views – Page 2 – A Tangled Mind In Motion

Leprechauns Are Redundant Rascals In The Emerald City

April 8, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, dutch caribbean, ferns plants, Flora, flowers, gaming, Hiking, jungle, Mt Scenery, nature, outdoors, panorama, photography, Saba, saturation, Sony NEX-6, stone walls, transportation, Tropical, views, Volcanic stone3 Comments

The Path To Mt Scenery, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Generally speaking, for Saba jungle images I took while I was there, I have to reduce the saturation of the color green, because it’s so incredibly green on your way up, it tends to blow out your eyes ability to pick out detail. I let the green be in this picture, so you can really get a sense of the kinds of jungle flora around you, on trees, ferns, plants, and the man made volcanic stone walls that line some of the hike to Mt Scenery. It’s the most strenous official trail on Saba, and I summited ten times during my four months there. I always discovered something new and delightful.

For those of you who’ve summited Mt Scenery, this particular structure is very distinct and unique on the scenery path. Care to guess where on the path it is?

Avatar Cloud Beast Freaks Out Grandpa So Much He Spits Out His Dentures

April 2, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, cliffs, clouds, jungle, Mt Scenery, nature, outdoors, panorama, photography, Saba, Sony NEX-6, Tropical, views5 Comments

Angel Clouds and Cliffs, Mt Scenery Summit, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

My last hike on Saba was an easy ramble up Mt Scenery with my island amigo Fred Bower, who in his five and a half years on the island, hadn’t made it up the mountain. We stopped plenty for photographs, and although it was cloudy up top so views were curtailed, it was still otherworldy enough to afford Fred the views everyone else had referenced. Now he’s off to Costa Rica with his wife Kelly (a longtime Sea Saba boat captain and dive instructor) for some more craziness, of which I confess I am jealous. Kudos for them!

I dig this photograph not because it’s a great photograph, but while I stood there with the clouds racing over the cliffs, and just a peak view of the ocean and Statia and the green cliffs from the Scenery summit, I felt like it was the kind of cloud view the movies so often portray, and eventually an angel or some otherworldly creature (Avatar?) pops out, flies around, freaks everyone out, then everyone watches in awe as the beast zooms and zigzags around. Ah, well. There goes my imagination again. Enjoy! I’m back in San Francisco, but still going through my archives for worthy pix. Not many more, I promise.

Buddha Goes A Little Nuts Over Fiery Sunsets. Calm Down, Big Guy!

March 28, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, clouds, El Momo, nature, Ocean views, outdoors, photography, Saba, Sony NEX-6, sunset, views, WindwardsideLeave a comment

Sunset From The El Momo Cottages, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Damn. I took this nice sunset photo from the desk of the main El Momo cottages office up on The Level, then saw the rug draped over the fence. Heck, it’s still a gorgeous view, let’s go wit’ it.

On Being The Captain Of A Ship That Never Comes In

March 25, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged blue sky, Caribbean, clouds, Great Hill, Ladder Bay, nature, Ocean views, outdoors, panorama, photography, Saba, sailing, sea, Sony NEX-6, views2 Comments

Sailboat, Ladder Bay, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Almost finished packing. Rounds of goodbye parties started. Rocked the Swinging Doors Open Mic night on Saturday. Not a bad weekend in Saba.

Cottage Cheese And The Pursuit Of Water Color

March 23, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, clouds, cottage, cottages, flowers, iPad, iPhoto, nature, outdoors, photography, plants, Saba, Sony NEX-6, Tropical, views, watercolor, WindwardsideLeave a comment

A simple picture (converted to watercolor) of three old Windwardside cottages, lined up neatly in a row in the foothills of Mt Scenery. Something so orderly and cool about the way these villages sit on top of the Auld Rock just appeals to me, call me crazy.

Life moves at its steady pace here on Saba as I start collecting boxes to pack, plan a few last hikes, finish up my remaining dives to say goodbye to the aquatic life, and of course, make the rounds to thank the locals, expats, and friends I’ve made along the way. Life is good.

