Andre is the guest host for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week. His theme is Summer Vibes. He posted some biking, mountain climbing, hiking, swimming, diving, sailing, surfing, kitesurfing, and beach sailing photos.
He said, when it comes to the style of spending this most valuable time of the year, wishes would differ following their personal preferences.
I spend a lot of my summer in my garden
I love the cheerful sunflowers. The bees like them as well.
This baby grasshopper stayed on the African lily long enough for me to take a few photos. It’s the size of a grain of rice.
The monarchs have been doing very well this summer. I’ve raised about 50. There are still two chrysalises and one caterpillar. Then I’ll be done for this year because I’ll be away quite a bit the rest of the summer.
I also take summer trips with my husband and family
Hubby Lynton dived in Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
Our family went on a whale-watching trip at Huntington Beach.
Photo on the left, Lynton and I went hiking at Waimoku Falls in Haleakala National Park. Photo on the right, we watched the crashing waves on Makena Beach, Maui, Hawaii
I love to watch my granddaughters having fun in the summer
Autumn and Nora were building sandcastles at the beach in Three Creek Lake Campground, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon.
Autumn is getting good at paddle boarding at Three Creek Lake, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon.
One of my husband’s hobbies was scuba diving. When we traveled, he loves to go the places where he could go on a diving trip. He has dived in Big Barrier Reef, Australia, North Carolina, Hawaii, Aruba, and Key West, to name a few.
I don’t dive. I don’t swim. We decided to go to Key West because it is an interesting island. Lynton made one diving trip, and we did sightseeing the rest of the time.
Key West is an island in the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it makes up the City of Key West.
Key West is the southernmost city in the 48 adjoining United States. The Island of Key West is about 4 miles long and 1 mile wide, with a total land area of 4.2 square miles. It lies at the southernmost end of U.S. Route 1, the longest north-south road in the United States. It is about 95 miles north of Cuba at its closest points.
We visited the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum. It was crowded with visitors shoulder to shoulder. Hemingway owned a 38-foot fishing boat named Pilar. It was acquired in April 1934 from Wheeler Shipbuilding in Brooklyn, New York, for $7,495. “Pilar” was a nickname for Hemingway’s second wife, Pauline. Hemingway regularly fished off the boat in the waters of Key West, Florida. Several of Hemingway’s books were influenced by time spent on the boat, most notably, The Old Man and the Sea (1953) and Islands in the Stream (1970). I wasn’t able to take too many photos. Here’s one photo of the model boat Pilar.
Scale model of Pilar on display at Hemingway’s home in Key West (Credit)
We also visited the Martello Museum and a Shipwreck Museum. We climbed a tower where there was a camera connected to a website. Lynton called his friend Randy, who went on the website and could see him while talking on the phone. We went downtown to hang out from late morning to evening. The Cuban cigar was legal there but he couldn’t bring back any so had a couple of puffs just for fun.
A Theater with the statue of Marilyn Monroe in her movie The Seven Years Itch
Foggy Night
Lynton and his Cuban cigar
In this post, I highlighted the Little White House.
Being built in 1890 as quarters for Navy officers, the Little White House later was used by American Presidents William Howard Taft, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. Truman used the facility as a vacation home and functioning White House between 1946 and 1952. National legislation was drafted, and official government business was conducted daily from the site. Perhaps the most important of these actions occurred on December 5, 1951, when Truman enacted a Civil Rights Executive Order requiring federal contractors to hire minorities. President Eisenhower used the site in 1956 while recuperating from a heart attack. Secretary Colin Powell and foreign leaders held an international summit here in 2001. The Little White House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
We took a guided tour
The sunset was gorgeous. The sun was huge. We were taking a walk on the other side of the street. As the sun went down, I ran across the street and literally chased the sun to take as many shots as possible. I was happy with this one.
For this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #126, Patti invited us to go back to basics–namely, the ABC’s. We’re starting at the very beginning with the letter A. I chose A for Australia.
Australia was my husband, Lynton’s birthplace, and childhood home for 10 years. When we started our travel journey, it was logical that it was our first choice. We like to fly nonstop as much as possible and it was a 17-hour flight from Los Angeles, the longest flight we have had.
Our first visit was to tour the Sydney Opera House. I was especially interested in the design and the structure. From the tour I learned that 233 designers submitted the designs for the Opera House international design competition held in 1956. Jørn Utzon from Denmark was the winner, receiving ₤5000 for his design. There are over 1 million roof tiles covering approximately 1.62 hectares sitting over the structure. They were made in Sweden. Besides the tour, we watched an opera available during our visit.
