A picture perfect afternoon along the Manahawkin Bay

It usually takes me much longer to get to a destination than most, as I love to pull off and explore.

This behavior is nothing new, as I wrote in the inaugural post of my long defunct urban planning and technology blog, The New Wave Planner.

Returning home from Long Beach Island earlier, seeing the puffy clouds overhead and the Manahawkin Bay water glistening upon approach to the Route 72 Causeway, I pulled off into Bonnet Island and quickly found the perfect vista from which to capture the moment.

I parked my car, walked just a bit into the reeds (hey, I was wearing nice clothes), and waited for the right moment.

“Come on, bird, fly a bit to the left so I can frame the shot with the sailboat on the left, clouds above, reeds in the foreground, and the marsh and bay in the background,” I thought.

And just a few moments later, everything aligned, and the snap of the iPhone signaled one thing.

Mission accomplished.