I took this photo on June 19th at Huntington Beach where I monitor endangered birds every Tuesday morning. I really liked the way the photo came out and vowed to find the surfer with the long hair and give him a copy. Several weeks have passed and I still had not seen him on the beach. Since the birds have all fledged, today is the last I'll be heading down to the beach to watch them. As my friend and I are getting out of my car to start our two hour walk to monitor the birds, I see the long-haired surfer loading his van with his distinctive surfboard. He's there with the other guy in the photo, his wife and two kids. I try desperately to find the photo on my phone but cannot so I approach him anyways and tell him about it. I say if he gives me his email address I'll email the pic to him. He says cool, he'd like that very much. He then inquires about our role in saving an endangered bird so we tell him about the program and other birds we monitor as well. He said he has a home in Costa Rica and a turtle sanctuary and release center on both coasts of the country. Would we be interested in being a volunteer in Costa Rica helping bring back the numbers of Leatherback and Green turtles to the world? My friend Tina and I look at each other and say, heck yes! Who knows ... We may be living in Costa Rica for a while sometime in the future. But for the time being, I'll stay local and continue to take beach photos. :-) This post was edited by jodi_in_so_calif on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 20:43

Boat assortment from Block Island. View across the Great Salt Pond towards the Coast Guard station My wife's family always use to go to Block Island for their summer vacation, and were members of the Block Island Club where many of the family learned sailing. In fact her father orchestrated the first purchase and shipment of "420" sailboats that the club used. Here's my wife and brother-in-law taking a 420 out for a spin. Here's a race the club hosted, competing against a different sailing club, with 420's and smaller sailboats called "Optis" Here's a different brother-in-law in the boat that he (and part of his family) came to the island on from the mainland 10 miles away.

Such curious creatures, those dragon- and damselflies! They are so odd looking, almost unrealistic, more like a piece of jewelry. Such different colors too. Interesting. Nicole, I love your hummer today. This is a side I haven't seen before and I do love his tummy ruff. Cool stuff.

One of the ferries that go between islands in the Caribbean.