The Sydney Harbor bridge opened in 1932. It is the tallest steel arch bridge in the world, measuring 134 meters (440 feet) from the top to water level. It spans about 500 meters (1,650 feet). You can walk and cycle across the bridge. We joined the guided tour to climb the Bridge. We wore the special hooded suit that wrapped around us with nothing loose outside the suit. There were belts and connecting straps buckled on to each climber of a group and each climber had hooks attaching to the steel railing leading to the top of the bridge. The view on top of the Bridge was breathtaking. It was a climb of a lifetime.
Lynton’s aunt and uncle lived in New South Wales which is less than a two-hour drive from Sydney. They took us to Blue Mountain, and we went down to the visitor area that provided a spectacular view to the Jamison Valley below the Three Sisters.
We went to Koala Park Sanctuary in Sydney. Koalas are cute and calm creatures. They could cling on to the tree trunks for a long time without moving. We had photos taken with a koala at a photo booth.
Koorana Crocodile Farm was established by John and Lilian Lever and was open in 1981. It was the first crocodile farm in Queensland. The person at the gift shop told us that the average heart rate of crocodile is 9.8 beats per minute, and it can reduce to 2–3 beats per minute to save energy as reduced cellular respiration. Crocodiles do not have sweat glands and release heat through their mouths. They often sleep with their mouths open.
We flew from Sydney to Cairns and rented another car. At Cairns, Lynton went diving in the Great Barrier Reef. Most of the corals lost the colors due to climate change. The dive was his highlight of the trip. I don’t dive but had a pleasant boat ride and a spectacular view of the ocean. We drove north to Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation before flying back to Sydney to return home.
This week it’s all up to us – Tina asked us to choose our subject and to share whatever it is about it that we find interesting.
I’m always interested in our planet earth. April 22 this year marked the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day in 1970. For this post, I would like to reflect on what oceans mean to us and the part we play to save the ocean.
Oceans are the lifeblood of our planet and all the creatures that live there. They cover nearly three-quarters of the earth and hold 97% of our planet’s water. We depend on the oceans for the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and even the products that keep us warm, safe, informed, and entertained. Ocean water can give our brain and senses a rest from overstimulation, get into a mindful state, and trigger insights and ideas. It also inspires us to be more compassionate and connected.
“There’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away.” – Sarah Kay
A morning walk with some lady friends on Huntington Beach, California.
“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides, and, in its depths, it has its pearls too.” – Vincent van Gogh
My husband dived in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. His diving buddy took the photo.
“The sea knows no limits, makes no concessions. It has given us everything and it can take everything away from us.” – John Ajvide Lindqvist
Our last trip to Maui, Hawaii, on the way to Road to Hana.
“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.” – William James
We loved to visit Makena Beach, Maui, Hawaii.
“Dance with the waves, move with the sea, let the rhythm of the water set your soul free.” — Christy Ann Martine
This was one of the surfers paradise day with waves at 10 feet high at Newport Beach, California.
“The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul.” – Robert Wyland
I was so excited to see the school of dolphins swam under our diving boat in North Carolina.
“Like the ocean that remains calm in its depths even when waves rage over its surface, and like the sun that continues shining on high even during storms, we can at each moment create value and develop our state of life, enjoying our existence to the fullest in times of both suffering and joy.” –Daisaku Ikeda
Our first day of the Ensenada cruise on the North Pacific Ocean.
Ocean Threats and Solutions
Human Activities are threatening the health of the world’s oceans. More than 80 percent of marine pollution comes from land-based activities. From coral bleaching to sea level rise, entire marine ecosystems are rapidly changing. Global warming is causing alterations in ocean chemistry and many oceanic processes, and it is threatening many species of marine animals that cannot cope with higher temperatures. Overfishing is a serious problem in many parts of the world.
Conservationists advocate creating expansive marine reserves to protect the biodiversity of the oceans. We can play our part to reduce carbon dioxide, use reusable instead of single-use plastic products, properly dispose of hazardous materials, use less fertilizer, pick up garbage and littler near beaches, and buy ocean-friendly products and eat sustainable seafood – Sustainable seafood guide.
The Economist Group’s World Ocean Initiative asked Sir David Attenborough and four other leading thinkers on ocean conservation how they would invest $1 billion to protect the ocean.
The Showers of Blessings 