PELICANS AND GULLS SAY...

"Good Morning America"

...as dawn breaks over the harbor at Ft. Pierce, FL and the crew readies the Ft. Pierce Lady (top) for her morning's fishing on the Atlantic.  Captain Wayne Bushnell (left) handles radio chores as the 70 foot vessel slides out the causeway.

The aging, wood-hulled vessel served many years as a ferry in Maryland before her conversion to a fishing boat 6 years ago.  The captain had a crew of two to help with ship handling duties and, most importantly, to help with the 28 or so fishermen and ladies in pursuit of their whopper for the day.

Whopper in the sense of a very large fish, or, more likely, a fishing tale of similar proportions; my good friend Dick Weeks and I among them. 

The sea buoy about 6 miles out was reporting just 3 foot waves with a 7 second period that morning.  "Small waves with 7 seconds between crests should make for a nice ride this morning," Capt. Bushnell assured us.  A fisherman is lost in his thoughts (left) as the vessel's rumbling pair of diesel engines churns the sea into a whipped-cream froth on its way to our first stop some 10 to 12 miles out, northeast of the harbor.

It took about 20 minutes to clear the harbor and an hour to reach a piece of the reef out there where soon we were fishing with stout poles and 6 ounce sinkers presenting our cut bait hooks to a potential population of fish about 80 feet below, most with names I had never, ever even heard.

With line the thickness of toothpicks and stretched down about as far as some Ohio ponds I fish are wide, I was amazed to be able to feel a fish when it hit my terminal tackle.  "Those sea bass are very aggressive," a crewman told me.

The hair on my arm stood up when a 6 to 7 foot hammerhead shark swam slowly past our lines, its triangular shaped dorsal fin gleaming in the sunlight.  It seemed to be reminding us we were not necessarily welcome creatures in its territory.

These boats carry the unflattering name "head boats".  That's because fishermen and ladies line the rails around the deck, shoulder to shoulder and, amazingly, rarely tangle their lines in pursuit of their dream fish.

That's a sea bass in the bottom photo being enjoyed by the 11 year old Wisconsin lad who had just reeled it aboard...just like the half dozen or so like it I had caught during our 2 hours on the fishing grounds.

As you can see it is nearly 3 feet long.

Did I mention whoppers earlier.  That's mine.

These scrappers ranged about 10 to 12 inches and all were tossed back because they were not in season.

Pelicans tend to their morning ablutions as the rising sun peeks under the South causeway bridge in Fort Pierce one recent morning.  My friend Dick Weeks and I were about to launch on our first-ever, salt-water fishing adventure on the Fort Pierce Lady, a fishing party boat that home ports there.

Please stop by Saturday as Fogeyisms spins that yarn.  It may be a whopper.

THE NEW YORK METS--

Spring training in Port St. Lucie, FL (above)

Washington National's 6' 4", 220 pound pitcher Steve Strasburg (below) delivers one of his mid-90 mph pitches during a 2-0 losing effort to the New York Mets at their spring-training home ballpark one recent Tuesday evening.  That victory broke a Met's 10 game loosing streak as they stumble toward their season opener April 5th.

As I watched young Strasburg I wondered if he ever would achieve the immortality of, say, Bob Feller from my childhood memories of the Cleveland Indians.

Would any of these 20-something players ever rise to the level of a Mickey Mantle or Sandy Koufax or other Indian stars from the 40s and 50s like Rosen, Boudreau or even Larry Doby, the first black player to don a Cleveland uniform.

I couldn't believe the stunning voice of the young lady who sang the National Anthem and had goose bumps when three World War II veterans were celebrated as--with aging arms--they bounced their pitches across the plate to the delightful respect of the fans.

We had marvelous seats high along the first base line near home plate.  They cost $16.50 each.  Add 6 bucks for parking in a mowed field and another 6 bucks for a program.  Food, however, was, well, affordable; 3.25 for a hot dog and 4.25 for a sundae.

It was easy to understand why a boatload of major league teams do their Spring work in Florida.  That night, the first day of Spring, it was 73 degrees as we stretched into the 7th inning.

Field rules appear to be a bit casual at this level of play.  That's a member of the Met's bullpen staff lounging in fair territory along the left field foul line while the ball is very much in play.

Even the cheap seats behind the distant, outfield fence (below) have the tropical ambiance of palm trees fluttering in the warm evening breeze.

The stadium measured 338 feet down the lines and 410 to straight away center field; not far from major league standards.

...just like the game we enjoyed that night with our up-state NY friends Dick and Dee Weeks; with whom we avoided any comments about the relative merits of our state's big league teams.

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For you photography enthusiasts the image of the pitcher was done from my ticketed seat with a 200 mm f/2.8 Canon, series L lens with an exposure of 1/15 second at f/13 and ISO 100.  I used my knees and elbows to form a tripod for the otherwise handheld shot.

The act of throwing a baseball nearly 100 mph is a fairly violent activity and the streaks in the photo create the illusion of motion by recording the amount of movement in the pitcher's body during that fairly long shutter speed.

