As blue hour transitions to sunrise, looking east over the Atlantic Ocean.
City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida, USA.
13 September 2026 (7:10 am EDT).
John Coltrane: Naima
Native autumnal yellow daisies, also known as Porter's sunflowers, blooming at the foot of Arabia Mountain, a granite-gneiss monadnock.
Photographed in morning light, along the Arabia Mountain PATH within the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, near the town of Stonecrest in east DeKalb County, Georgia, USA.
25 September 2026, at 8:20 am EDT.
— Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance.Every year in September, an explosion of yellow flowers covers granite outcrops such as Arabia Mountain, Panola Mountain [and Stone Mountain]. These are yellow daisies (Helianthus porteri). Related to sunflowers, they are one of the fall wonders within the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area.
Found in only 4 states — Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina — the flowers are most common on the rocky outcrops of the Georgia Piedmont region, thriving in fragile solution pits — vernal pools that are often dry and sandy — found on bare rock faces.
On a guided morning hike, Preserve Manager 'Ranger Robbie' Astrove gave us some sad news. This autumn, he's seen fewer native autumnal yellow daisies than in any of his fifteen years as ranger at the park. The intense, sustained summer heat may have been to blame.
Astrove had a plan, however. He led us along a boardwalk at the base of the mountain. There, rains, flowing down the impervious granite-gneiss rockface, had irrigated the plants during summer, while towering trees at the base provided ample shade from harsh afternoon sun. So, despite an overall deficit, the autumnal daisies were in abundance here. “Nature's gonna nature,” Ranger Robbie told us.
John Coates, Jr.: Prologue (No.39)
Fall foliage backlit by the rising sun: an autumn morning on Postal Pond.
Decatur Legacy Park in the city of Decatur, Georgia, USA.
7 October 2026 (8:58 am EDT).
Thelonious Monk: Ruby, My Dear
The ~0.6-mile-long John Ringling Causeway spans Sarasota Bay between the City of Sarasota (to the east) and Bird Key (to the west). The bay lies between barrier islands on the the Gulf of MEXICO and the western Florida coast.
Sarasota, Florida, USA.
6 October 2019 (8:05 am EDT)
And, yes, it's that Ringling! In 1927, John Ringling moved the headquarters of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to Sarasota.
Roy Haynes: Equipoise (composer: Stanley Cowell)
In early morning, wild red poppies (Papaver rhoeas) bloom in an urban meadow.
Seen along the 19-mile Stone Mountain Trail — here, located on the Eastern Continental Divide in the City of Clarkston, Georgia, USA.
13 April 2026.
Looking southeast from the summit of monadnock Arabia Mountain, one could see a noticeable (yet lovely) haze just after sunrise, produced by a combination of high humidity, 50% cloud cover, and air rife with pollen.
DeKalb County, Georgia, USA.
3 April 2026 (8:06 am EDT).
— Wikipedia.Ēostre was the name of a pagan Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn, mentioned by the English monastic scholar, the Venerable Bede in his 8th-century work, De temporum ratione (The Reckoning of Time).
The Old High German name for a goddess of the dawn was Ôstara. In Lithuanian mythology, the feminine deity of the morning star (Venus) was Aušrinė. All were derived from Austrō(n), the Proto-Indo-European name for goddess of 'dawn.'
In Anglo-Saxon England, the springtime festival in honor of Ēostre gave its name to a month (Northumbrian: Ēosturmōnaþ, West Saxon: Eastermonað), the rough equivalent of April, then to the Christian feast of Easter that eventually displaced it.
That being said, the modern Lithuanian name for Easter, “Velykos” is NOT related to the name “Aušrinė,” but derived from the word “vėlės,” for “souls” (as in, the saving of human souls from eternal damnation).
The morning sun rises over wetlands of Burnt Fork Creek, as seen from an elevated boardwalk on the South Peachtree Creek PATH.
Image NOT taken on Easter (4 April 2026), but two months earlier, in winter, on 12 February 2026.
Mason Mill Park in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA.
Pharoah Sanders: The Creator Has a Master Plan
Album:
Karma
Label: Impulse! (recorded/released: 1969)
As I was setting up my tripod, a passing hiker greeted me.
