Portrait of the morning

Every morning, as Andy walks the beach at dawn, he is busy ‘capturing the moment’. On most days, he produces what he calls a Portrait of the Morning  - an image which sums up that  morning at that  moment in time. Every morning is different. Each and every one has its own qualities. There are some who might think that most mornings on Fort Lauderdale beach are the same. Not at all.

Believe it or not, each morning smells  different – it’s not just visual. Sometimes, the beach smells salty. On other days there’s a smell of fuel in the air. On some mornings, there’s a fishy aroma and sometimes a faint floral scent. As you approach the Pelican Hotel on the beach, the aromas change to those of bacon, coffee and breakfast …

The flora and fauna changes daily too. Sometimes there are a lot of seabirds – usually when fishermen are around. Big E, Andy’s friend the white egret, only shows up during the summer months. Some days there’ll be many pelicans, flying in a V formation – other days just a couple floating on the ocean. Andy has captured images of starfish, corals, seaweed, Morning Glories, seashells …

And then there’s the light. Every morning the light changes. For the last few days, it has been raining pre dawn. When the rain stops and the sun begins to appear on the horizon, the light is completely different to that on a dry day. Clouds (and, no doubt, pollution and air quality) help to produce a different light every day. The ocean is never the same. Sometimes it is as still as the proverbial millpond, on other days it’s great for surfers.

All of which is simply an excuse to show you today’s Portrait of the Morning – start your day with sunshine

Have a wonderful day!