txtourista2022

One of the major hotspots in Bangor right now is Mt. Hope Cemetery. That's no surprise. Created as a "garden cemetery" in 1836, the intent from the beginning was that families would find peace and beauty, even joy, visiting their loved ones. They could stroll the beautifully landscaped grounds and have a picnic. I didn't see any picnics today, but there were plenty of walkers and kids on bikes and scooters, getting out of seclusion on a sunny afternoon. I was just a few steps from the car when I came across another kind of couple out for a stroll. It was a thrill to be able to get close enough to these hoodies for some snaps. (Clicking on a photo will enable larger views of them all.) Then I began noticing textures, and there were many. Given the kids yelling happily and the many folks enjoying the sunshine, you could forget what a strange time we're living in. But on the way home, the truth was obvious.

Txtourista is on the loose! I'm renewing my travel blog, because, after all, travel is about new experiences, and what could be a newer experience than the first quarantine of our lifetimes? (And, we hope, the last.) The fun of taking pictures in Florida or Texas was that there was something interesting almost everywhere I looked. In my house, not so much. So my challenge to myself is to find something to shoot every day or two as long as this incabinating lasts. It starts with snow: not what I was expecting or particularly wanting, but beautiful.

My month in St. Augustine isn't complete without a visit to the Alligator Farm. No, they don't farm alligators for meat; they research and educate the public, they say, though there's no denying that it's a major tourist stop, too. We get a kick out of the alligators and other reptiles and exotic birds But we go there for the big local birds. For whatever reason, egrets, wood storks, and spoonbills nest there, and there's plenty of action. The great egrets were breeding. You can see why their spectacular breeding feathers were in such demand for ladies' hats that they were nearly hunted out of existence. There was a lot of flying about and doing funny up-and-down dances, and some pairs looked like an illustration for a Valentine's Day card. Two wood storks did an amazing routine of beak-clashing. Whether that was warfare or courting I have no idea, but it ended peacefully.  The spoonies always make us laugh. ...

On my last visit to the Old Town, I started taking pictures of windows. This next one made me laugh: a non-window. There's no way onto the balcony. Perhaps there was a round window once. But I soon abandoned my focus on fenestration (I've always wanted an excuse to use that word!). There were doors, entryways, balconies! (Beth was so taken with this little house, which is for sale, that she looked it up. Two bedrooms, loaded with charm, and yours for a cool half-million.) Everywhere you look, there's a jaw-dropping architectural detail. Some of the photo-worthy bits I saw are on  hotels, inns, and churches, one was a government building (Spanish government, that is), and some are on private homes. Some date to late in the first Spanish period (1565-1763), though those have been altered and/or added onto. Some were built later, some when this was a Gilded Age winter playground, and some are just built in a vaguely Spani...