Still walking...

It's true - move to the beach and people will come.  And come, and come, and come.  I have loved every single minute with visitors both family and friends, and we've more company a'comin' in August and September.  This is the longest I've gone without blogging in quite some time! 

We've shared sunrises and sunset together, eaten our weight (and then some) in fresh seafood and amazing local produce, traveled the ferry multiple times, strolled charming beach front shops and explored historical areas.  Each visitor brings something new to the overall beach experience.  This is a joyful time I shall always remember.

My personal journey ebbs and flows like the tides.  Sometimes I grow in great, repeating splashes and sometimes my growth curls into itself like a wave sloshes around in an eddy on the beach - going nowhere fast.  That's okay for I recognize the patterns now.  It's just part of the process.

Just like after each passing storm my personal beach changes.  Sometimes I'm all wonky, going up and down like the back of a dragon.  And at other times I'm flat, saving my sands for another day.  At times treasures crowd my sandy feet arousing my curiosity while the next day the sea refuses to share.  I've found fossilized white shark teeth, metal and wood from shipwrecks, the fossilized carapace from a sea turtle, corroded 50 caliber machine gun bullets and other items yet to be identified.

Today is the 2nd anniversary of the hubby's fall off a ladder.  He is doing very well and we are counting our blessings today.  Pop the cork! 

The Hidden Green

This isn't where I was going. There was a specific destination in mind when the cameras were loaded into my car. However, there wasn't a level of excitement deep within me as I'd been to my intended destination many times before. Time hasn't been on my side of late and there was simply a deep need to get away - go outside - breathe some country air - dust off the camera and shoot something - anything -besides the backyard. Off I went, unsure but needy.

About 45 minutes from home I pull off the highway heading to my target spot. Rolling slowly through narrow roads framed by huge trees, covered in dappled lighting I'm uneasy. This just feels too .... I dunno .... planned? Safe? Ordinary? Non-adventurous? Yeah, all the above.

Restless, a little irritated and antsy it's clear my calling isn't here in this safe, albeit beautiful, place. I leave.

Instead of turning back to the highway my car is pointed west down a long abandoned roadway. Formerly a major highway, the road has been overshadowed by the newer interstate spur that parallels it. This 5 lane road is still used by fishermen and bird watchers and nature-loving men and women as it contains small dirt roads that leads you back to the Tennessee River deep into Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge.


I'm not sure why I turned left because my iCar (Yaris) can't take those small offshoot roads. I'm just searching, seeking, and a little melancholy. Even my music was depressing me (NOT NORMAL!) so I turned it off and opened the windows wide, letting in bird calls and the sounds of the forest that's beginning to close in around me.

That the road goes over a waterway is barely noticeable as the area hasn't been kept up and is sorta overgrown, the road all weedy and cracked.

What made me look to the right just as I was going over the water I'll never know. My eyes were treated to a hidden green world of dark trees, reflections, water and elephant feet. I literally gasped. Or made some little sound. Thankfully, no one was around to hear it.

I shot and shot and shot, various angles both close and wide. Running across the street to see the other side I was dumbfounded at the different kinds of greens that were waiting for me. The sunlight was shifting and rays were coming through the trees at points, the color of the water changing.

This is a place of hobbits and elves and fairies and sprites.

And elephant feet.

Downloading the images at home it took me hours to decide which ones to process. They are all decent and/or good shots because the area was so beautiful. How do YOU decide which to process, which to print and which to put on a website? Any slight change in composition simply created a different look that was equally as good - imho - as the previous image. So how do you decide?

River Art

The dock building continues. I have enjoyed so very much getting to know this crew, watching them work together as a team, seeing how much respect they have for each other and the talents each bring to the table. To me, it's fascinating. I would apply for a job with them if a) I had any natural balance, b) I didn't get motion sickness, and c) I were younger. I'll post some of my favorite photos of the OVER 1,200 TAKEN one day. But, not today.

