A baby in a tree & other sightings at TPC Sawgrass

This itty bitty baby raccoon was hiding in a tree on the golf course.

I spent most of the morning shooting inside the clubhouse, but I wish I could have shot this welder all day long.





Dennis & Brian from Alphalam were finishing up their second day of installation on the lower level. There are 50+ images that range in size from 24x36 to 36x54, 48x60 & 36x72. Rob converted the images to sepia & applied a blurry effect around the edges. They look great!

Saturday's Sights

Tally woke me up at 6:15 am. She wanted to go for a walk. I threw on some shorts & I thought it might be a little cool so I put on a sweatshirt. It was FREEZING but she wouldn't let me back inside to put on jeans. After the walk we went back to sleep.
A little later, Mary came in & caught me in bed with Tally.

On my way to the optician I passed the Gold Coast Roller Rink and ...

... a bar called the Mental Ward. I love the sign, "We're all here because we're all not there."

Moving by the numbers

My move spanned three days over the course of a week, though I've been preparing for months. It was an exhausting nightmare!
Here are some interesting statistics:

Number of ...
Packing men: 2 (March 29, 2007)
Hours worked by packers: 17 (8.5 x 2 men)
Boxes packed by packers: 67
Boxes packed by me: 204 (over the course of a few months)
Hours slept night before truck arrives: 2.5
Moving men for loading: 5 (March 30, 2007)
Hours worked by movers loading in Weston: 48.75 (9.75 x 5 men)
Movers that limped: 2
Weight of the marble table that was dropped on Jimmy the mover's foot on another job the day before (hence the limp): 450 (pounds)
Items inventoried in the moving truck: 407
Evenly spaced cuts in one fingertip after tape gun mishap: 6 (3 really deep)
Times I lost both tape guns on truck loading day: 7
Significant bruises: 4
Average showers per day since packing began: 3
Moving men for delivery: 3 (April 3, 2007)
Hours worked by movers unloading in Ponte Vedra Beach: 22.5 (7.5 x 3 men)
Length of truck: 54 (feet)
Estimated weight of truck: 26,000 (pounds)
Actual weight of truck: 51,000 (pounds)
Trips up the stairs to my home office by the movers & me: a gazillion
Heavy boxes that were supposed to go upstairs that the movers "accidentally" (translation: purposely) stacked downstairs, that I found before they left: 12
Heavy boxes that were supposed to go upstairs that the movers "accidentally" (translation: purposely) stacked downstairs, that I didn't find until after they left: 8
Four letter words uttered by me: way too many to count

March 30, 2007
UGH! The truck arrives.

The movers wrap some furniture out on the patio.

The "master packer." This guy sure knows how to load a truck!

Buzz Lightyear is perched on one of the moving men's bumper.

Four of the moving guys pose for a picture after everything is loaded.

The sun is setting as the truck leaves Weston.


April 3, 2007
The truck arrives in Ponte Vedra Beach & the unloading begins. I'm surprised there are only 3 guys to unload since their were 5 guys to load.

I was responsible for logging everything in as it came off the truck.

There was an inventory checklist for each of three colors of tags.

Making progress. The truck is a little more than half empty.

They struggled to get these huge file cabinets upstairs. I have two offices upstairs. I'll call them "left" & "right." These cabinets are in "right" which is larger than "left." There are also custom cabinets in "left." For some reason I labeled twice as many boxes to go in "left" even though it's the smaller room. There are boxes stacked to the ceiling & they fill the bathroom & bathtub.

Derrick is happy it's over!

So is everyone else, but they sure don't look happy!

The color purple

The weather was beautiful and so was the new purple tennis court.

Nice purple hats were given out at the gate.

Serena flies

Even though Henin dominated the match & had two match points, Serena hung in there to win.

For the first time in 23 years & four tournament name changes, there was a different trophy. Boy am I glad I'm not down there in the pack of photographers! I decided to shoot the whole match from upstairs. It was really nice & relaxing.

Double trouble

The Bryan brothers win in 3.

A day of beauty...

The shaggy pup goes for a ride. She thinks she's going home, but she's really going to the groomer.

Notice her tail is tucked & she's putting the brakes on as she's led into the back.

Tally was still hooked up when I got there to pick her up. She was half of the size she was when I dropped her off ... and practically naked!

A big smile. She's happy to be going home.

Tally shows off her pretty bow.

Back to business as usual ... nap time.

Relics from my attic

I cleaned out my attic & found some hidden treasures that went straight into the garbage. The Apple IIC was Apple's computer before the mac. I got everything out there as the garbage truck was heading down the street.

Tennis & Dinner

Federer fan

Check out Serena's earring

Sony Pavillion at "Mary Time" (Mary's favorite time to take pictures).

Centerpiece

Mary looks pretty happy about the food in her future.

These were the most delicious asparagus I've had in my whole life. The sign said they were Grilled Asparagus with Lemon & Pistachio. They were very smokey.

Hospitality Village

Sony Ericsson Open

The weather was beautiful so I figured I'd head down to Key Biscayne to shoot the Sony Ericsson Open (formerly the Nasdaq-100 Open, The Ericsson Open & The Lipton). I am one of three photographers that have shot all 23 years, so I thought I'd keep my streak alive.

I walked from the Media parking lot so I could shoot some pix of the new entrance.

I shot some Sharapova & Venus then the sky turned black & it poured. It rained for a long time so I didn't stick around to shoot Serena.


While I was chatting with Anita (Bud Collins' wife), Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario asked me if she could interview me for Spanish television. I agreed after a little coaxing. I can't believe I didn't ask Anita to take a blog photo for me. I asked how Bud was & she said he was laying on the couch in the back of the media center. I've seen those pants before, but never those socks.

The tennis spectators wear some interesting clothes. I call this outfit, "Pippi Longstocking & the Cat in the Hat meet a Polar Bear." Keep in mind it was in the 80's today. I don't "get" the furry jacket.

Well look who's coming ... it's Art & Mr Pierce (Mary's father, who used to be banned from tournaments & his new wife). I can almost smell a photo op. First they stealthfully scout a location. Then they find a picture perfect spot ... the busy valet lane.