IMAGINE THIS!
Dinner for five--in our camper--

To offer a classic understatement; Sue is not noted for her interest in practicing the culinary arts.

...like one wag noted recently when he called his wife and inquired what she was making for supper and she replied "Reservations."

That would be Sue.

In fact when we bought our first camper one of the conditions she imposed on our friends the Hatfields--the previous owners--was the camper be delivered to us with the oven inoperative.  Yes, inoperative as in not working.

Her reputation for avoiding working kitchens found its way to our very good Florida friends, Dick and Dee Weeks (on the right in the above photo).  Imagine Dick's hilarity when, after Sue invited them to dinner, she had to borrow one of their pans.

That's Dee's sister Eva waiting for her turn at the smorgasbord table

Sue also imagined her son Mike Brooks and family from Mt. Vernon being amazed if they ever see this picture.

"Mom cooking?  ...in a camper?  ...a real meal?"  ...Mike might be sputtering with wrinkles aplenty on his forehead.

So, there she is Mike.  ...as the five of us prepare to sit down to a pork and kraut dinner with lots of trimmings.

Regardless, this home-cooked dining episode is not likely to become routine.

As she was fussing with the dishes she quite casually inquired,  "Where are we going for lunch tomorrow?

LIGHTHOUSE; Jupiter, FL--

The site for this lighthouse was chosen in 1853 and a young lieutenant in the US Bureau of Topographical Engineering named George G. Meade was assigned to do the design work.

The structure is perched on a hill with an elevation of 46 feet.  The hill was recognized as an unusual land feature in this part of Florida but it was not until restoration work in 1999-2000 that archeologists discovered the hill actually was a burial mound for a Native American colony dating to 700 AD.

The site overlooks the outlet for the Loxahatchee River (shown above) and the Atlantic Ocean in the near distance.  The lighthouse was designed to warn mariners of the dangerous shoals in the nearby coastal area.

Today, there are 34 steps to reach the top of the mound then 105 more in the spiral climb to the light's lantern room.  The lighthouse towers 108 feet above ground level.

There are small landings at the tower's windows where visitors can rest during the "arduous" climb.  Folks who succeed in the ascent are offered a certificate attesting to their "survival".

What is described as "...a magnificent, first-order Fresnel lens" was made in Paris.  When revolving, the bulls-eyes in the lens produce a repeating cycle of two flashes of light followed by a brief period of darkness; the light's signature display.

The lighthouse commenced operation in July 1860.  It was extinguished in August 1861 during the American Civil War and remained dark until June 1866.

The light was electrified in 1928 but it was soon found the electricity supply was not as reliable as the original, oil lanterns.

Public tours of the still-operating lighthouse and its grounds have been offered by the Loxahatchee Historical Society since 1994.  That's historical society volunteer John with Sue in the lead photo above.

The light now operates automatically by electricity with a stand-by generator and a bulb which, itself, has a stand-by that automatically changes when the operating bulb fails. 

Remember the young Lieutenant Meade who did the design work for the light?  He went on to the rank of General and was credited with the defeat of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

A visitor begins his descent from just below the lighthouse lantern room (above).

A LITTLE POTPOURRI--

That's my lady Sue with friends Dee and Dick Weeks (from left above) enjoying a trolley ride in Fort Pierce, FL recently.  We were in town to enjoy their weekly bazaar in the downtown, waterfront park.

A day or so later, Sue and I headed to Jupiter for a tour of their historic lighthouse.  While fussing around until the guided tour began I was interested in the lone fisherman on the town's inlet who appears to be casting for the wayward jet ski invading his fishing spot (below):

 
The target avoided capture in this view.  In fact, I noticed no reaction whatsoever to her dramatic escape from danger.  Actually, distance is compressed by a strong telephoto lens thus making the almost-victim appear much closer to the hunter than was actually the case.

Just minutes later, high atop the lighthouse I noted this view with the two young folks in the background apparently more interested in exploring each other than their historic venue:

The lighthouse story will appear Saturday without any more foolishness.

BANANA SPIDERS cont.--
and a new blog schedule

The colorful, large spider above is the female.  That's her male consort upper right.  Not hard to guess who rules that household.

*          *          *

When I started the blog five years ago this past January it was published daily for most of its first year.  That schedule then was relaxed to several times weekly.  Now, as retirement rolls along, it is time to relax our publishing schedule a wee bit more.

We are hoping to do one feature story weekly.  With any luck it will arrive every Saturday, likely in a photo-story format just as it has been over these years.

Additional postings will be made during the week as noteworthy events present themselves.  Don't be alarmed if that does not happen too often.  In those instances, we likely took another week's vacation--in our ongoing celebration of retirement.

< Smile >

We'll do our best.  Photography has been a passion I've enjoyed most of my life.

That passion remains.

The ORCA story Saturday was the first in our new, weekly format.

Stories under production at this very moment include the Jupiter, FL lighthouse, an airboat ride, a spring-training baseball game with the NY Mets who do their annual, tune-up in nearby Port St. Lucie and, a deep sea fishing outing.

Who knows what else will turn up.  Or when.  That's the fun of it.

Please stay tuned.