May 18, 2008

Sea change

The sea at my feet

The first day in Country of Some of My Ancestors, we woke up to a thunderstorm. When the lightning began to subside, we decided to shake off jet lag with a walk along the beach. Waves pounded against the piers that ran out into the sea, and red warning flags flapped from the lifeguard stations. A salty wind washed the tiredness from my brain as I stepped onto the wet sand. My father kept saying, "It smells just like the Atlantic." As I walked along a pier to take a photo, sea water came bursting up through the slats.

Kicking up

The top photo, a picture of me, was taken by Urban Sophisticate Sister as I was walking out to take the photo at the bottom.

23 comments:

  1. These are some very cool pictures. I would love to see what it looked like while it was calm.

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  2. I love the harsh beauty. More, I crave it.

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  3. Mmmm I love when the sea is all wound-up like that... I can smell it... beautiful!

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  4. Amazing shots! Have a great time.

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  5. Your pictures are beautiful Jo(e)!

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  6. great photos! i love the water coming up through the slats.

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  7. Anonymous11:16 AM

    international photo blogging---you win the blogger extraordinare prize!

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  8. fabulous shots. hope you have a fantastic time,

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  9. you are the "all-weather" family, so well prepared to meet the surf after a storm! love your dad's comment -- i know the real comparison was to the lake.

    was that some kind of jetty? it can't just be a pier, since the water on one side is so much farther inland than on the other side.

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  10. That second photo is fantastic. One of your best.

    I mean, not that the picture of you isn't nice...

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  11. Anonymous7:17 AM

    I love the second photo. Makes me want to run out to a stormy sea - I love the ocean in winter.

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  12. Gosh, that is a gorgeous picture. It looks like I could walk a step toward it and feel the spray.

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  13. Both pictures are amazing. I look forward to reading and seeing so much more of this trip :)

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  14. Breathtaking and amazing!!!!!!!!

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  15. So cool! I'd probably be slightly afraid of all these waves.

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  16. That is like mega cool--especially the second one. I hope you're having fun in Europe! I'm sure that someone like you can appreciate the history of that place.

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  17. powerful images and really interesting to be along for a little of your journey

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  18. Those pictures are beautiful and they terrify me.

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  19. Those shots scared the Cr*p out of me. You would never get me walking out there in that. i would feel like I was being swept away!

    But still it is an awesome shot!

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  20. I LOVED those shots. I would have wanted to do exactly the same thing. Walk out there be in it be part of it.

    But I do not know if I would have had the courage.

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