"It's a beautiful day."
"Yes, indeed," I replied.
Arabia Lake: a man-made reservoir on Arabia Mountain, a granite monadnock near the town of Stonecrest in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 6 November 2025.
The former Davidson Quarry, which owned Arabia Mountain in the mid 20th-century, created the lake by damming small Stephenson Creek. In 1972, the Davidson family closed the quarry and donated the land to the county. Concrete and metal remains of a quarry bridge can still be seen on both banks of the lake (visible, in the photo, in the background)
The land is now part of the Davidson-Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area...
...that encompasses natural, cultural, and historical elements to form a cohesive, nationally significant landscape. The area is due east of Atlanta and spans 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) reaching from the historic commercial center of Lithonia to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, including several sites in between, including Arabia Mountain, Panola Mountain, and the historic Flat Rock Community. The National Heritage Area was established in 2006 and is coordinated by the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area Alliance, which includes board members, representatives from the community and local organizations, and staff.
Miles Davis: Boplicity.
Album: Birth of the Cool
Label: Capitol Records (recorded 1949; released 1957).
It was 'blowing a hoolie' just before sunrise on the summit of Stone Mountain, that is, cold and windy!
A minimalist 'blue hour' silhouette in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA, on 10 October 2025 at 7:20 a.m. EDT.
Thelonius Monk: Crepuscule with Nellie
Album: Monk's Music (Label: Riverside, 1957)
Tree in morning sun.
Lakeside Park: St. Augustine Beach, Florida, USA. 4 September 2025 (7:38 am EDT)
I was leaving a sunrise photoshoot in the park's sculpture garden, and I paused in the parking lot to glance back at Lake Anhinga. I saw this: the morning sun backlighting the branches of a perimeter tree, reflected on the lake. An afterthought had become a highlight. (Photographic moral of the story: don't forget to look behind you!)
Ahmad Jamal: Poinciana
Album: At the Pershing: But Not For Me (Label: Argo, 1958)
Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).
Españolas (2010)
painted concrete
— Marianne Lerbs
St. Augustine Sculpture Garden:
City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida, USA.
12 September 2025.
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the continental United States, established by Spanish explorers in 1565. The sculpture garden, established in 2010, sits just beyond the city's southeastern border, in St. Augustine Beach, a suburban-esque town of mid-20th-century vintage.
I first made the acquaintance of these charming ladies on a visit to St. Augustine in 2018 and took their portraits. One could easily envision female colonists of the 1700s, 'Las Españolas,' leisurely strolling on Sundays, their parasols in hand, evoking the imagery captured by the sculptor.
I wasn't overly pleased with my effort, so I returned seven years later, in 2015, to try again. The park looked a bit worn, in need of care, and the sculpture's plaque was missing. Nevertheless, 'en alborada,' the ladies appeared particularly resplendent. Felicitaciones!
I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, during the sixties. Now in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, I am a multidisciplinary artist, painter, muralist, and sculptress, a college-level art instructor, and a recipient of 'Artist in Residence' grants.— Marianne Lerbs
I have participated several times in Jacksonville's Cultural Council Art in Public Programs, developing murals, banners, and large art panels. I have designed and executed large mosaic murals for the Florida Museum of Natural History. I recently completed [in 2009] three monumental sculptures for the St. Augustine Sculpture Garden in St. Augustine Beach, Florida.
Album: Light as a Feather (Label: Polydor)
Released 1973; recorded 1972.
Melton Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 23 June 2025.
A peripatetic ruby-crowned kinglet (Corthylio calendula) momentarily stops to sing in a forsythia bush, its red crown shining in winter morning light.
Ruby-crowned kinglets typically inhabit northern North America. I spotted this male, however, much farther south (in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA), where it was probably preparing for its imminent migration back north.
26 February 2025.
***************
Pines trees under a winter morning sun (with a bit of snow, to boot).
Hawthorne Nature Trail: DeKalb County (Northlake), Georgia, USA. 12 January 2025.
Since 1997, Cask Marque has been ensuring that the cask ale you drink in pubs in the U.K. has been in perfect condition. Qualified ass...
" 
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