once more with feeling

Best part of the whole weekend

One more ocean swim.

It might be the last one of the season so it is fitting that it is on Thanksgiving.

Thanks Ocean, you've been amazing, as always.

mermaid's melancholy

I wish I could explain it.
Obsession. Addiction.
That's probably how others see it.

I wish I could explain how it makes me feel.
How fundamental it is to my well-being.
To my being well.

It has been said that there are those who are born with the salt water in their veins and it circulates in a briny course that pumps straight to the heart.
Without it they would die.

I believe this to be true.

When I was a child, nothing calmed me like the ocean. As an adult it is the same.

To take that first plunge, to feel the water surround and support every part of me, it is like exhaling after holding your breath for a very long time.

I am weightless. I belong to something.

So it is hard at this time of year, knowing each swim, each visit to the beach could be my last for the season.  It makes me edgy, uneasy. I am in denial. Panic rises like the tide.

But not today. Today there is reprieve. The air has cooled but the water is still warm (ish).


Today I can swim.

summer lovin'

Life has handed me a glorious opportunity this year.
I have been able to take the summer off.

There were a couple of days here and there to which I had committed but for the most part, me and the Summer were gonna make out in the tall grass. We were gonna frolic in the sand, exchange salty kisses in the ocean.

Winter was like a bad long-term relationship and once we finally broke up, I flirted with Spring, but really, Spring is just a fling... but Summer.. oh we had something special.
We had plans.

It couldn't have been simpler . There were only 2 things on the list:

1. Swim

2. Write


I swam

1 out of 2 ain't bad.


Sorry, Unfinished Novel, perhaps you and I will snuggle when it gets a bit cooler.  But Summer and I still have a lot of hot dates.

febuary blew in

February 1 had winds so strong they could blow a wave right off the ocean

I don't care if it hurts to stand here

not so bleak mid-winter

Oh how I miss you.

just a few more months and we'll be together again

raison d'etre

January 7 - I pass this sign almost daily downtown and am reminded that there is a reason I am here... not in the metaphysical sense, but geographically speaking (which could be argued to be the same thing)

summer sigh

I knew this day would come.
This day, the 1st of September.
The end of the summer.

Sure there are still nice days ahead, but it's just not the same.
September is here. There is a feeling.
It was cool this weekend, so cool I had to shut my window for the first time in months.
Today it was so humid there was no relief.
Welcome to the East Coast.

I knew this day would come.
And it hits me with a panicked thought...
Now, every swim might be the last. 

It wasn't a bad summer. It wasn't a great summer. It was a fast summer.
Where it went, I still can't say. It washed away like sand in the tide. It was unstoppable.
It was a blur.

But there were beaches.
Not as often as I would like, but then it could never be enough.

The season was off to such a great start, as swimming began in early June. It was unbelievably warm, probably due to Hurricane Arthur that blew up the east coast. And though it didn't stay that warm, there were still some great days in the sand, sea and surf.

Kingsberg, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia

And I managed to grab a few shots that I really liked

local oysters, local wine, local ocean

clam of clam harbour

eagle in wolfville

somewhere near annapolis royal

Cooked a bit..

watermelon and cucumber gazpacho

Then more beaches

queensland beach, nova scotia

melberby beach, nova scotia

and some time enjoying my city

halifax

As I said, not a bad summer.
I just don't know where it went.

always take the plunge

Yesterday I sat on the shore and watched a woman standing in the water.

I had already been in. It was great.
But taking the plunge is always the hardest part.

As a frequent swimmer in the North Atlantic,  I prefer to dive right in, instead of standing and shivering. But as I sat drying off on the beach, I watched the woman stand and shiver, and I wanted to yell "Go ahead, it will be great once you're in"

I was reminded of a quote by Goethe
"Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting. "
and suddenly this woman became a metaphor for Capital L Life.

