Eveningtide - Daytona Beach, Florida

Watercolor by D. Bowden, 2006
EBB TIDE
First the tide rushes in
Plants a kiss on the shore
Then rolls out to sea
And the sea is very still once more
So I'll rush to your side
Like the oncoming tide
With one burning thought
Will your arms open wide
At last we're face to face
And as we kiss through an embrace
I can tell, I can feel
You are love
You are rea....ly mine in the rain
In the dark, in the sun

Like the tide at its ebb
I'm at peace in the web of your arms
Ebb tide

Words & Music by Carl Sigman, Robert Maxwell, 1953

Quiet inlet at Fish Creek in Door County, Wisconsin

Photo by: D. Bowden 2004

Nicolet Beach - Peninsula State Park, Door County, Wisconsin

Photos By D. Bowden - 2004

My sister and I went on a long-weekend trip to Door County, Wisconsin the year before last and had a great time. One ot the things we did was to go to Nicolet Beach in Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek. It's a small beach and there are a number of things to do there like paddleboating, swimming, water volleyball, and there is a snack bar and gift shop. We set up our beach umbrella and people-watched. Next to us was a family with little children. The little boy in the photo was especially entertaining to watch. He was so cute. He sat, as pictured above, with his feet up in the air almost the whole time we were there. He didn't like the feel of the sand on his feet.

Country diary

I found this while digging through the unusual news items on Yahoo. What Mr. Cocker says is true...How often do we plod the earth oblivious of the drama lost overhead in that vast pale eye of secrecy.


by: Mark Cocker
Monday March 27, 2006
The Guardian

As I trained my telescope on a great crested grebe, the recently acquired corolla of chestnut feathers around the bird's crown suddenly slicked down and the whole body was pressed to the water as if it were smothering its own shadow. What had its brilliant red eyes spotted that I couldn't?

It was an hour before I got my answer. Marsh harriers are often easy to pick out even at range, because it's about the only local bird that flies without a flap for long periods. A lingering airborne stillness suddenly drew my eye high overhead to the speck centred in a vast dark cavern of rain cloud. There were two marsh harriers circling at huge range - perhaps a kilometre high - but the third bird with them was a peregrine. Its distinctive anchor silhouette twisted in tight spirals close to one of the harriers and it was obvious that there was some electric pulse of emotion between them. Suddenly the game of aerial tag spilled into something far more dramatic. Briefly the two birds locked talons and fell earthwards before swooping away and resuming their parallel manoeuvres. They then cruised across the heavens, dust motes tracking west, until they were momentarily fixed against the flaring whiteness of sunlit cloud.

As the three remarkable birds patrolled those deep canyons of cold air I began to wonder above which unlikely places are such scenes played out that go undetected by their terrestrial neighbours? How often do we plod the earth oblivious of the drama lost overhead in that vast pale eye of secrecy.

Christmas 1955

This is me on Christmas 1955. I was about 15 months old. I was still the only child and no siblings to share the attention yet. I had center stage. This photo was taken at my Grandma and Grandpa's apartment on Avenue M on Chicago's "East Side". Notice the tinsel on the tree. This is back in the days where most people had a real Christmas tree and decorated them with the big, fat colored lights and the stringy tinsel. The whole place would be filled with the scent of evergreen.

My Grandma worked at the National (grocery store) and my Grandfather worked at Wisconsin Steel. My Grandma spoiled me (and later my siblings) with wonderful presents and lots of love. My mom always dressed me up fancy like this...like a little princess.

Body Paint

Going Qi Pao : Models display body paint at a live exhibition of the Qi Pao, the classic Chinese Dress, to officially launch Australian Fashion Week in Sydney. (AFP/Greg Wood)

Star Clouds over Arizona
Credit & Copyright: Ulrich Beinert
Click on image to enlarge

The clouds in the foreground are much different than the clouds in the background. In the foreground are a photogenic deck of Earth-based water clouds. The long exposure used to create the above photograph makes the light from the left, reflected from Phoenix, Arizona, USA, appear like a sunset. Far in the distance, however, are star clouds from the disk of our Milky Way Galaxy. Billions of stars like our Sun live there, circling our Galactic center every 200 million years. Contrast between the water clouds and the star clouds has been digitally enhanced. Between the two, visible on the upper right, is the planet Jupiter.

London Eye at night

A view of the London Eye at night on the banks of River Thames, London April 19, 2006. Designed by David Marks and Julia Barfield it is the largest observation wheel ever built. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

Happy Spring!

Moon Rising

A full moon rises over the bowstring bridge at Amnicon Falls State Park, near Superior, Wis., in this image made using a long exposure Thursday night, April 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Jack Rendulich)

Big Bunny!

German rabbit breeder Karl Szmolinsky presents his giant male breeding rabbit 'Robert' in Eberswalde, eastern Germany, February 2006. In a tale reminiscent of the last Wallace and Gromit movie, furious villagers in northeast England have hired armed guards to protect their beloved communal vegetable gardens from a suspected monster rabbit.(AFP/File/Michael Urban)

A person stands on a hilltop during sunset in Tbilisi