photovent 2010, day 20: peace (and day 5 of the nikon d700 tour of galveston)

 "Peace is not something you wish for; it's something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away."

~ Robert Fulghum

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I mentioned earlier this week that I am not a fan of Galveston's beaches.  Before I tell you why, first let me cop to the fact that I am, admittedly, a Beach Snob.  It's not that Trinidad has the best beaches in the Caribbean -- it doesn't -- but the beaches are, by and large, clean.  The sand is white and powdery.  While the seas aren't always very calm, the water is still quite clear, and for the most part, blue.  It is teeming with sea life.  It smells like, well, the sea.

Galveston beaches are not like this.  The only colours you tend to see on Galveston beaches are ... well, there's just one.  It's brown.  The sand is brown, the water is brown.  I'm told that it's not because the ocean is dirty:  apparently the Mississippi River, which deposits into the Gulf of Mexico to Texas' east, carries its silt along the coastline, mixing with the salt water and resulting in the dingy appearance; perhaps this is true.  It still doesn't account for the interesting smell.

Nonetheless, on our way home, Alex really wanted to stop by the beach, so we obliged.

Yup.  Still brown like I remembered. 

But Alex?  Loved it.

And watching her enjoy the ocean reminded me of how much I loved the ocean when I was her age -- I loved the sound of the waves, I loved the big sky, and I loved running as far as I could ...

... and I remembered that the thing that I loved the most ... that overwhelming sense of peace ... never failed me when I was on the coast. 

And for that, it was great to be back.

Have a great weekend, friends.  Here's wishing you moments of peace. 

(And to see all the photos that I took of Galveston, click here.)

The image at the top of this post is the 20th image of Photovent 2010.  You can download the pdf for it here.  And click here to learn how to use it to assemble a beautifully different photo garland.  The remaining images of the Galveston beach were shot with the Nikon D700 and the 16-35mm zoom lens lent to me.  I have to say I love this camera and I love this lens.  I'll do some camera comparisons soon, so stay tuned.

Song:  Song of sand (Great City version) by Suzanne Vega