Bathing Beauties

Virginia Beach, VA

When Allison asked what I like best about the beach, I hesitated and then said "Walking on the beach." I don't consider myself a beach person, but I also like getting fresh seafood fixed to order, taking pictures, and watching wildlife.

We weren't in the best location for seeing wildlife at this busy location; nearby Sandbridge seems to be better for that. And even better is the Eastern Shore, which is across the Chesapeake Bay from here.

Portrait by Frank

My spouse took this picture full-length but I cropped it drastically. Not only because I felt it proper to hide my bare legs, but also because I'm self-conscious about having chubby ankles.

Along the Oceanfront, Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach is in the southeast corner of the state, so it's a long way from our home in the northwestern part of Virginia. I read in Wikipedia that it's the most populous city in the state, with a population of 447,489 in 2012, not including the tourists who flood in during the summer. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the city has the longest pleasure beach in the world!

View from the Newcastle Hotel

We stayed at the Newcastle on Atlantic Avenue. It has a view of the ocean and is well-located, if a bit worn.

The boardwalk and bike path were practically under our balcony.

Pier at Nightfall

Virginia Beach, VA

Our Group at the Beach

We met Allison and Dave and Dave's parents at Virginia Beach. We all stayed at the Newcastle Hotel.

Pirate Putt-Putt

Miniature Golf in Virginia Beach

Dave and Allison invited us to play minigolf on Tuesday afternoon. The course had 18 holes and a pirate theme. Shortly after our game started, the sun came out from behind the clouds and the heat became oppressive. I'm not a good golfer and gave up a few holes from the end of the course in order to find some shade.

I don't know this girl but I like her pink outfit.

Virginia Beach Sunrise

 This is where we were on Tuesday morning. I took dozens of photos and I'll share some more soon. I like the solitude expressed in these. There's more of a oneness than a loneliness.

For those who prefer larger pictures, I apologize but I have two reasons for keeping the images fairly small, in addition to the size allowed by my template.

1. Limiting the image size lets the page load quickly. 
2. People are less likely to steal a small picture. Yes, unfortunately this is an issue. (See Who is Stealing Your Pictures?)

This is a Skywatch Post and
Orange You Glad It's Friday!

Truth or Internet Rumor?

On many days I spend more time on the internet than I intended, and some of it is a waste! Unfortunately the freedom that everyone has to publish can result in all sorts of half-truths and untruths showing up on our screens. Often intelligent and educated people are fooled by these stories and may even repost them.  So please... before you repost something, check it out! Is it from a reputable source? Does it sound exaggerated? Are there obvious errors?

Some sites that specialize in checking out internet rumors include Snopes.com, ThatsNonsense.com, and urbanlegends.about.com. (Recently they've been busily debunking rumors about Facebook!)

Health stories can be difficult to verify. Here's where it's really important to look at the source. Some very professional-looking sites are produced by persons with little or no medical training. Check the About section of the site. I grew suspicious about a story on a natural health site when I spotted an error, checked the About Us link and learned that the main writer is a "coach." The other writers don't seem to have even that level of training! Another story on that site listed a source that sounded scholarly, but when I went to the source it said something quite different from the article. And yet respected people have reprinted the article without realizing it was untrue because it's ideas happened to back up their agenda.

In addition to checking the sources, look up unfamiliar names. I've found Wikipedia to be a great source for this. It's not infallible but it's rich in ideas. Also, I like WebMD as a health-related source and Medline Plus to look for medical research.

Do you have additional sources to recommend?

Waterfront Home in Glebe Harbor

 We own a house overlooking an inlet near Montross, Virginia. At one time we planned to live there but I found it was a bit too far from a city, so we rented it out. Our current tenants have been there two years but will be leaving after next month. So the house will be available to lease or purchase. It has three bedrooms, two baths, and a spacious kitchen.

Bird on the Back of a Bench

The Squirrel's Humongous Cousin

The groundhog is the largest member of the squirrel family. It's also called a woodchuck or whistle pig.

Marmota monax

I took this picture through a window that had a screen in it, so I'm glad it came out as well as it did.

Looks like this fellow has been eating plenty of clover! I hope he doesn't find his way to our vegetable garden! A fence won't keep him out because he likes to dig holes. Because of his size (almost 2 feet long), he could destroy our garden pretty quickly.

Some people eat groundhog meat. I never have but I've heard it's greasy. I suppose a poor farmer might see justice in eating the groundhog who decimated his garden!

Yesterday at Bryce

Bryce Fest in Basye, Virginia

It's been over a year since we moved out of Basye but I still miss it sometimes. Yesterday we drove up there to spend the afternoon at their annual festival honoring Independence Day. Our first stop was the library book sale.

I used to volunteer at the library so I have friends there. It was fun to talk with some of them. That's Mona Wolf and Andrea Sutcliffe behind the table. (See Andrea's books on Amazon.)

The air strip is next to the library and helicopter rides were in progress. We didn't spring for one because we did that a few years ago.

The main part of the festival is near the ski lodge. Craft vendors and food booths are set up, and music and magic shows provide entertainment.

A Caricature

We went to a festival at Bryce Resort yesterday. We spied a caricature artist and I decided to see what she would produce.

Pearl's Portraits

Well, I don't think it looks like me except for the hair and perhaps the nose.

Composite Fireworks

We watched the Strasburg town fireworks from a hill that was about a half mile from the park.

My pictures were not impressive, so I opened all the shots and pasted various parts into a single image in Photoshop, then blended the layers using "Screen" mode. The result is not remotely realistic but it's colorful!

Blue Twilight

Not every sunset is bright with shades of red. Some are mostly blue with just a touch of gold around the sun.

A New Crate for Flash

I finally replaced Flash's crate. His old wire crate got bent when we moved a year ago and ever since then he's been able to let himself out whenever he felt like it!

I'd seen furniture-style crates in a catalog and thought about buying one for a long time. My husband thought I was being extravagant but he has to admit it looks nice. And Flash seems to like it!

It was incredibly easy to assemble using large plastic bolts (supplied). I bought it from Overstock but Amazon has it too.

Who is Stealing Your Pictures?

Tonight I read on Elva's Field Notes that you can easily search for any image using Googles Image Search. Just click on the little camera next to the search box and upload your image.

I tried this using a photo of McConnell's Mill that I had once given permission to one person to post on Facebook. And sure enough, there were other people using it without permission.

My images are copyrighted. Now I sign most of my pictures but this one was four years old so perhaps people thought they could take it without repercussions.

I wrote to a person who used it for an ad asking him to pay me for it. I decided to ignore a nonprofit site. Another site looked to be a user-generated collection so I just asked them to delete it. On the second page of search results there were several sites from Russia. I know from experience that sites with the .ru extension are often scams trying to get clicks so I didn't even go to them.

Have you found people using your pictures without permission? How do you handle it?

It's Independence Day

On July 4, 1776, our ancestors declared their independence from Great Britain. So today is a holiday in the United States. Make it a great day!

See other Skywatch posts.

Sunset at the Lake Number ___?

Since we get a gorgeous sunset once a week or so, I get plenty of photos like this... only different! Every cloud-filled sky is unique, and the water at the lake duplicates the effects of the light.

It's marvelous how a body of water reflects a sunset! I've posted a number of photos of the lake at dusk or sunset so I apologize it they are getting repetitious.