Monday, January 14, 2013

We stand on guard for thee

No one to watch
Deerfield Beach, FL
December 2009
Click here for more On The Water Thematic
The long-ago lifeguard in me always stops and stares at the guard towers at the beach. They look so unassuming, but to someone in trouble way out there, the people who work here could be the difference between having a story to tell your friends the next day and not telling stories at all.

I guarded at a pool, so my vantage point was decidedly less impressive - a chair on a 7-ish foot pedestal. This tower would have been a lot sexier. If only I lived close to an ocean or similarly impressive body of water. Next life, I guess.

So in this life, I shoot late afternoon scenes like this. After everyone's gotten out of the water and the guards have gone home. When the only people on the beach are the treasure hunters and stragglers who wander up and down the beach near - but never in - the water. It's a totally different vibe here compared to just a couple of hours ago, all thanks to the sun sinking way too fast in the western sky. Most days, I find myself wishing it would hang up there just a little bit longer. Like many things these days, I wish I had the power.

Your turn: Who works here?

One more thing: We're wrapping up our week-long exploration of "on the water". Click here to pop in a last-minute contribution. Drop back in at 7:00 p.m. Eastern for our next theme, multiples.

1 comment:

Beverly said...

When I saw the title of your post, I immediately thought of "Oh, Canada." When I taught school down in Haiti, we often started our school day by singing both the anthems of the two countries since we were Americans and Canadians.

When the Blue Jays are playing, I enjoy hearing your anthem played before the beginning of a game.