Christopher's Crustacean

"Christopher's Crustacean" 

is a painting done at the request of my best friend and husband of 36 years.

We recently went on a trip with our teardrop camper "Tortuga" to Fort Pickens, Florida. It was a delightful stay and I'm sure we'll be back again. I photographed several Artillery guns, textures on walls and doors, and other assorted things. I also happened upon a hermit crab walking along the bottom of the bay, among the sea grasses. The grasses were teaming with life, small fish darting everywhere, thousands of eggs, and this hermit crab. It was not terribly happy that I plucked it from the water to photograph it! Waiting patiently for it to appear was not my strong point, but wait I did. The photos in the water were not so lovely, but we may visit them later as well in other paintings. 

Fort Pickens is a wonderful campground not far from here in Florida. It is a world away from the hustle and bustle of any city. Down a long stretch of road with water on either side, it reminded me of the keys. It is a part of our national parks system and beautifully maintained. The funny thing about this trip was their efforts to get people to slow down because of nesting birds. The birds have a tendency to run across the road in an effort to go somewhere and their babies will follow. The speed limit was 20 mph on a very long stretch of road. Once while we were traveling the posted speed, we were passed by two young men in a pickup truck out for a good time. Their trip was short lived however, as the ranger pulled them over and started the ticket process. (I imagine he also located the beer they were drinking!) Oh the joys and stupidity of youth! Most peculiar though was the speed bump in the middle of nowhere. Chris could not stand it any longer and asked why is it there in the middle of the 20mph stretch? The ranger laughed and said, it's to wake people up when they are not doing the speed limit. I'm sure they get a kick out of people hitting it rather hard if they are not paying attention!

I love these adventures with Christopher and this crustacean is a reminder of that lovely trip to Florida!

Christopher's Crustacean, Acrylic on canvas, 10 x 20