Heading Home

Key West! Just the name alone conjures up a smile, doesn’t it? For who could not love Margaritaville?

In many places, day’s end is just that: the end of the day. Not so in Key West, though… for there, especially around the Mallory Square area and Duval Street, the party is just getting started when the sun goes down. This does not mean that everyone is starting their day out, though… far from it.

These sailors had been out on the ocean for the day, and as the sun set, their day was drawing to a close. Chasing the last of the sun across the waters, they were making for safe harbor, which, as it turns out, was just to the right of this photo.

One of the great things about Key West is that some day, just as the sun dips below the horizon, the most amazing colors spring to life, but just for a moment. This is exactly in the middle of the moment; I loved the deep, rich tones of the sky, the sharp contrast of the clouds that had been lingering throughout the day, the faint reflections of the sun on the water, even though the sun was below the horizon. It was a beautiful site and, as always, I was thankful to have had a camera at end.

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Lily in Hemmingway’s Garden, originally uploaded by ifringe.

It is almost winter time… the snow is flying, the wind is whipping and the skies dark and forbidding. This is not to say that the day is gloomy, however, for actually it is a very cheery day. And what better way to share that cheer than going back to a wonderful visit from this summer?
This summer we visited Key West, Florida, a favorite place of mine. It rained this particular trip, however. No, not rained once or twice or here and there. It rained the entire trip, most of every day, and that made the trip a little more challenging than normal. However, in between breaks in the clouds we were able to get out and about and get some shooting down. And in between that we did a few tourist things, just because.
One of the tourist things that we did was visit the Hemingway House. Yes, that Hemingway. It is possible to tour the house and see it much as Ernest last left it (truly, they have it very well preserved)and of course, see the very neat looking six toed cats. The cats are simply everywhere, and that makes it even more incredible. But, I digress.
Wandering around the grounds, out to the side of the house where few, if any, tourists wandered there lies a small, tidy Lily Pond, replete with, of course, Lilies. There were stopped for a while, and the peace was simply incredible. You could feel the world around you drop away and in its place was nothing but serenity–what an amazing sensation. The lilies themselves were striking and exuded a sense of peace–and that naturally begged a picture.
Which finally brings us to this particular shot. A lily in Ernest Hemingway’s Lily Garden. The sun will always rise here over this pond.

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