respite | Thinking Through My Lens

While I have continued my daily writing and posting, I haven’t been posting in this space. Today seems like the day to give a peek in to what I’ve been up to. After a month of daily slice of life posting and a month of daily poems in honor or National Poetry month, in May and June I shifted to writing daily #smallpoems (thanks for the inspiration Georgia Heard!) to accompany my daily photo post on Instagram. For July, again inspired by Georgia Heard, I am writing #tinyletters also inspired by my photography and posted on Instagram.

Here is the one I wrote today in response to an egret sighting on my daily walk.

Dear Egret,

We’re both drawn to the shoreline: you to eat, me to drink in the wonders of the sea. I know when I see you that this is my lucky day. And lucky I am, day after day after day.

Neither of us is gregarious by nature, enjoying solitude and blue skies. A space for listening to the roar of ocean waves and my own thoughts far from the noise and chaos of the internet and politics.

You are a whisper of grace and natural beauty, wings that lift you and lift me above the fray. A respite, a pause, a moment of stillness.

So I can breathe and the re-enter the world with renewed strength and resolve.

Thanks for being my lucky charm.

#tinyletters #egret #luck #solitude #respite #recharge

What tiny letters might you write? Who would you send them to? Who or what needs a letter from you during the month of July?

Today summer arrived in March with warm Santa Ana winds from the desert bringing 80 degree temperatures to the coast. It was a typical work day–except that I had no after school meetings today. That is a rare occurrence and I took full advantage. I left school at a reasonable hour, called my husband to see if he was interested in heading out for coffee and a peek at the beach, and headed home feeling like we were embarking on a vacation–even if it was of the 60 minute variety!

I’d read on Monday that our beach was getting sand this week–part of an infrastructure project that involves dredging the local lagoon and relocating sand to sand deprived beaches. I wondered just what that would look like.

Sure enough, heavy equipment was parked on the beach and new sand was evident along the shoreline.

We weren’t sure just how much beach there would be for walking, high tide often means the water covers the ground right up the cliff (and walking too close to the cliffs is an accident waiting to happen–cliff failures are well-known in these parts and have been known to be deadly!). But after only a couple steps where my foot squished way down in the brand new muddy sand, we could see plenty of room for walking ahead.

Just like the winds, we headed in the opposite direction today–walking north instead of south. While the sea birds I love to photograph weren’t present, there was plenty of other action to observe. We came across lifeguards training on jet skis, roaring up and over waves, dragging a water stretcher with another helmeted lifeguard aboard. I watched them soar over the whitewater, doing donuts in the surf. I snapped and snapped and snapped, playing with capturing action in a still photograph. (My favorite photo is posted on Instagram, but this one shows the swirl of the water.)

With the sun a warm hug on our shoulders, we continued our walk to a popular surfing area. Like ants, we watched the trail of surfers going up and down to the water’s edge. The weather makes the beach irresistible, calling loudly with blue skies, warm air, and adequate surf, in spite of the not quite warm water (61 degrees).

We couldn’t quite make it to our turnaround point as we watched the waves splashing up all the way to seawall. I couldn’t help but snap these young people trying to time their move from the stairs of this private residence to the shore. (Note the seagull on lookout above).

This afternoon foray to the beach was exactly what I needed today. It’s been a stressful week following a too-short weekend, working on getting report cards finished for an upcoming week of parent conferences, not to mention those frequent after school meetings. Today was a perfect respite–a tiny vacation in the middle of the week spent with the one I love. Sometimes a mini vacay is the perfect solution to the mid-week blues. Thursday–I’m ready for you!