From the Water

The view from the water in a busy port city is fascinating.  First, it is not the perspective that a typical viewer usually has.  Most things are oriented to the street: the door of a shop; its window displays; signs; flowers and landscaping; lighting. 

The water side is the working side.  The delivery access.  The place where the seafood catch is delivered to land.  The docks where the gasloline tanker unloads its cargo. 

Back doors.

It's the place where ships are built.  This is the oldest continuously operating shipyard in the United States.

You get to see the undersides of bridges.

And all the while, you're on the sea, smelling the sea and its air, feeling its power and majesty.

The Gift of 50

I thought that turning 50 meant the gift of a wakeup call.  Here was a shockingly clear marker defining the last half of my life.  There were 50 years of life spent, spent, spent.  "Wake up," 50 said.  "It's slipping away."  "Pay attention."  Although happy and feeling saturated in the moment, I also sometimes felt as if my hands were outstretched, fingers grasping at the ephemeral substance of time, trying to hold it still.  It was the primary reason I started this blog.  I needed to pay attention by recording my days and experiences through words and photographs.  I marked time by trying to remember details and focus on the moments of my day.

It came to me the other day, that the very act of that grasping makes time even more evanescent.  The energy it takes to notice the fact if its passing chases it farther instead of keeping the moment close. The bittersweet irony of time.  Like a dream.  Instead, immersing oneself in the moment by living it, and forgetting about how quickly the moment is passing, makes the moment the most realized.  Just gulp the moment and swallow and love it and move on to the next.

More Adventure

I am so excited about this little beauty.

No, not my dog (though she IS cute).  I have been wanting to kayak for years and years.  Now the adventure begins.

I live in a place that offers so many opportunities to get outside and explore by water.  There are so many lakes, ponds and waterways, as well as a gorgeous rocky rugged ocean shorelline (this kayak is too small for that, though).  I can't believe it!  Now I can throw this on or in the wagon and head out for adventure whenever I want.  The potential is tingling in my fingertips.

You Can Tell It's Hot When the Pool is 85 Degrees

...and the vegetables and flowers have to be watered every day.

...but, the dog still just wants to play.

Red Eft

I started this post nearly one month ago!  What has happened to the time?  This was June - perfect weather days with occaisional rain.  These adorable little creatures are called Red Efts.  They appear on the forest floor after rain, turning my morning walks with the dogs into a tiptoed dance as I try to avoid stepping on them.

I've seen them summer after summer, but did not know until now that what you see in this photo is but a stage in the life of a Eastern Spotted Salamander.  At other times in its life, it lives in the water.  It is born in the water and lives there in a larvae stage, with gills, for several years.  Then it leaves the water and lives on the land for several more years as this bright red teenager.  Finally, this flamboyant creature returns to a pond and turns a more camouflaged olive green.  This little thing can live for 15 years!

For some reason I am delighted to have discovered this fascinating and unexpected life journey of this unassuming little creature who so bravely stands its ground on the damp leaves as the dogs and I clamber past.  There truly is wonder all around us. 

And now, nearly a month later, this photo can make me smile, feel the cool morning dampness and hear the quiet of that morning, even as I sit now in the nasty clamour of air conditioners in the middle of a heat wave.