Wandering out to Flagpole Point after sunset, the glow was still bright, and the water magnified the beauty in reflection...
The colours last night were intense — so lovely I felt I wanted to share this glimpse of the awesome beauty of nightfall.
The smooth water, contrasted with the shapes of the sandstone and logs... a pleasing mix, in the morning's light, of shape and texture. Maybe it's an indication of what the day holds —
Among the benefits of early rising is the gorgeous sunrises we get here: always different—
On the particular morning of this photo, the patterns of light and colour in the cloud captivated me and inspired this work of 'photo art'.
This pattern of wrinkled humps of seaweed on the rising tide is relatively unusual. It takes several different weather and tide conditions conspiring together to create it.
It goes something like this: First, a southeast wind must blow at low enough tide to accumulate a build up of copious amounts of sea lettuce on the beach. Then, the further receding tide must distribute that sea lettuce over a large patch of the shallow sloping sand, a few inches thick. Then, day must be hot enough to dry the surface of the sea lettuce while the tide has ebbed. The third requirement is that the wind drop, allowing a calm windless period while the tide rises. The result is that the thick layer of sea lettuce is moved slowly from beneath, while the baked-dry surface of the sea lettuce layer is more resistant to movement, and makes for these extraordinary folds.
To me it looks something like colourful elephant skin. Or perhaps a satellite photo of mountain ridges. Or the flowing of some strange green river flowing from the distant rocks... What do you think??
Sometimes when we go down to the sandy beach, it’s absolutely smooth, pristeen, untouched. Other times we can see there have been others there before us: crabs, dogs, people, and occasionally the deer whose hooves leave their characteristically deep impressions as they bound across the sand. But today it was a racoon that had been to the beach.
The angled sunlight highlighted the perfection of the clawed toes and foot pads: evidence of the quiet creature’s leisurely stroll across the sand. He’s out of sight now, but he’s left us this sign of his visitation.
I wonder who else’s tracks we’ll see today?