Finding the calm

One of the loveliest things I've discovered about living on the beach is that one side of the island remains calm. I just have to decide which direction to go.



"There are some things you learn best in calm and other in storm." ~ Willa Cather

God's Eldest Daughter

"Light, God's eldest daughter."

~ Thomas Fuller (1608 - 1661)

Sea Dreams

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” ~Harriet Tubman

"To go out with the setting sun on an empty beach is to truly embrace your solitude."

~ Jeanne Moreau

"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep."

~~ Rumi (1207 - 1273)

A friend shared the following quote with me...

"Be like the ocean. Breathtaking to look at, strong enough not to be destroyed, and gentle enough so others find comfort in your presence."

This is how it looks when the clouds hug the island.

Sandcastles

"Like a sandcastle, all is temporary. Build it, tend it, enjoy it. And when the time comes, let it go."

~~ Jack Kornfield

A Day in May

I thought everyone might like to see a little wave action from this morning!

Sitting by the Sea

"When I sit here by the sea and listen to the sound of the waves, I feel free from all obligations and people of the world."

~~ Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Feel the sky

"smell the sea, and feel the sky
let your soul & spirit fly..."
~~ Van Morrison

Black-necked stilts

I was so excited to see these beauties at Ft. Pickens yesterday.  I've never seen here before, nor had my friends, and later discovered that they are rare in this area.

Scarlet skies

For several days we've had amazing, brilliant sunrises. Here are photos from this morning, from pink to gold and back again.

Pensacola Beach Sunrise

Ft. Pickens Patrol

It was such a beautiful day for patrol at Ft. Pickens. The birds were lined up at the shoreline buffet!

This Grand Show is Eternal...

“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”

—John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir

Space in Your Heart

"Create space in your heart. When the pain of life fills you completely, open your heart a little more. Pain tries to close the heart, and fear locks it closed. When you open up, fear can't fill you, for there are no walls to hold it."

~~ Daniel Levin, The Zen Book

May rays in Santa Rosa Sound

Now that I live in a condominium, I have many opportunities to observe sunsets, sunrises and storms, as well as all type of birds and marine life on Santa Rosa Sound.  This was an amazing moment when I saw two schools of May rays (cownose rays) noticing each other and staging their own version of the Sharks and the Jets (in West Side Story)!

Holding communion

"There is indeed, perhaps, no better way to hold communion with the sea than sitting in the sun on the veranda..." ~Joseph W. Beach

Kissing the Shoreline

"There's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away." ~~ Sarah Kay