Pic(k) of the Week: Coquina rock in surf at sunrise

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

A coquina rock is battered by the Atlantic Ocean surf, captured in a photograph at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park in Palm Coast, Florida, on September 6, 2025, at 8:21 a.m. EDT.

This boulder is part of a ¾-mile-long coquina rock formation, the second-largest of its kind along the east coast of North America. The largest formation is located further south on a barrier island in Jupiter, Florida, Blowing Rock Preserve.

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What is coquina?

Coquina rock is a type of sedimentary rock (specifically limestone), formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of mineral and organic particles on the floor of bodies of water at the Earth's surface. The coquina rocks at Washington Oaks are part of the Anastasia formation —stretching from the city of St. Augustine to Palm Beach County — that was created during the Pleistocene era (12,000 - 2.5 million years ago). Lower sea levels allowed slightly acidic rainwater to dissolve calcium carbonate in millions of exposed shells. This process effectively bonded the shells to the sand, resulting in the creation of rocks that solidified over time.

One characteristic of coquina rocks is the regular, perfectly cylindrical holes in many sections of a formation, formed by erosion of rock by rainwater. These weathered formations create shallow tidal pools that support crabs, sea snails, anemones, and other small marine life The word 'coquina' is Spanish for 'cockle' and is the name given to Donax variabilis, a small, burrowing clam that lives in the sand just at the ocean’s edge, and is the main shell component of the rock.

— Florida State Parks.

Sunrise took place at 7:04 a.m. EDT; I didn't capture this photo until 8:21, an hour and seventeen minutes later. Why the delay? When I arrived at the park entrance at 6:30, the gates were locked. Florida state parks don't open until 8 a.m. The moral of the story? Do your research.

And yet, a beautiful moment to experience.

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Thelonius Monk: Brilliant Corners
Album: Brilliant Corners (Label: Riverside)
Recorded 1956; released 1957.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Gulls & waxing moon over surf at dusk

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Gulls fly by, as a waxing gibbous moon, 89% illuminated, rises over an Atlantic Ocean beach at sundown

City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida, USA. 4 September 2025 (7:47 p.m. EDT).

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Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage
Album: Maiden Voyage (Label: Blue Note, 1965)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Hawk on the PATH

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Perched only a few yards from a boardwalk over a wetland, a red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) was warily observing me from over its shoulder...but obligingly remained posed for the camera.

South Peachtree Creek PATH in Mason Mill Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 16 August 2025.

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Danny Gatton: Sky King
Album: Cruisin' Deuces (Label: Elektra, 1993)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Cross & statue

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A patinated bronze statue of a Catholic missionary appears to beseech heavenward, positioned before a nearly 200-foot-tall 'Great Cross,' whose silvery stainless steel gleams golden in late-afternoon sun.

Mission Nombre de Dios: St. Augustine, Florida, USA.
3 September 2025.

About the mission:

Mission Nombre de Dios (Name of God) is a Catholic mission founded in 1587 in St. Augustine, Florida, on the west side of Matanzas Bay. It is likely the oldest extant mission in the continental United States. The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, the oldest shrine in the southeast U.S., is located on the mission grounds.

The mission traces its origins to September 8, 1565, when Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed with a band of settlers, including a Catholic chaplain, Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales. The mission would serve the colonists and nearby villages of the Mocama, a Native American tribe.

The 'Great Cross' was dedicated in October 1966 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the mission's founding. It is made of stainless steel and towers 208 feet above the Matanzas marshes. An eleven-foot-tall bronze statue of Father López stands in front, created in 1958 by Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962), a Croatian sculptor (then dean of Art at Notre Dame University, in South Bend, Indiana, USA).

— National Park Service (pdf)
— Wikipedia.

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Donald Byrd: Cristo Redentor

Album: A New Perspective (Label: Blue Note)
Released 1964; recorded 1963.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Españolas de la alborada

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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. One can easily picture the female colonists, known as Españolas, leisurely promenading on Sundays with their parasols, reminiscent of the scene depicted by the sculptor. The sculpture garden 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. I wasn't overly pleased with the outcome, so I returned seven years later for another try. The park appeared a bit worn, in need of some care, and the sculpture's plaque had gone missing. Nevertheless, the ladies, with their fans and parasols, appeared resplendent at sunrise. Felicitaciones!

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About Marianne Lerbs

I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela during the sixties. Now, I am a multidisciplinary artist, painter, muralist and sculptress. I am a College level art instructor and recipient of Artist in Residence grants in Jacksonville, FL. I have participated several times in Jacksonville's Cultural Council Art in Public Programs, developing murals, banners and large art panels. I was pre-selected by the Police Athletic League with a proposal with large size colorful concrete pillows for their outdoor areas. I have designed and executed large mosaic murals for the Florida Museum of Natural History. I recently completed two commissions, a collection of paintings inspired on St. Augustine's female historic figures, and a series based on Floridian history. I completed three monumental sculptures for the St. Augustine Sculpture Garden in St. Augustine Beach, Florida.

— Marianne Lerbs

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Return to Forever: Spain

Album: Light as a Feather (Label: Polydor)
Released 1973; recorded 1972.

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