But I didn't shout out.
Instead, I took her picture

Time for a Cool Change

Yesterday marked the Summer Solstice.
It is always a day of celebration for me- welcoming Summer with a night on the beach.

The thing about nights at the beach, that I always seem to forget, is the dampness that sets in in the early hours of the morning. You would think I would know this, as I have had years of experience sleeping on beaches. I can't help myself. I would spend every waking and unconscious moment there if I could.
It is where I feel most exhilarated and the most calm. The feeling of peace is like no other.

Every time I am on the beach, a song by Australia's Little River Band plays in my head. I feel a breeze, whether the air is moving or still.

"I was born in the sign of water, 
and it's there that I feel my best..."

These lyrics hold true for me.


Last night on my favorite Nova Scotia  beach was exquisite.

We arrived at dusk, so we would have some light by which we could collect driftwood for the fire. This wasn't even a necessary factor.

The almost full-moon was so bright, it was hard to believe it was night-time. It started as silver, and as it moved across the sky, it darkened, and poured liquid gold into the water. It would be impossible for anyone to not stand in awe of this scene.
Certainly, anyone with poetry and sensitivity in their blood would fill and spill over with tears.

midnight on my favorite Nova Scotia beach

It filled me.
I found myself whispering thank you to anyone and anything might have been responsible for such perfection.
I whispered to the moon, the sea, the Universe, even to my own eyes for letting me see it. Breathed in deeply, as if trying to fill myself with the salt, the air, the light.
It filled me with gratitude for, and reminded me of, all the blessings in my life.

"It's kind of a special feeling, 
when you're out on the sea alone,
staring at the full moon like a lover"

It is true.
I am in love.
With the sea, the salt, the sand.
The moon.
With my friends, my partner, my life.
My self.

It has taken me a long time to be able to say that. And there may be a day when I don't feel that way. But I hope that the my loves- the sea, the salt, the sand, the moon.... will always be a reminder.

oh my love, my darling, I've hungered for your touch

Sometimes you don't realize how noisy it is until you finally find the silence.
Sometimes you don't know how much you miss something until you get it back.
Or in my case, stand beside it again.


It has been months since I have been to the beach and I miss it.
I don't think I realized how much until I stood there yesterday.
Despite the rainy snow and snowy rain, it was glorious.


There is a certain smell of the air, and a certain feel on my skin that I cannot describe, but it brings me very close to tears.
It's as like  every pore, every cell has been thirsting, and you don't even know until you take a drink.

And so I stood, at the edge of the ocean, drinking it in through sight, smell, skin.
This is my center, my prayer, my church, my meditation.
This is my home.

All is right with the world.

Conrad Beach, Nova Scotia on March 2, 2013

falling into fall

Fall is almost in the air.
It is barely a whisper in the window,
but it is there, with a light breath

It is that beautiful in-between season, in between times;
like the end of night and the beginning of day,
sun and moon both sharing the sky,
waking and retiring
smiling good morning
blinking good night

I took this shot on Thanksgiving weekend 2011 at Conrad Beach, Nova Scotia

It is the air  that whispers in my window in the morning,
in between wake and sleep,
exhaling that memory of time to get up for school

It is not yet Fall, yet barely still summer.
And it is both seasons at once.

Not quite that crisp definite autumn with sweaters and pumpkin spice latte's..
nor that hot lazy summer with sundresses and big hats.

But the air has cooled and the ocean has warmed, and pumpkins have begun to appear in markets, tumbling orange

It breathes a reminder to squeeze every last drop out of summer

going on record

I can safely say that this has been the best summer.
Ever.
The weather has been gorgeous, hot, sunny. Right now the humidity is high, but I don't even care.
Trips to the beach have been plentiful and glorious.
Sunsets have stopped my breath.
Salt water has been warm (Atlantic warm) and healing and invigorating.

I am never happier than when I am at the beach, so the past three months have been happy happy happy.
I just want to go on record as saying that.