The pictures are gorgeous! Your "not my best work" is twenty-eight times (approximately, of course) better than my best work! I hope that you had a great, relaxing time!!!

I hope that the vacation was warm and restorative. The gray weather is really beginning to drag on me (although we gain sunlight every day--gotta love that!)

I think they are fantastic! I hope you had a great time.

They look fabulous! You're too hard on yourself. The beach or the mountains are a must as, we need a force of nature to enhance life and remind us we are only a small part of this gorgeous earth.

Thanks for helping to satisfy some major beach cravings that I've got in this land-locked, frozen state.

B is also for beautiful! But now I want to be at the beach. Waaahhh.

I love those "not your best work" photos. I agree with you on the restorative properties of a shoreline. One of the best places on earth to be is a Pacific NW beach cottage in a winter storm!

Love the beach anytime of year. Thanks for the glimpse!

I can feel the cold sand between my toes, and feel the salty wind on my face. And if these photos aren't great, can't wait to see "better" ones. Love the beach in winter, thanks for the sites.

I agree about the beauty of being near the water. When my partner and I first lived together we could see Lake Superior from our windows and it was a short walk away.

Now we're again living with a view of a Great Lake and even though it's only a sliver between two houses, I know it's there.

Great pictures. I like your perspective on things.

I love the coconut that's covered with barnacles. Who needs a fancy lens when nature makes such wonderful art?

Love it thanks for sharing the experience - I've been going to the beach (orange beach, AL) for at least a week in the summer with friends every year for the past 23 years or so - actually Sweetie (hubby of 3 years) stays at home, just really not his thing. It is truly restorative and your pics are almost "challenging" trying to determine exactly what they are - any chance of a listing so I won't be so confused?

I have been once in October and although the blues didn't tend to be quite as vivid there's just something about the sounds and textures that still makes up for it.

I love them because they're all wintery, with those definitely-not-summer colors -- I like the beach best in the winter. I hope you had a nice weekend, too.

Wonderful pictures. I've always loved the ocean, but don't get to see it much here in Wyoming. Your pictures reminded me of the tranquility and complexity of the beach and the ocean. Thanks.

I always enjoy your photos.

If I took one picture in my entire life that was half as good as the ones you take on a regular basis, I would consider that a huge accomplishment for me. Seriously. You've got crazy mad photographer skills!

*sigh*

Thanks for sharing with this land-locked Minnesotan...

The pictures are fabulous, as always. Hope you and your man had a lovely, peaceful, relaxing vacation. You were missed in blogland!

Gorgeous photos! And definitely another favorite "B" for me. If I hadn't done Blue......

Welcome home! I love the pictures. They make me long for the beach. Growing up in Long Island we were never more than 20 minutes away and we all loved to sneak onto private beaches late at night and... well, you get the picture. Now I'm in lovely Northern Virginia and there are no beaches anywhere close. sigh!

You'll have to tell me the story of your adventures in law librarianship some day.

Lovely! Good to have you back, glad you had a wonderful and restful vacation :-)

Your "not my best work" photos are far nicer than anything I could ever hope to shoot. I was born and raised in Maine, and the beach was a big part of my childhood. It is incredibly theraputic. I, too, would love a beach home one day. I hope you are able to make that dream come true.

Welcome home!! Your pictures are great. ; ) DH grew up on the beach in Southern California and we lived a block away in Northern Oregon, but now we're kind of land-locked... maybe again, someday.

Nice. I'm stumped on what the translucent thing is after the orange picture.

Wow, what great pics! I hope you and G had a wonderful time!

But please - what's picture #4 of? I was always stumped by those pictures on the back of National Geographic World, too - I've always been bad at those kinds of things!

C, very nice pictures. The colors made me smile, and evoked lots of memories of playing on the beach with brightly colored plastic toys. Glad that you had a good time. I missed you! - jen

i like the jellyfish pic - i have a bit of a phobia for them but seeing just a fragment like this makes it beautiful.

We got some nice compensation for waiting for you to come back. xo Kay

PS Have you ever gotten a note telling you how gorgeous your holiday card was? Like a handwritten note and not from a relative? (Well, you probably have.) I just did!

Almost as good as being at the beach... Your timing was perfect - today it was grey and snowy. Thanks for the sun and warmth.

Give yourself a break, those images do a great job of capturing life at "the Shore".

Yea, I'm a Joisey goirl too.

Lovely photos, I love the beach - spend most of my spare non knitting time on it and your photos capture it perfectly. I actually think I prefer the beach at this time of year when I have it almost to myself :-)

Iloved this post. Just after 9/11, when we were all on the verge of hysteria I heard someone say this and it has stuck with me. "Salt water is always healing, whether it comes in the form of sweat, or tears, or waves." Don't you think that's why so many of us would like to live by the sea? And my favorite children's book of all time is Miss Rumphius, who wanted to come home to live by the sea. Thanks for reminding me!

Thanks for the show! I love the pictures.

Gorgeous beach shots!