A Gorgeous Mid-Summer Day

This morning, the water felt wonderful. The sand felt wonderful. The air smelled wonderful. But...



Once the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster began washing ashore in June, my enthusiasm for taking photos took a vacation. However, this morning I wandered out to Pensacola Beach just to see how things were going. On July 21, on a beautiful, warm morning at around 10:00 a.m., I witnessed water as clear and beautiful as I'd ever seen here. Sand clean and soft, and bright white. And a surreal almost complete lack of people to enjoy it all.



Sadly, with health warning signs posted everywhere and BP clean-up crews still here, this community is suffering in a huge way. The unknowns are frightening people -- both locals and tourists -- away. Even though the water and beach "look" great, and the air is salty and fresh, no one seems to know if there are unseen dangers in the waters, the air, and buried just under the surface of the sugar white sands. Some are taking their chances and enjoying themselves anyway. But most others are staying away. And Gulf Breeze, Pensacola Beach and the surrounding communities are hurting. Badly.

Somber Sunrise on Pensacola Beach

The smell of oil was thick this early Sunday morning as my daughters and I took a somber sunrise walk on Pensacola Beach. The tar balls are getting larger, and more numerous. I wondered if they had made their way into Pensacola Bay and if they were hitting the shores of Gulf Breeze yet...



The BP cleaning crews were out already, picking up the tar balls and blobs.



This little crab seemd to be suspiciously eyeing the tar balls coming in with the surf. I silently apologized to him, and to the shore birds diving into the waves to catch their breakfasts.



As we left, although we thought we were very careful to avoid stepping on tar balls, we all had gooey tar on the soles of our feet.

Tar Ball

This "tar ball" on Pensacola Beach yesterday looked like a rock at first. It was a little over an inch wide. Once I realized what it was, I started to see several along the waterline. It is the first sign of what is to come.

Oil begins to come ashore today

On this picture perfect warm summer morning, Margaret and I went out to Pensacola Beach and the Gulf Islands National Seashore on Santa Rosa Island to walk along the water's edge and take some pictures of the still-pristine waters and sand. As we pulled in to the parking lot at Casino Beach, we heard the news that tarballs were beginning to be found on the beach this morning. It is impossible to describe the sorrow that permeates this community today.