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| Rehoboth Beach, DE - 1997 |
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| Rehoboth Again - 2001 |
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| Pensacola, FL - 2011 |
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| One More Rehoboth - 2001 |
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| Kill Devil Hills, NC - 2010 |
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| Lancaster, VA - 2010 |
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| Key West, FL - 1991 |
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| Islamorada, FL - 2000 |
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| Ft. Jefferson - Dry Tortugas, FL - 2000 - Photo by [Maris] |
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| Gonna Need a Bigger Boat - Barbados - 1993 |
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| Sapphire Bay, St. Thomas, USVI - 1995 |
Broken RVICE Station - near Lively, VA - 2001
One of the spookiest and most unmistakably haunted places I have ever been. [Maris] and I were wandering through the mountains of Kentucky late at night when we happened on this scene in Lynch. There were ghosts. I know there were. Men died in that mine. It's a museum, now, but I have no doubt the ghosts are still digging. 1999 photo.
Just across the road from the mine portal, we found a rotting old locomotive, which I attempted to shoot, and this caboose, shot by [Maris]. It was nearly pitch-black, so focus and exposure suffered greatly, but by this time we were so spooked, it was time to go. 
Maybe it was the chilly, damp weather. Maybe the fact that it was Sunday. Maybe everyone was at the McDonald's out on the highway (the worst McD's in the universe). Whatever the reason, Grafton, WV was a creepy, sad little ghost railroad town when we visited in 1997.
This one is more sad than haunted. This 1688 grave stone is in Salem, MA. The lower inscription reads "An aged person that had been but nineteen winters in the world." 1998 photo.
Broken Happy Place. The north end of the Boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, DE after the 1992 Nor'Easter.
Overgrown Farmhouse - Northern Neck of Virginia - 2001. I'll bet there's a ghost in there.
Big creepy, spooky, haunted house in Garrett, PA in 2001. TELL me there isn't a whole mess of ghosts in there!
Wind turbines looming creepily above Garrett, PA in 2001. They don't scare me the way they do some people, but I have to admit, seeing them up close when you're not accustomed to them does sort of make the little hairs on your arms stand up.
Finally, "Bart's End." I know - I've posted this one before, but I just love it so. It speaks to me, and every time I look, it says something different.
Returning for a moment to the happy place of my childhood vacations, we have another group of photos from Rehoboth Beach, DE. Actually, the shot of the WWII-era observation towers is from North Rehoboth, halfway to Cape Henlopen, but close enough. I didn't fully appreciate this 1999 photograph until recently, when I scanned the negative. There are PEOPLE (I know!) walking in the distance. There's a gull in flight near the more distant tower and another one standing in the lower right-hand corner, as well as a lone sandpiper near the very bottom of the frame - all of which I can barely make out in the machine-printed 4x6 that came from the store.
Gulls - 2001. Usually it's only two to a light pole, but today, let's live dangerously and make it three!
I posted the time-lapse shot of Funland's carousel last year, so this time I thought I'd show what it really looks like. It's not the park's original, but it is still a pretty special machine.
The Paratrooper. I remember when they added this ride, and to this day it remains my favorite. The views of Rehoboth and the breeze on one's dangling feet are worth every ticket.
Plus, look how FAST it goes!
Another shot from 2001 that nearly got away. I had been shooting long exposures for over an hour, and had just shot this ride in motion. When it sat idle for just a moment, I realized it was the only ride in the entire park that wasn't moving. In the background, the little fire trucks, boats, carousel, silver spinny things, teacups and helicopters are all a blur of kiddie fun. I also like that the haunted mansion is just visible at the far right of the frame.
Toys! "We await The Claw. Ooooooohh..."
The iconic Dolles sign. I can't imagine the corner of Rehoboth Avenue and the Boardwalk without it.
Going back to 1999, we have a study in wind-swept foliage and late afternoon shadows along the dune fence.
The happy hour sun on one of Rehoboth's weathered old jetties.
The Dolles sign following the 1998 NorEaster in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Not the first time a storm absconded with that "D" - and certainly not the last.
"Bart's End." I shot this sad scene next to the railroad tracks at Point of Rocks, MD on a whim in 1996 and promptly forgot about it. Looking at it now, I think it has far more to say than a lot of my photos. Symbolism 101: What does it MEAN? Discuss.
It's wall-to-wall pandamonium at the National Zoo, ladies and gentlemen! (2008 photo)
Chickens in the street! It's not quite the composition I had wanted, as I only had a few seconds, but I love that there are wild chickens in Key West, sharing Greene Street with locals, tourists and the occasional Hemingway cat. (2000)
Who needs opposable thumbs? Here, my old pet corn snake, Bubba, has pushed his shoebox lid "house" over his water dish and (mostly) hidden beneath it, awaiting mice from the sky. Frederick, MD - 1995.
Retro McDonald's sign, found on US Rt. 1 near Jupiter Island, FL in 1999.
Molly the cat would sit in literally anything. Rockville, MD - 1996.
More symbolism: A school bus stop along US Rt. 50 in The Middle of Nowhere, WV in 1997. "Mama says we don't need to know nuthin' 'bout no book-learnin' - now get off the property!"
While I go about the ugly business of attempting to decide where to go next, subject-wise, please enjoy this little collection of photographic whimsy. I'm nothing if not . . . random. Above: Jolt Cola Cans - Rockville, MD - 1987. Jolt was among my very best friends, that year.
Jack-O-Lanterns - Rockville, MD - 1991. Guess which one is mine.
Sand, Water, Light - near Indian River Inlet, DE - 1992
Nor'easter Damage - Rehoboth Beach, DE - 1992
My first nephew rearranging my tape collection in 1991. He's putting a Simple Minds tape under "Q." He's gotten much better at his alphabet, since then.
Statue at St. Mary's - White Chapel, VA - 1999
Is that a castle, you ask? In Berkeley Springs, WV? In 1996? Yes. Yes, it is!
Dancers at the resort hotel in the middle of nowhere - Dominica - 1993. I had slow film, no tripod or flash, low light and fast action, but I fired away, just for fun. This is about a quarter-second exposure, and it ends up saying what it needs to say just fine, IMHO. Note the "Cheers" dart board in the background. Can't get TOO far from home, can we?
Rear View - Gaithersburg, MD - 1992. Neat!
Airman Autographing Kid's Shirt at the Desert Storm Victory Celebration in Washington, DC in 1991. 'Nuff said.
Here are a few more images - taken at various points on my photographic learning curve - of the creatures that fascinate me. All were shot on film and then scanned. Above, seagulls atop the Sunview Motel in Rehoboth Beach, DE in 1985. I was too comfortable to get up from my beach towel, so this was shot using every millimeter of my zoom.
Still unwilling to move, I shot this beggar at a range of about 12 feet. Rehoboth - 1985.
Who can resist a kitten? Not me. Especially not little Tarzan, captured here with his "Dad" in Damascus, MD in the first few days of 1995.
Butterfly and roadside flowers along Route 3 in Virginia's Northern Neck - 1999.
With slow film, inadequate light and no flash, I wasn't quite able to freeze this peacock as sharply as I'd have liked (didn't quite nail the manual focus, either), but I find his colors and downright hostile expression to be irresistible. St. Augustine, FL - 1999.
I've always loved sandpipers, but they are really tough to photograph. The rascals in this shot were scampering along the surf at dawn (DAWN! I was up at dawn, once!) in Naples, FL in 1999. I caught them just as one bird decided to go rogue and reverse direction.
Odd Bird Out - near Pier 39 in San Francisco, CA - 1987. On the other side of the railing is a 25-foot drop to a busy highway, so I don't know what this web-footed little guy was thinking. Also not sure what kind of bird this is. Anyone?
Speaking of animals that are hard to photograph...
Squirrels, on the other hand, are more than happy to sit up and strike (and hold!) a pose for the camera. This is one of my mother's overfed little rodents in Rockville, MD in 1991.
I have hundreds of better shots of DC's current giant pandas, but this 1996 image of a pensive old Hsing-Hsing alone in his yard conveys more about the species - and about this bear in particular - than I can put into words here.