The Winding Stairway Leads To A Gossiping Dodo Bird

March 22, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, jungle, nature, photography, plants, Saba, Sony NEX-6, stairs, views, Volcanic stone, WindwardsideLeave a comment

Volcanic Stone Stairway, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Everywhere on Saba lie these ubiquitous stair steps made of volcanic rock hewn from the isle, including the Mt Scenery trail and countless other pathways in the four villages. Of course, they often lead to nowhere, formerly to terraced farms that have long since overgrown. C’est la vie. They are still uniquely Saban.

Keeping It (Sur)Real In Saba

March 21, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, cliffs, clouds, cottage, cottages, iPhoto, Lightroom, nature, outdoors, panorama, photography, Saba, Sony NEX-6, Tropical, views, Windwardside1 Comment

Telephone Lines, Windwardside, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

The rise of Instagram on the Web has been interesting to me. The program allows ordinary folks to take their digital smartphone pictures and rough them up to look like old Instamatic or Polaroids, so its retro throwback all the way. In that vein of thinking, I kept looking at this picture of a Windwardside road with the telephone lines strung haphazardly to every house, which poses an artistic challenge. My final Jeopardy answer was to rough the picture up, heap some good old film grain on it, and now I’m pleased with the sort of surreal picture that results. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you’ll see it’s definitely a real picture, but when you pull back on it…this unusual image of the village emerges. In the end, its undeniably Saba, which is what I wanted. It could be nothing else in the world with this combo of colors, cottages, and tropical contours.

The Road May Be Life, But That Doesn’t Mean You Can Skateboard On It

March 20, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, cliffs, clouds, Hills, jungle, nature, outdoors, panorama, photography, Saba, Sony NEX-6, St. John's, The Road, viewsLeave a comment

The Road Out Of St John's Bends Around Past Old GEBE — The Road Out Of St John’s Bends Around Past Old GEBE

My time is ticking, running out here on Saba, and just when I think I’ve run out of images to show, I confront The Road I take to Windwardside from St John’s every day, often 3-4 times a day, and see an artistic perspective I didn’t catch before. That’s today’s pic, the descent out of St John’s after I climb out of the Flat, and bend around past the old GEBE station, where the plaintive bleats and brays of goats on the ridges and cliffs continues, the wind sometimes moans in the cleft between the mountains, and the fog tops Mt Scenery. I dig this place, I really do. Guess I’ll be back in a few years…

Did You Ever See A Bird That Had The Blues, Drank Whiskey, And Smoked Cigarettes?

March 19, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged animals, Birds, Caribbean, garden, jungle, nature, outdoors, panorama, photography, Saba, Sony NEX-6, views, yellowbreast4 Comments

Yellowbreast In Latticework, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Well, these ADD l’il guys may be everywhere on Saba, but this was the first chance I had to actually have one sitting still long enough to snap a focused picture. Now that I did, I think they’re kinda purty thangs…all them colors and such. Wonder if they taste good with in a wild mushroom/red wine demi-glacé? Did I write that out loud? Jus’ kiddin’….testing to see if anyone actually reads this blurb 🙂 Cute Tweetie can go be his hyper self with his squeaky family all in the yellow flower trees.

Light rain in the forecast on and off the next couple days, so everyone who’s not here in Saba cross your respective fingers for us. The cisterns–nay, the island–need it…big time.

I Only Wanted Sharks With Frickin’ Laser Beams In The Purple Rain

March 18, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, cliffs, clouds, nature, ocean, Ocean views, oil tankers, outdoors, panorama, photography, Rainstorm, Saba, Sony NEX-6, views, water, wet pavement2 Comments

Offshore Rainstorm, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

In recent days, I spoke about watching rainstorms drop massive water a few miles offshore while Saba struggles with draught conditions. Here’s the most compelling photo yet (click to make larger, if you’d like) to show you what Sabans see. We ended up getting about 15 minutes of light light sprinkle from this beastie, barely enough to cover an extra hand wash, but something is better’n nothing, unless that something is an angry honey badger.