New year, day two

The second day of the year is a special day for me. Anyone who reads this far will find out why.

The second day of the year is another tired day. The time between years is tiring and I find it hard to finish what I started on the last day of the year that has passed. I am talking about the retrospective of the year 2024 made with the help of photographs. I started with an idea that changes from one post to another. If I had done one post I might have managed to keep a line, but this way, because I've broken it into four posts, I realize I'm getting away from the subject.

This is part three of the 2024 retrospective, seen through a few selected photos from each month of the year.

The first two parts are these:

End Of The Year

A New Year With Old Stories

July, August, and September now follow.

July

July is already a month on fire!

I wonder now if I will be able to do other retrospectives in the years to come. Being about the future, everything is relative, and because I am no longer the child who thought he was immortal, I am shying away from a firm answer. And yet, if I have several such retrospectives then I will give a name to each one, depending on what has been dominant in my life that year.

This year was the year of traveling to the sea, it was like revenge for the time when I couldn't see the sea.

Now I notice that I didn't go to the seaside in July, the most desired month for seaside vacation lovers. There is an explanation.

July has become such a hot month and sunburn kills the pleasure of being by the sea. The few photos chosen for this month show me that I've been staying home and indoors more. Luckily I have a small yard with lots of flowers...

Passiflora is my favorite flower. It looks like an alien flower because of the climate, it doesn't grow in my country, Romania. But now, with global warming, Passiflora has arrived in my garden.

I note with pleasure that July was a month of flowers. I still have one more flower to brighten my old age.

My niece, Ilinca, has a great passion for the mirror and what she sees in the mirror.

The sea has a competitor in the city where I live, my home sea is a park. Circus Park.

I like to photograph people walking in the park and I try to do it without them noticing.

The conclusion that comes to me now is that flowers are a heat antidote.

The park is an alternative to a trip.

August

August was the month I went to the seaside in my youth.

As the years went by, I found it harder and harder to bear the excessive heat and moved the sea month to September.

This year I celebrated my birthday at Lighthouse Golf & Spa on January 2 and a good friend's birthday on August 24. They were two wonderful short vacations, both gifts from this friend. This is one explanation for the five trips to the seaside. I couldn't have paid for them all.

Lighthouse Golf & Spa Hotel is a five-star hotel frequented especially by golfers.

I am not a golfer but I love the quiet, wide open spaces and the seascape and sometimes I like to indulge. It rarely happens and then I appreciate the comfort more.

This time I managed to get a few new things and I mean the photos.

I took my first selfies, but not classic ones, just some reflections in the mirror. I walked around the hotel and came across some mirrors, set up for drivers' visibility in some winding roads on the short road by the sea.

I also tried night photography, which I am not good at all.

We also had fog. I like fog and the effect it has on the photo. These didn't work too well for me either, but I couldn't ignore them. I want to have a memory.

September

As I said above, September is my favorite time at the seaside.

I made a promise to another friend that we would go with her to the sea, to Balchik. When I made the promise I didn't know we'd have so many trips there. In September the deadline came and we had to keep our promise, even though I thought it was too much already.

This time we are back to our first love, Balchik!

Balchik is a Black Sea resort in Bulgaria, which is mainly made for walking and contemplation.

Most tourists are like us, interested more in walking, relaxing and sightseeing, mainly Queen Maria's Castle.

There are, however, many who can't come to the seaside without sunbathing or swimming. To them, I dedicate the following photos...

I can't hide the nostalgia for the more distant times when for me too the sea meant an abandon on the beach, insensitive to the sun's rays.

I would love to be lying on the warm sand again, just like the dog in the photo!

I barely managed to finish the third part of this series.

I started writing yesterday, January 2nd, but I couldn't finish.

I have a little excuse, it was my birthday. I know you're not curious to know, but I'm still saying. I turned 71.
I'm saying it mainly for myself, lest I forget!

_{I rely mostly on photos in all my blogs. Words don't help me as much as photos.}

_{I always start with photos when I want to write a blog. Photos remind me of places, events, and feelings that then turn into words. When I post in Photography Lovers the words have even less importance, they are a companion to the photos I want to show. This often makes the story uninteresting or common, yet it is necessary; otherwise, the photos would merely be a series of unexciting images.}

_{I make this statement as a plea to those reading not to over-judge the text and to focus on the photos. The story puts everything in context and provides the explanations and clarifications necessary for the blog to convey something of interest to the reader.}

_{Since we all love photography, let’s explore the captivating details captured in these photos.!}

_{A wise saying goes that a photograph is worth a thousand words, but I don't think so.}

_{It depends on the viewer.}

Just a friendly heads-up: I'm keeping an eye on you!