| Once upon a time....Wait!
That is how a fairy tale opens. Well, my trip to Florida to see the
lighthouses was a whirlwind of a magical adventure. At my request,
our dear friends who resided in Titusville, Florida, agreed to chauffeur
my husband and I to some of the regional lighthouses within driving distance
of their home. The first one we visited was the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse
in Palm Beach. The access was off limits to us, but with a high powered
lens on my camera, I was able to get some good research photographs.
I will supplement that with published material from reliable sources when
I am ready to do a painting of it.
"The
first one we visited was the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse"
The next on our trek was the Hillsboro Inlet
Lighthouse, in Pompano Beach. We arrived on a beautiful winter afternoon,
the sky was a gorgeous clear blue and the lighting was perfect. While
I studied it from a wide, soft towel on the warm sandy beach, my husband
took off toward the distant light and photographed it. I read the
literature and the legends surrounding it, from the travel and tourism
guide. Too soon we had to depart for our next destination, the
Ponce de Leon Lighthouse, just south of Daytona Beach. The
lantern room of the lighthouse was bedecked with a Christmas star festooned
with shining lights. The setting was awesome. The grass was
beautifully manicured. The brick home and lantern room were right
out of the anti-bellum old South.
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A pristine white picket
fence ran the course surrounding the grounds. At the rear of the
property was a wire fence, with just enough room for us to "squeeze" through
to allow us to get a focus point far enough away from this mighty, high,
tower to shoot it without distortion. We both were a little uneasy
about the possibility of unknown creatures in the tall grass. As
Ed was focusing the camera, intent only on the job at hand, I was
seized by a mischievous urging. I plucked a length of grass, sneaked
up behind him, and lightly ran the blade of grass across the back of his
bare leg. (Somehow it wasn't as funny to him!) I sure got a
giggle out of the prank! (Still do.)
"I
was seized with a mischievous urging"
The lighthouse at Saint Augustine was worth the trip. It's black
and white "swirl" grabbed my attention from miles away. It seemed
as though we would never get to it! There were numerous tall, old
trees around the lighthouse and buildings. It was a difficult decision
as to which view would make the best painting.
Our final leg of the lighthouse tour was the
small lighthouse on the Mayport Naval Air Station, in Mayport
near Jacksonville. Since we could not gain access to the base, we
parked at the end of a road nearest the lighthouse. Ed stood on top
of the vehicle in order to see over the fence and get the most out of the
scene. He took numerous pictures of the lighthouse with the battleships
in the background. Needless to say, I returned to Olympia satiated
with the joys of Florida, and bursting with the desire to paint her lighthouses.
And I did!
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