quality. A place that for one reason or another allows you to remove the routine of life and the busy world around you and leaves you with sand and water… but a lot of sand, and an unreal amount of water.
I think people are attracted to the beach because it represents life. Water that is living, breathing, and a constantly changing yet every time you go to the same beach, it looks relatively the same. Taking a walk a few miles down a nice white sand beach (especially in January) is a spiritual thing, and I will take a walk any chance I get. Here are some photos from the day.
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My bike sold this week and it was time to deliver it to the new owner today. Scott cleaned her up so nice it was hard to let her go. Below are some photos of my last ride. She was such a good bike and I will miss riding her, but it is time to go look at new boats now. We are headed out this weekend for Florida to look one over. It looks promising, wish us luck.
We have been looking for a boat since we left North Carolina where we left our 26′ Chrysler. A great boat, but small, heavy, and not a real easy boat to learn on, but a lot of fun either way. We have lots of stories from that boat, hopefully we can find a new boat and make new memories over here on this side of the south.
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Sad to see it go, but ecstatic about the future… there are many things in life that I am glad I did, this is one of them. I have had so much fun riding with my wife on our motorcycles, and this one has nothing but great memories for me, especially getting to take a long trip down to the Florida Keys.
