A Little Photo Trek on Memorial Day

by Kathy Garvey

On Memorial Day Monday there were just three Pieces, Carmen, Mary and myself. We met at Oars and Paddles Park  in Indian Harbor Beach to take photos. We then trekked our way across Mather's Bridge. Boat traffic was heavy so before we got to the center the bridge master let us know we had to either scoot back to the beginning or skitter across quickly. We crossed. 

On the other side we walked along and took more photos. Beautiful area. Lovely pictures. One of the things I loved the best were the Royal Poinciana trees in bloom. They reminded me of another day way back in 1966 when I was an exchange student to the Philippines. During our pre-destination tour (before the over 100 of us students would be distributed to our respective islands), we were taken to the Manila American Cemetery. Beautiful huge green lawns of rolling fields were shaded by hundreds of Royal Poinciana, all in bloom. It was the first time I'd seen them. And beneath them, row on row, field on field of white crosses overwhelmed this then seventeen year old with the cost of war.  

I took this photo in 1966 of one small section of the Manila American Cemetery using my Dad's old Viceroy camera
for the first time. It's faded and dark but if you click on it to enlarge it, you can make out the Poincianas
in the foreground and just one small section of the crosses in the background.

We three continued walking and taking photos while dodging heavy bike and automobile traffic. After another wait for boat traffic we crossed back over the bridge. It was WAY TOO HOT to continue! Our morning ended early with a fast dash to Doubles Beachside which, fortunately for us, was open by 10:30 a.m. on Memorial Day for cold sodas, lunch and frozen yogurt!

Of ninety two photos taken, twenty one were moved to a working folder for potential use and seven is the number I actually played with in Photoshop.  It is just play, not everything turns out like I want it to, but below are my before and afters. Click on any image to enlarge it.