Pelican Sunrise

Pelican Sunrise (physical photograph 11" x 14")

Another one of my early morning escapades produced this photo among hundreds shot in quick succession as the sun rose over the South Florida Atlantic. I always sit on the beach and change focal length, f-stop, and shutter speed in various combinations. From the moment the first rays peek over the horizon until the sun is well above it - I may fill 4 gigs of memory. Out of all those images perhaps 10 to 15 are used as part of a pastel, digital montage and/or distressed painting. Some like this one I keep as a photograph because I find a special affinity for the image. Perhaps in this photo it is the lonely Pelican, the way the clouds lower toward the right side of the image as the bird slowly rises flying against the storm toward the right. The clouds and rain though threatening are not frightening because the yellow-orange of the sunrise works around, under and through parts of the rain clouds. The picture hints at the possibility of an early morning rain, with a ravishingly beautiful day to follow. Of course, that is my narrative. I’m sure the reader will see it in his/her own way. In fact, I would enjoy having some responses in "comments" as to the story you see in the image.

Music to Accompany Pelican Sunrise - Janine Jansen violin. (added Thursday, April 5, 2012)

Taken from You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmYexIpR5js, 10:30 AM, EDT, Thursday, April 5, 2012. The excerpt below is also translated from the Dutch at the Website.

"The track from the Dutch film Süskind for violin and orchestra was written by the composers Bob Zimmerman and Nando Eweg. The solo part is written for the famous violinist. The track 'Summer 1945' at the end of the film to hear and download on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/7mx8uf2

The film based on the truth of Rudolf van den Berg is about the Jewish resistance hero Walter Süskind. As manager of the Dutch Theater in Amsterdam he was able to prevent hundreds of Jewish children were put on transport to concentration camps."

The music is also appropriate to my feelings surrounding the tragic state of our national argument about the "legal" killing of Travon Martin.



Why is the death of Travon Martin Polarizing America?

His Death is so much more complicated than the dichotomous position most of us seem to be taking. Of course it is a horrible tragedy, and my heart goes out to his family. As to Mr. Zimmerman - he made two mistakes. One he followed an unarmed teen with a bag of candy against police advice. Two, he also carried a gun against police advice. I'm certain Mr. Zimmerman did not intend to kill Travon Martin. However, Mr. Zimmerman is also innocent of committing a crime according to a state law that places every one of us in danger of being killed (Drunk drivers have pulled guns on us on the highway on two separate occasions. If we had been shot, all the killer would have had to say was that we threatened him/her.). It is this absurd, "Stand Your Ground" law that should be on trial, not Mr. Zimmerman. Of course, additionally this controversy is about racism, the reaction on both sides of the issue is incontrovertible PROOF! Additionally, and importantly it is about three things; gun law in general, the NRA, and the Supreme Court's stand on gun law. It is also about the adequate function of law enforcement, character assassination, mixed race and/or ethnicity, crazed citizen response on electronic media. It is about falsified images. It is even about young black men who wear HOODIES for goodness sake (I wear one occasionally, and I'm a 67 year old WHITE MALE!). I include a portion of an excellent discussion of some of the ramifications of this controversy from the Chris Hayes show on MSNBC. It begins with Representative Maloney presuming that Martin is innocent, but the discussion becomes much more involved and complex as it continues. Sorry about the DAMNED commercial at the beginning!

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