Happy Halloween

I was so shocked the other morning when I spotted this evidence of frost on the leaves. I remember in New England by Halloween there was usually "frost on the pumpkins." So we get frost here this year as well.


Here is a shot of one of my sitting rocks. I guess it is totally frivolous and self indulgent to spend time just sitting on a rock doing nothing but looking out at the water. Oh well. That's what I like to do. Especially when it is cold and windy and there isn't another soul around. I was a bit miffed the other day, however, to discover that a park bench has been installed just a few feet away. So do I sit on my rock or on the bench? I will admit that this rock is not on Alki Beach. I've been expanding my walking routes.

Big Wind Party/ Photo Shoot

I have always loved the wind. Whenever we have a big wind storm, I am one of the first people to get down to the beach. I love to sit by the water and let the wind blow in my face.

Wow, were there a lot of people at the beach doing the same thing yesterday. And so many cameras!

It looked like there were lots of nice SLR digital cameras as well as "snapshot cameras," video cameras and cell phone cameras. Of course there was a KOMO TV camera. The TV stations always send someone out to cover the wind storms.

One guy had a HUGE telephoto lens on a tripod. The tripod was supposed to stabilize the camera. But I was wondering how he was going to stabilize the tripod. The whole setup seemed to be blowing all over the place. He must have been using a really fast shutter speed.

I had brought my "old style" Kool Pix digital - the kind that has a lag time between when you press the button and when the shutter opens. I still haven't figured out when, during that time, the photo is actually "taken." The camera was pretty useless since no matter what I did I couldn't stop it from moving for the amount of time that seemed necessary to shoot the photo. I finally decided to just point and shoot and hope for the best.

Then I took out my cell phone camera and decided I couldn't do any worse with that.

See the video posted on the West Seattle blog and the great photos at the Beach Drive blog - linked to this site.

A Different Kind of Walk

Alki Beach from the Ferry


Augusta Asberry

I got to see a different perspective today - both of Alki Beach and life. I took the ferry to Bremerton early this morning to attend the funeral of my friend Augusta Asberry. Augusta was a nationally renowned artist who specialized in paintings of dancing African American women in their traditional native clothing. Her figures were colorful and dynamic.

Augusta was the oldest of 10 children from a family living in Louisiana. Most of her childhood was spent taking care of her brothers and sisters. Later on she had three children of her own and helped raise three step sons. The chapel today was full of relatives and friends. The City of Bremerton declared today "Augusta Asberry Day."

Among the things Augusta's family said about her during the service was that she was an artist who worked for 35 years as a nurse. During that time in the Bay Area, a painting of hers had won first prize in a prestigious art competition. But when the organizers discovered she was black, they refused to give her the award.

At the time of her death, Augusta was the President of Women Painters of Washington, the oldest art organization of its kind in the nation. I am so proud that the group was able to give her the validation she deserved. Hopefully it made up for some of the unfairness she had encountered during her life.