Old and New

Today could not have been a better spring day.  Blue skies, sunshine and a little breeze drew a nice crowd to the Riverwalk at Solomons today.  There were boats on the river - both small and slow and large and fast.  Plenty of 'rides' graced the parking lots. Trikes, bikes, long-boards, sports cars joined the minivans and econo-mobiles.

Of course there were plenty of families, groups of teens and a solo musician taking in day as well.  I'd be remiss if I did not include some more wildlife. Let's get started with some of the photos..

 Ok, so these first two are not from Solomons, but rather my yard.  I was just really happy with them!

Okay, so back to Solomons, and the rest are all from the Riverwalk, continuing with the nature theme.





 A little tough, but yes, that is a jelly fish, and it seemed very much alive.  Several floated by this morning. They did not look like our typical summer jellies.

I know I've showed the American Coot, but this time I finally had the sun in my favor and lit the front very nicely and you can now see the beautiful red eyes they have.

 I really hope you come and enjoy Solomons as much as I do.  There really is something for everyone, how about some of the machines and people.

You may remember Brooks.  I photographed him last year sitting on a bench.  It was good to hear he's doing well, and enjoying puppy sitting.  Toby is a great little dog.  We'll get to some larger breeds shortly.


 It's always nice to hear a fabulous musician and singer.  As I got closer I realized that Benny was in a blog last year as well, when he and a friend were gigging at Lotus.  This time Benny was solo, and it may be rare to seem him just singing for his own enjoyment, because he told me his band is getting busy for the summer.  Again, it was nice hearing all is going well.

A good crowd was out today

 Ever feel like you're being watched?  I was sitting next to Benny and turned slightly to see this guy looking very intently at me. I do not smell like bacon...

another nice bike

The Striped Rock had several customers dining on the patio today, getting to see the parade of machines.





 I'm not sure what the little white coupe is.... can anyone identify it?





























The Patuxent River had its own traffic, though not nearly as much.  I like how, on this day, paddlers share the water with a speed boat.  I'll say it again, there's something for everyone.



















Today I ran into a friend, and she was accompanied by her daughter and her precious granddaughter.







































































Conversations are easy on Solomons.  I met Jacob and Josh (I hope I got that right guys, I didn't have a pen for my notebook), and they were telling me about their new long-boards.  Great guys, and they mentioned they're not hassled at all on Solomons.










































 The beautiful white dog is Denali with his ...let's call him a step-brother.. Riley.

 If you're into Off-Road, there is a place for you here too.



And if you like "mowing" the boardwalk while making bubbles... this is your spot too!

the bubbles are a little hard to spot, look in the shadow near the post

 Another nice set of bikes.

And the final three below: a group of teens playing a game of some sort, I didn't catch on to what it was about. Bunky's was open, and ice cream is on the menu.  I'll take the chocolate-chip cookie dough  - thank you.





Thanks for joining me, and come visit Solomons.

Peace,
Brian

Antar

Spring is finally starting to show her colors with a beautiful and warm day.  I had a few minutes to spare and wandered down to the small beach on the north side of the Riverwalk early this evening.  I was searching for a shot of a peaceful scene for my FaceBook post.  This spot can be a very relaxing spot, with few people around.  Today wasn't too different, but there were a few visitors including Antar.



 While walking toward the beach I noticed a guy walking his unleashed dog.  I could only tell the he was a fairly large breed with a dark colored coat.  I didn't pay much attention to them since they had walked a few hundred yards away.  I knelt down as took a few photos of the beach and river, and panned to the north and notice the dog was heading back toward me.  At trot, he was covering the distance fairly quickly and I took a few photos.  He was maybe 20 yards away and made a sudden left turn to walk up toward a young lady sitting in the sand reading a book.  I panned back around to the river and took a shot and all of a sudden I had a dog in my face, giving me 'kisses.'  I think Antar may be a Belgian Shepherd?

The owner slowly wandered over to say hello.  I asked the name of the dog and he told me, "Antar, after the slave, poet-warrior."  He continued on in a long description of the story of Antar, an Arab slave that fell in love with his cousin.  Antar was a great warrior and hero and an accomplished poet.  The owner went on to describe the story as one with parallels to Romeo & Juliet in its tragic love story.  Our conversation continued.  Well for the most part I just listened really, and I heard of the influence of the Arab world on the European sailing expeditions of Magellan and Columbus and how many of the sailor were Arab, since most of the Europeans were afraid of the sea - and falling off the earth.  I also heard of how the "last names" of people were often based on the city in which they lived. It was a really pleasant talk.  We separated as Antar (the pup of 2 1/2 years) chased after another dog, this time in a full run.  It all ended well as the owner of the other canine was familiar with his rapidly approaching friend calling out "Antar."  Wiki has more on this story.

A few other parting shots.

I took photo of the water in the causeway.  The beams separating the two sides framed a section of sun-lit water and the result was really interesting.




I also noticed something that looked like a shell, but I'm really not sure what it is.  If you can identify it, please let me know. There's the original and a closeup of the 'thing' that looks like a shell.

Just another great time at Solomons.

Blessings,
Brian