With a threat of snow over the next couple of days, this morning was a perfect time to get out and enjoy bright sunny beach wanders on both Rissers and Crescent.
With the tide retreating from an extreme high, I also found
myself enjoying the views from one of my regular winter sun traps, it is always
absolutely wonderful.
Bring on the snow, I am ready ….
Today’s wander, as it normally is if I am not on a beach, was around the local empire in what was a silent, misty and gray sort of day.
I felt that due to the conditions (misty and gray), that it was perfect to try black and white photography.
It was amazing during my time out walking, how I would alternately experience pockets of chilly and then warm air.
The complete silence was broken only by Woodpecker Buddy,
who was being aggressive with a hydro pole ~ the last photo in colour …
I said in a previous blog from April 2021 ~
“Often when I am out wandering, my thoughts go off in many diverse
directions. Other times, I may pick a subject or a current issue, then
completely analyse it sometimes to a satisfactory conclusion and sometimes
not.”
An addition to that is ~ I never have any idea what my thoughts or chosen subjects are going to be until my foot hits the sand …
So, with a bright blue sky and the tide retreating from its peak, my
morning beach wander subject was all about the current state of everything out
there in our world.
This week we are witnessing the tragic results of an earthquake in Türkiye and Syria, where currently it is estimated that upwards of 20,000 have been killed. International aid is pouring into the affected areas of Türkiye, but not so much for those suffering the same fallout in Syria. The reason is that the affected areas in that country are held by not too friendly “rebels” who are involved in the on-going civil war.
An earthquake is a natural phenomenon over which we have a limited control, unfortunately it creates a
natural disaster of death and destruction. Also, this week we continue to
witness coverage of the unnatural (man-made) disaster of death and destruction
taking place in Ukraine. This appears (as usual) to be down to the outdated
egotism of one man, in this case he works out of the Kremlin in Moscow. We have
seen this more than a few times before during the last 120 years, but it still
seems to happen in abundance.
Only yesterday another egotist, who lives in Pyongyang, North Korea
held a celebration and military parade. With national pride and in my opinion a
misguided sense achievement, he had on show intercontinental ballistic missiles
(ICBMs), which a number analysts say could potentially challenge the defense systems of the United States.
As a side issue, we also have on-going threat from the balloon flying people's democratic dictatorship run out of Beijing, China. It is possible via military means; they may attempt to bring a yelling and screaming Taiwan into the Chinese fold. The land mass of China is huge, 265 times larger than Taiwan, but incredibly egotistical thoughts may think the grab is worth all the potential death and mass destruction.
This planet in relative terms is perhaps no more than a grain of sand in a gigantic universe. It is a perfect accident, which created an incredible but delicate environment, for us to evolve and to share equally and respectfully with all the other living species. As a result of this “perfect accident”, we have been provided with the sun, the seasons, water, an abundance of resources, lots of beauty and much more, all of which we should be extremely thankful for, but no ~ we continue to be hell bent on our own destruction and that of the planet. A perfect example of this, on a daily basis we are dumping tons of plastic into the oceans. Also, through our selfishness and sense of superiority we continue to drive many creatures to extinction. As a direct result of a century or more of technological achievements, our planet is overheating and our landfills are expanding with our resource consuming junk, into places where forests once thrived.
What is going on ~ and how long can it continue …?
OK, that’s it … I will now carefully step down from my soapbox and
attach some pics from this morning’s beautiful and equable wander.
This afternoon’s outing was similar to a couple of days ago which resulted in the blog ~ “Waves Galore …” at ~
https://southshoretidewatch.blogspot.com/2023/01/waves-galore.html
There was one significant difference though, the waves today were much bigger.
With the tide at an extreme high on Rissers, the fast-moving waves
were rolling in at an incredible rate giving a wonderful display.
In need of a good brisk beach wander, I headed off to Crescent Beach. But with the tide extremely high, there was no available space for both me and the water.
So, with that I went off to Rissers, where the waves today
were plentiful and big. After a very nice wander, I found one of my regular suntraps and
thoroughly enjoyed the natural show before me. It was so good, I could easily
have sat there all day, in fact I almost did ……….
On my way back along the road from Rissers, I noticed the
tide had retreated enough on Crescent for me to complete my original plan. So,
with the sun shining brightly and minimal wind, I turned the sand to glass and
had an absolutely wonderful (brisk) walk.
Below are the pics of the wild water at Rissers, together with some closeups of Seagulls and Crab Buddy. He seemed trapped and vulnerable, a good distance from the water's edge in the advancing low tide, so I carried him over to the nearby rocks, where he seemed relieved and happy ~ perhaps a life saved ..