Today, the concrete truck arrived and I watched in awe as they poured the top and bottom levels. Many photos ensued. At one point I walked over to my neighbor's dock several houses down to take photos. Sometimes the crew was just standing about waiting for the next concrete truck. That's when I'd take photos of the water, a passing barge, flying ducks, whatever struck my fancy or caught my eye.


It was a clear, cold morning. Freezing, actually. My hands were red, my nose running, my eyes watering in the frigid winds. Still, the sun was rising and the sky cobalt blue. The water was beautiful and hypnotic during those times of waiting. It was very quiet. I took several photos from my neighbor's dock, pointing into the waters, at the rocks, at the reflections.


I admit, these are my favorite photos of the day. They look very much like paintings or lithographs. But they're simply photos.


One of my favorite posters as a hippie college kid was one that said "Stand Still and Look Until You Really SEE." The poster looked like a little girl picking flowers, but if you looked closely you saw that the flowers were really people. I thought that cool at the time, and very profound.


That poster came to mind today when I was processing these photos. Stand still and look until you really see. What do YOU see?

Reflections

I adore hearing from friends. One friend I've not e-chatted with in a while sent an e-mail last night. Her brief prose acknowledged the struggles each of us are facing within our little group of pals, and then she proceeded to compile a list of everything in her life there is to be happy about right now, this minute. I'm borrowing her idea and posting my list here in hopes that writing it and reading it will remind me just how fortunate I am.

1. This hot cup of coffee in my hand
2. Music
3. Great, wonderful, loving, supportive friends
4. Amazing family - here and all over
5. Food in the fridge and pantry
6. Nature
7. Camera and accompanying gear
8. Hot showers
9. Sunrises and sunsets
10. Migrating birds
11. Ample clothing to wear
12. Roof over my head
13. A good heat pump
14. My cookware
15. All my senses intact
16. Good health, my own and my immediate family's and friend's

Feel free to compile your own lists of blessings and gratitude's.

Reflections

"Don't part with your illusions.

When they are gone you may still exist,

but you have ceased to live."

Mark Twain

If I Had My Way

If I had my way children and pets would never be abandoned or abused. They would always have full bellies and clean water and lots of love and a warm, safe place to sleep. If I had my way I'd have a huge farm house in the middle of acres and acres of woodlands and rolling hills bordered by a river and I would have tons of animals and kids and lap up the love and beauty every day from my front porch Felder Rocker. If I had my way I would shoot great photos and make a living photographing and writing. If I had my way I would see Bald Eagles daily, and I would never tire of the sight. If I had my way I would never, ever leave my lake and my butterflies and my birds. If I had my way my birdseed container would never be empty, my birdfeeders would never break, and the cats would be happy eating the odd mouse instead of being tempted by my feathered friends. If I had my way my back would be strong and my yard would be filled with flowers and seedpods and grasses and trees and rock paths and driftwoods and all manner of natural beauty. If I had my way every butterfly species would visit my garden and politely and patiently pose for my camera. If I had my way my dear mother and all my bestest pals would live close by and we would visit often and laugh long and enjoy coffee with sunrises and wine with sunsets. If I had my way everyone would have a Golden Tree Hour.

I consider these and other ponderings during daily pre-dawn walks with my dog, Baylee. We walk to the beat of hooting Great Horned Owls and soak up the clear night sky and bright, abundant, twinkling stars. Mars has been huge this autumn. Watching the heavens revolve around the red planet has been a morning meditation. The loons are beginning to arrive for winter, and their haunting cries give me shivers of pleasure. My morning walks are very Zen - extraordinarily transcendent. They grant my soul peace while at the same time strengthening my back and heart. Hopefully, it's firming the rest of me as well. The chilly temperatures keep everyone else indoors warm in their beds so my walks lend a bit of solitude in my otherwise busy day.

Morning walks are a time for reflection, time for prayer, time to ponder and time to wonder what I would actually do, if I had my way.