Sunrise awakens
early morning
on Virginia Beach.
A beautiful sight!
Diamonds of early sunlight
drip onto blue water
dancing a summer delight.
Anticipating
a busy summer day—
trucks begin raking sand.
After the raking, a solitary man walks along the shoreline hunting for buried treasure
(with seagull supervision—of course).
Later in the day, a friend kindly took my photo on the Virginia Beach boardwalk, next to the statue of King Neptune and a giant octopus. Thanks Judith! As I am usually hiding behind a camera, I seldom have a good photograph of myself to share. This is a warm memory that I will cherish for a long time (especially during the cold winter months).
The ocean was my first love, so I am happy that I was able to visit before summer’s end. I can’t imagine going an entire year without walking barefoot in a place where rolling ocean waves sigh into the sand. A necessity of life!
Take good care of the ocean for me, King Neptune.
I will be back again one day!
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Before I Forget 
What a beautiful morning! The sun rises from the ocean on the Atlantic coast whilst it dives into ocean here on the Gulf. So nice to see you, Mary, as well. It’s a very beautiful photo 🙂
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Thanks Tiny. I just looked at your website and the sunset with the bird flying by is absolutely gorgeous
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Thank you Mary!
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They are great pictures. I hope you escaped from that big octopus………… 🙂
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Luckily, the metal octopus was set in stone. 😉
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You look like a happy, healthy woman about to be devoured by a giant bronze octopus.
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Being devoured would be the start of an interesting story, but I wouldn’t have lived to tell it. Luckily this type of octopus doesn’t have much of an appetite for anything but photos. It is permanently stuck on the side of a statue of King Neptune, which is probably the most photographed object on the Virginia Beach boardwalk.
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Someday, I need to go there.
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After early morning, it gets pretty crowded.
You would be able to get some interesting people shots on the boardwalk, for sure.
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Beautiful!
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Thanks Jim! I am glad that I was able to enjoy a day at the ocean before summer slipped away..It’s almost September….
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Well I don’t see any pictures here but the writing is quite lovely and the stories I have read so far very captivating. I’m glad you dropped by my site because now I have found yours.
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The sunrise photo is incredible Mary. It is one of those that can live in the mind for forever.
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Thanks Eddie! Like a bright eye peering over the horizon–perhaps the eye of a large morning dragon? 🙂 This sunrise was the start of a beautiful and memorable summer day with sun, sand, water, and good friends. Perfect!
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Wonderful memories of the past summer! The picture with Diamonds of sunlight is beautiful and alive.
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Thanks! I couldn’t resist the dancing diamonds. It wasn’t long before I put the camera down and got into the water. Not too cold and not too hot–perfect time to visit the ocean, for sure. So lucky I was to be there!
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Love the poem, the gorgeous sunrise, the sparkling water, the one of you in front of the octopus and most especially the last two vintage shots. Beautiful! 🙂
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I am sad to see the end of August….summer will be soon gone!
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The last two vintage shots is now three….I found another one, hiding at the bottom of an old photo box.
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I second the above comment; lovely meditation on returning to your great love – the ocean!
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The ocean! It is a great love. When I lived in Hawaii, I used to sit in the sand near the ocean and breathe along with the rhythm of the waves. In and out–eternal breathing.
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Wonderful! It’s always comforting to me, whenever I go to the sea, to know that the waves will keep coming no matter what happens…and that amazing sound!
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Yes! AND….If you sing by the ocean, you will never be out-of-tune.. Whatever note you choose to sing, you will hear that note included in the waves that roll into the sand.Every sound imaginable is contained in that one amazing sound.
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Your feelings for the ocean are mine and I love your 1956 childhood photos shining with pure joy. Wonderful!
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Great pictures
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Thanks…couldn’t sleep so I watched the sunrise instead!
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fantastic shots Mary and beautiful poems.
you were an adorable kid and are a very gorgeous person now! It is my story too, I am always taking pictures, that is why I told bro to take some pictures in Golcondda fort 🙂
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We come from different countries and live on other sides of the world…but we are very similar in our joy of words and pictures.
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thanks to internet I have finally made my group of friends who are very much like me 🙂
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Thank you!
I wish it was still summer with long sunny days and warm weather….as it was in the pictures aboves.
The weather here will soon be winter cold and I will be hiding beneath blankets!
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You were a regular beach belle back in the day Mary. 🙂
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Yes! I am a sea creature, cleverly disguised as a human being.
Hahaha! Didn’t you know that? Couldn’t you tell?
I love the ocean. When I was younger, I used to pretend I was a mermaid.
Actually, I am a singer…hmmmmmm…..I wonder how many ships have run aground because of my siren songs. 🙂
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I love the sea too, although I’m very happy living up here in the hills. 🙂 I didn’t know that you were, although the scales glittering around your feet should have been a dead giveaway. Mary the ship wrecker has a real ring to it I reckon. 🙂
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Much better than ‘home wrecker,’ I guess. ; )
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Well this could be true, although it home wrecker doesn’t have that oomph to it that ship wrecker does. 😉
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Mary, what adorable shots of you as a child. And the recent photo is lovely. Summer isn’t complete without trips to a beach.
Blessings ~ Wendy
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Such beautiful childhood photos! I love the stills from the beach 🙂 You clearly were a natural with the ocean.
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And I still remember the interesting little mole crabs that used to roll in with the waves and quickly bury themselves in the wet sand. If I kept my hands right under the sand, I could hold them for a moment (that’s probably exactly what I was doing in the 2nd black and white photo).
Then there was also the little ghost crabs that would quickly pop up in and out of their holes in the sand. The edge of the ocean where the waves kiss the sand…is an awesome place to spend time!
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I have never seen a sunrise like this, I’m impressed!
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Thanks! I watched the sun slowly peek up over the horizon until it was all clearly in my view. Then I took a very quick picture (with my mom’s old warning of “Never look at the sun” echoing in my mind).
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