It was a strange week, photographically speaking. I did not do anything exciting–no travel, no particular events, just the usual morning walks with Mochi, bike rides and work. I even ignored the solar eclipse on Wednesday evening since we live on the coast, facing east, and to the west we are surrounded by tall buildings and mountains. With the eclipse occuring shortly before sunset it was not worth it to even try to see it.
The one new activity was to take Mochi to a beach where dogs can swim. Still, I got a lot of nice images (or so I think, anyway), and the blog is rather long as a result.
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Sunday morning walk. The high tide has left some water behind:
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Selfies in the making:
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Mochi’s favourite part of the walk, stopping by the bakery to buy the morning baguette, and getting some bread from the friendly owner:
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Mid-flight:
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The beach where I walk Mochi almost every morning is actually off-limits to dogs. At 7 a.m. when there are few people and no police around you can get away with it, but later in the day bringing a dog to the beach will likely incur a fine. However, about 4 km from our house there is a rocky beach, quite secluded and without silly prohibitions. So on Sunday evening we packed Mochi, some beach chairs and some beer in the car and drove to that beach. This couple provided a romantic first image:
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Most dogs look shaggy when they are wet:
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When I walk Mochi in the morning, I sometimes try to encourage him to get his paws wet but walking at the water’s edge, but he resists. However, here he was more than happy to jump in the water. Perhaps the mid-30s temperature had something to do with it:
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Mochi has lots of fur, so a thorough shake-off is needed:
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No fear:
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A woman arrived with a smaller version of Mochi:
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Nose to nose:
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Yet another dog:
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One last shake, then it will be time to go home:
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On Monday afternoon, we had a break from the usual blue sky, although no rain resulted:
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Tuesday morning walk, another sunrise selfie being set up:
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Three selfies:
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The sun emerges:
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Another illegal dog on the beach:
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I think I can figure out what the intended photo is:
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A bit of work. In November we will arrange a major event about foresight, a discipline to look ahead long term, in this case 2050. Our keynote speaker will be a German futurist, and on Tuesday morning we tested the auditorium where he will deliver his speech online:
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A random image from my neighbourhood. A Polish car owner has embellished the VW logo:
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Thursday morning, another nice sunrise. These two women go to great lengths to get the best selfie:
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I continue to be fascinated by the range of activities people do on the beach. Here, two guys are doing some martial arts practice:
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This woman has appeared on the beach on several occasions recently, always exercising alone:
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Two young men in the water, with the sun just above the horizon now:
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The three graces:
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I am not sure if these two women have slept on the beach, or just got an early start. While we live in very safe place, it is unusual to see women sleeping on the beach:
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During my bike ride on Saturday morning I stopped for a break in the village Verdegás, as usual. It is a good spot to take a break after 19 km of cycling mostly uphill, a small square behind the church, with benches and shade. But this weekend it was obvious that the village was going to celebrate its summer fiesta. And sure enough, while I was sitting on the bench, a bunch of mostly young people arrived with music and drinks, to start setting up things (it was 10 a.m.):
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They certainly did not object to the presence of me or my camera (in this case the small Panasonic GM5 that lives in the handlebar bag of my bicycle):
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This guy, holding what looks like an amphora, seemed to be the master of ceremonies:
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As I was leaving the square, these 5 young women asked me if I would send them the pictures I had taken. Of course I said yes, but on the condition that they would pose for me, which they happily did. I gave them my phone number, and later one of them sent me a Whatsapp message to which I replied with the photos:
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On Saturday afternoon, I took my bicycle to the 100 Montaditos bar a couple of km from my house. During a weekend afternoon in August, it is impossible to find parking around the beach, so taking the bicycle is the way to get there. On the way, I stopped to photograph the crowded beach, although crowded in an unusual manner:
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On my home, I stopped to have a look at a beach volley tournament on “my” beach, Playa Muchavista:
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To achieve some gender balance in my photos, I also looked at the men’s part of the tournament:
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Reaching for the ball, but not quite making it:
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On the attack:
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Into the net:
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A smash:
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Returning the serve:
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Setting up:
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Ball in the air:
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Stirring up stand:
