Category Archives: Glimpses…

Sunrise thoughts

Light and shadow, the shapes of the trees and the openness of the sea as it stretches across to the mainland— the otters have left crab shells and a few crab legs on the point. Perhaps I scared them when they were feasting on the morning catch. A heron squawks loudly as it launches and slowly wings across the bay. Its a lovely bright morning. No low cloud and sea fog obscuring the view today. At least not right now.

In addition to the freshness of the early morning, and the colours of the sunrise, the first light shows the contours of the ground most clearly.  Later, the contours are still there, of course, but not quite as easy to see.

A good reminder for me  to 'take stock' first thing, while the lay of the land is clear and well lit.

even in the stillness…

click on image for a larger view
Standing at the Point this morning, I was again enjoying the golden colours of early morning and noted the stillness of the water. It was  broken only by a few ripples which alerted me to the family of three otters swimming toward our boat anchored in the bay (centre frame). The otters each climbed in, and dived back into the water several times.  Lovely to watch, though I expect they left us some smelly goodies. 
My enjoyment of the morning was augmented by noting again that in the stillness and quiet there's constant, though often unseen, or unseeable activity —even playfulness—  though it looks so quiet.
What has caused you to notice this constant activity around you, even amidst the apparent stillness and quiet?

exquisite beauty along the path

 

click on this image for a larger view

Walking along the path to the beach, surrounded by a tangle of tall dried grasses, the grey twisted limbs of Ocean Spray and a tangle of bare wild rose canes, I was struck by the pattern and colour! Exquisite, wild and unexpected beauty, the designs, patterns and artistry. On both sides, all around.

With this image, the deeper I look, the more intriguing the patterns. And yet, I could have simply walked on past, thinking the only thing was to get to the beach at the end of the path…

Morning by morning…varied views

Each morning, when I take the dog out for her first walk of the day, I venture out to the Point for a clear view of the morning’s light. If it has rained at all, I note the measurement in the rain gauge, and then empty it for the next 24 hour monitoring. And I take photos.

Every day is so different —the light,  the angle of the sun, the patterns and textures of the clouds, the tide’s height in its constant ebb and flow, the way the waves are meeting the shore,  the presence of various shore birds, gulls, otters and seals. Occasionally, on a very still morning, my attention is caught by the breath sounds of a humpback whale, and I see the spray of it’s powerful exhalation far out in the distance.

For over a year I’ve been documenting the mornings under the title ‘The Point this morning’.  I had intended to do my photo project  only for the 6 months from winter solstice to summer solstice, to note the wide varying of the sun’s position at sunrise. But these daily photo glimpses became such an important part of my day’s beginning, I carried on.  Now, I can't bear to give it up so I’m thinking I will contimue for the time being and see what happens...

tangled reflections

I took this photo last week in the warmth of the afternoon light and the stillness of Whaler Bay. What caught my eye was the complex reflections with the fallen tree, the tangled lines of its branches both above and beneath the water and the curves of the sandstone intersected by the straight lines of the wharf's shadow.
The resulting design is intriguing: another instance of the playful art of nature all around us.

 

thoughts on a winter walk…

The colours are muted and soft along the Heritage Forest Road, and the ground is rock hard, frozen solid. It may look like there's little life in the landscape, that it everything is 'dead'. Dull. How far from the truth!
As we walked  the road what struck me was how many signals  there were that even in the quiet stillness of winter, and its apparent  barrenness,  there is a  pulsing vitality to the season:  the creeks burble beneath a skim of ice, lichens hang conspicuously from limbs all round, colourful slime molds are 'there' for the observant eye as are various fascinating fungi; winter birds— wrens, sparrows,  nuthatches, chickadees and towhees flit amongst the low shrubs while the finches and others occupy the higher branches; the deer meander and graze undisturbed. Surely the forest pulses with life as much in winter as any season.
I wonder if maybe the forest and its creatures enjoy the relative quiet. Maybe its their 'sabbath'.

The Point this morning

click on the file for a larger view
click on the file for a larger view

The days begin with a walk to Flagpole Point before breakfast.
In part it is a necessity, to walk the dog, but equally important is that this outing provides me a chance to appreciate the uniqueness of each morning. Though it is the same place, the variation is infinite:   light, colour and texture  in differing combinations.
The rising sun's position is constantly shifting with the seasons,   tides varying with moon-phase, wind and weather, clouds, fog, rain,  or clear... Add to this, the cast of birds and small animals. I never know just what the morning jaunt will offer: kingfishers, herons, otters, harlequins, eagles, mink, seals...

It has long been my habit to record these first glimpses of the day there with a few photos, usually just on my iPhone, but sometimes with my 'big' camera. Recently it occurred to me to share some of my morning glimpses with others, so I created a Flickr Album Mornings at Flagpole Point  which you can view here.

My aim is to post one a day. Sometimes, like yesterday when we had a power outage I couldn't post. There are bound to be other missed days here and there, but mostly it'll be a daily photo.

Thanks so much for enjoying these glimpses of the world with me.

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