A warm winter – so far

January 13, 2020January 14, 2020Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Here in extreme Northeast Florida (Amelia Island) our winter has been very mild which is following a winter from last year that saw no sub-freezing temperatures or frost. Here it is the second week of January and the trees and plants are showing early spring growth.

20200113_133531

First up are the poor river maples in my front yard. They still have some green leaves from this past summer and leaves that have changed color with the onset of autumn – and now there are blossoms for the next round of leaves. I’ve never seen blossoms this early and certainly, I’ve never seen this many of last season’s leaves still hanging on. I would think that climatologically we’re still capable of having a hard (and damaging) freeze here before February is over.

20200113_133825

Here are our azaleas starting to blossom – about one month too early and indicative of the mild winter we’re experiencing.

The river maples with plenty of last seasons leaves and the new blossoms starting to pop. A large oak is visible in the background. Typically the oak will shed its leaves during April and May.

At this point in time with so many spring buds and blossoms appearing our hope is to avoid a hard freeze before spring. We hit 76 degrees here along the coast with the mid-80s reported inland.

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

The Bog

December 23, 2019Chris and Carol 3 Comments

20191222_112300

A view from my sunroom window of our backyard habitat. Steady winter rains have reestablished the bog. It’s rained for about 48 hours straight as a low from the Gulf of Mexico moved across the southeast.

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Happy SUNday!

December 8, 2019December 8, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

20191204_161142

Camera: Samsung Galaxy S8+

Have a beautiful day – thanks for stopping by! Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

wordless wednesday

October 9, 2019October 9, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Japan Red Train

Japan Commuter

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Canon F-1 on Kodak Kodachrome – Yokohama, Japan – 1979

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

In the Garden – Imperial Moth

October 5, 2019October 5, 2019Chris and Carol 2 Comments

Today’s visitor in our North Florida garden – a colorful imperial moth.

DSCF8685

DSCF8689

DSCF8688

It’s a gorgeous moth, about 6 inches across and so very colorful.

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Friday Fotos – There’s a snake in the grass!

October 4, 2019October 4, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

I believe this early morning visitor in our garden is a common Florida cottonmouth (water moccasin). Very poisonous.

Water moccasin taking a break in our garden.

To the left of the cypress tree trunk is the part of our backyard that’s essentially a natural bog and wetlands with heavy tree cover. Ideal for snakes. Most of the snakes on our property are common black racers but we have our share of cottonmouth and rattlesnakes too.

Camera – Fujifilm X-A10 with Fujinon Aspherical Super EBC XC 16-50mm f/3.5 Lens

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Hurricane Hugo – 1989

September 18, 2019September 18, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Our house at 28A Nimitz Drive at the height of the storm. The image was taken by our neighbor from the safety of their house across the street.

Hurricane Hugo thirty years ago today. The eye of powerful Hurricane Hugo swept over the central U.S. Virgin Islands and the eastern coast of Puerto Rico on the morning of September 18, 1989. Here’s our house at the height of the hurricane as the winds whipped to a nearly sustained 100 mph with gusts to 120 mph. The house sat on the highest hill in base housing on the Naval Station Roosevelt Roads (Ceiba, Puerto Rico) overlooking the Carribean Sea. At this point of the storm, our carport roof had blown away (as did the backyard porch roof) and the living room window on the side had blown in. Our tan GMC Jimmy and blue VW bug somehow managed to make it through the storm with only minor paint damage from the sandblasting of the winds. The upstairs front window blew in a little bit after this picture was taken when the winds shifted around as the eye passed.

Of course, many areas of the base were heavily damaged or completely destroyed but the islands of St. Croix, Vieques and Culebra were essentially leveled. Hugo went on to deliver a powerful hit to South Carolina a few days later.

Our daughter had just turned six months old in September so we had evacuated to Florida less than 36 hours prior to landfall (actually the last flight out on American Airlines from San Juan to Miami).

tracks-at-1989

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Happy SUNday! – Photography by the pound!

September 8, 2019September 8, 2019Chris and Carol 1 Comment

My vintage 1978 Canon F-1. I’ve owned it since new and it’s pretty much traveled the world with me. From Japan to Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, The Philippines, Thailand, Africa, Europe, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, the US and most places in between.

4 pounds 6.2 ounces without film and batteries. That’s 1,991 grams of neck cramping weight!

Have a great day and thank goodness for my “tiny” digital cameras! – Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Hurricane Dorian – Sep 4, 2019, 1:30 PM Update

September 4, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

snip 9-4 1

As of the 1:30 PM radar update, Hurricane Dorian’s center is now just south of due east of Amelia Island and some of the strongest outer bands of precipitation are now just approaching our coastline. The yellow and red areas on the radar more than likely contain 40-50 mph sustained winds with gusts to 65+. This dance between the northward movement of the storm and the movement of these outer bands will be a close call for us.

Power is still on ATM!

Chris

Hurricane Dorian – Sep 4, 2019

September 4, 2019September 4, 2019Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Here’s the lastest snip of the hurricane as seen on enhanced radar. The eye is quite large and the eyewall has maintained its ragged appearance since yesterday. The central pressure is up to 964 mb and the sustained winds are down a bit. The eye will past well east of our island but I’m afraid that we’ll catch the outer squalls from the storm… soon.

Radar view as of 9 AM this morning. The western edge of the strongest convection and winds are now just about 30 or so miles east of Amelia Island. It’s going to be a close brush with the squalls associated with the outer edge of the storm (the yellow and red areas).

I thought I would post a bit earlier today since there’s a real possibility that we may lose power within the next couple of hours. The last time we lost power was for 61 hours with the passage of Hurricane Irma well west of us in 2017. Hopefully nothing like that this time.

You can see my post from yesterday here.

Chris

Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris

Yashica cameras and so much more!

Category The Earth

A warm winter – so far

The Bog

Happy SUNday!

wordless wednesday

In the Garden – Imperial Moth

Friday Fotos – There’s a snake in the grass!

Hurricane Hugo – 1989

Happy SUNday! – Photography by the pound!

Hurricane Dorian – Sep 4, 2019, 1:30 PM Update

Hurricane Dorian – Sep 4, 2019