I used to love winter, especially snow days. In 1978 a 3 foot snowstorm paralyzed Washington, D.C. Challenging reality and being confident in my little front wheel drive Honda Accord, I ventured off to conquer the white stuff. I moved forward about 6 feet and that was all she wrote. I backed into my parking space where my car remained for days. 

Those days of being enamored with winter have long since passed. It’s not just the cold, often dreary weather, it is harsh light and lack of color that is discouraging, more so for a photographer, so looking for a respite I started spending the winters in South Florida. Today it was 45 degrees at 9 AM with a “feels like” of 39. Is this still South Florida or did tectonic plates shift and dump me in North Dakota? Now I realize you folks up north consider 39 degrees to be absolutely balmy, but for us, it’s The Big Chill.

To that end, I headed to the beach. I wanted to see how many robust souls would be in the water or sunbathing as it is now high season here and the beaches are typically crowded by 9 in the morning. Not today. This solo beach walker encountered only a couple of seagulls.