Oh and there was the time I saw a submarine

I think this is the end of Australia.

I had completely forgotten about this. We sailed out of Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef, and suddenly this submarine appeared next to our boat. After a few minutes it submerged again, but I'm not sure anyone ever explained to us what it was doing there. Looking at the picture now, I realize that it actually wasn't that big and was possibly some kind of scientific vessel, though it looked enormous at the time.

A suitably strange incident to wrap up pictures from a strange and wonderful place.

The cat is apparently alive

I went looking for water pictures and found this from Berkeley in April. A long way from the Mediterrean but peaceful water views have always been the thing I enjoyed most about ship travels.

I'm flying to Heathrow tonight, and on to Athens tomorrow afternoon. I have a pre-cruise tour of Classical Greek sites, and the cruise proper leaves on Friday.

I guess we're really doing this.

Cerca del océano pacífico

One more picture of the view from the cliffs in Lima—the little black specks in the water are surfers. Surfing is very popular there. And a wiggly sort of tree that caught my eye nearby.

Deep breath

I woke up to the news that the long-anticipated attack on Ukraine has begun, and I'm finding it hard to concentrate on anything.

Here's a welcome reminder of a better morning: fishing on the Jersey Shore at sunrise.

More Ditch Plains

 

Back to Ditch Plains Beach

I didn't get to see as much of this lovely beach as I might have liked. I'm curious whether it was the winter light that gave it that almost dreamlike feel, but maybe I'll be able to go back in a few months and see.

The freakish Atlantic

The waves out by the lighthouse were churning away, but not nearly as dramatically as I had expected. Still, I love those bands of colors.

Winter trees

These trees were near the lighthouse. Seeing those silhouettes against the ocean was worth a little discomfort.

Ditch Plains Beach

Two more pictures of this lovely beach. I had never been to Montauk before; as I've mentioned many times I don't like sunbathing and I was never interested in party scenes, so summer shares in the Hamptons or the Jersey Shore never appealed to me. I have stayed on Fire Island a few times, and liked it very much, but I've seen the Hamptons only on day trips and never had any desire to stay.

Montauk had developed its own notorious party scene pre-pandemic, but it's always been a little removed. The distance helps; depending on the traffic, it can take four hours to drive there from Manhattan, with the last half hour or so mostly empty highway. And it really is dead in January. Most of the restaurants in the village are closed for the season and there were never more than a couple of people on the beach.

But that's what I wanted. I thought.

The misadventures started when I got to the AirBnB and discovered that it hadn't been cleaned since the last guests left. The beds weren't made up, the garbage hadn't been taken out, and there were wet towels on the bathroom floor. The owner was properly apologetic and gave me one night free, and asked the housekeeper to come over immediately. But, it being Montauk, “immediately” meant that she didn't get there until 8:30. And she spoke very little English, and didn't understand that all I really wanted was for her to clean the bedroom and make up the bed. Instead she spent the next two hours vacuuming, scrubbing and doing loads of laundry, while I sat there with my mask on trying to stay out of her way.

Sunrise, sunset

Omicron upended all of my plans for my winter break. I had invitations for overnight visits with two sets of friends, but nobody wants to have or be a houseguest with such a contagious virus running rampant. Then, of course, I got sick myself and got to spend ten days in quarantine.

So I decided to get out of town for a few days, and booked an AirBnB in Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island. Where I had enough misadventures to remind myself of all of the less fun aspects of travel, culminating in having to leave a day early when yesterday's predicted rain turned out to be snow.

But here's something I didn't expect to see on this side of the continent: sunset over the ocean. This is Ditch Plains Beach, on the south side of Montauk Point. The sun is so far south this time of year that from the right angle you can actually see it set over the Atlantic.

Happy New Year

And the first morning of a new year is an excellent time to sneak in another sunrise from the Jersey Shore.

Awful as so much of this past year was, it was still an improvement on 2020. I got vaccinated and boosted. I got a car, and was able to get out of my apartment. I survived two more semesters plus one summer session of grad school.

There were griefs and struggles, but there were also accomplishments and new friends and, on balance, probably more laughs than tears. At this stage of my life, any year that ends with me upright and more or less healthy and sane and my loved ones still with me is by definition a good year. If, a year from now, I can say the same about 2022, I'll be more than satisfied.

Sunday bird blogging

An oystercatcher at Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways.

It will probably be January before I can go to the beach again—a lovely time of year for it—but I can close my eyes and pretend I'm there.

Waiting for sunrise

A few more pictures from the Shore.

Breakers

The colors and detail in these images of waves fascinate me. This is one way photography has a definite advantage—freezing the moment so you can look at it without the distraction of motion.

It makes me think of Sylvia Plath: the freakish Atlantic/Where it pours bean green over blue. I do see what she meant.

Sunrise in the temperate zone

 

Bonus reflections

The AirBnB was a block from the beach, so there were sunrises. And photographs of sunrises.

I love the way the sun reflects as three bright spots on the water.

Sunday bird blogging

Back to the beach.

I remain terrible at telling one seagull from another, but since first-year herring gulls are the only brown gulls in this part of the world, I can at least be confident about this guy.

Once he grows up and turns white, that will be quite a different story.

More pictures from Rockaway Beach

Now that summer is officially over.

Sunday bird blogging

A beautiful oystercatcher on the beach at Jacob Riis Park Wednesday.

I love that the bands on his legs coordinate so perfectly with his beak.

This is how I dress for the beach

Long sleeves, pants rolled up, hat, sunscreen.

(Thanks to Jayne for the picture.)