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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

To See a World in a Grain of Sand

Lilac dawn on Pohara Beach
I often talk about my early morning walks with a group of women friends - we usually meet before sunrise and walk Pohara Beach for an hour, chattering away and waking the neighbours as we go.

However, as occasionally happens with the group, there has been only one walker for a couple of days - ME!

While I love to walk and natter, I also relish the quiet time alone with just me and the beach - especially as the mornings are becoming lighter and spring is definitely in the air.

So I got to thinking about a poem by William Blake "Auguries of Innocence"

"To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour..."

Which is my roundabout way of explaining that I see so much on my walks on the beach - it's the same beach every day, but different.  That whole world changes - those grains of sand and every sunrise and change of tide brings a whole new swag of treasures.

Whoa!  There are so many life analogies here!

Anyhow, here's some of what the camera and I saw this beautiful spring morning...


An unusual black scallop shell
Tidal lines in the dawn
Oh, something moved!  It's a sandhopper and he's transparent!
There's colour and texture in this cockle shell - it reminds me of cockling with the kids - squeels of delight as they find them in the sand of the shallows with their feet!
A gull's head skeleton
Two horse mussel shells locked together - I love the shiny bits on the ends
there were a few transparent horse mussel shells today - I wonder if they are albinos?
This one is HUGE!
Some little blue lipped mussel shells - you can eat these but there are green lipped mussel farms in the Bay - they're the best ones to eat

Poor old gummy shark - I wonder what happened to him?

Lovely texture in this wee cockle shell
Not so many crab shells today - sometimes there are loads of them!
Oh this is a nice one
This one's been kicking around for a while - I love the worm holes in it
Turret shells - I once made a path of these and collected them by the sackful.  The path glowed in the moonlight!
Oh, that's a pretty one!
Haha!  I tried to photograph a fishing shag...and this is what I got :)


6 comments:

Bonita Rose said...

beautiful photos. hubby and I are moving to live by the sea in Florida USA in mid October.. we're in the midst of packing etc... I can't wait to live by the sea. Loved your photos!!!
bonitarose
http://bonitarose.com

Lesley said...

I've lived near the sea for almost all of my life, so I can't imagine anything else. However I still LOVE it!
Florida always looks so beautiful and warm.
Good luck with your move and thanks so much for stopping by!
Lesley

Unknown said...

I can see why you would want to start every morning with a walk here!

Andrea and Kim said...

Wow, you find amazing things on your walks. In the summer are these beaches packed with people? I love all the creatures you find and know I would be taking my camera daily on a walk along this amazing beach! I know the dawn is a beautiful time to walk, but I am sure my day would begin much later!

Thank you for sharing all of this here. I love getting to know your part of the world through your eyes!

Lesley said...

There's so much to see in nature - and I love looking at detail - I think that's why I love making beads and loved embroidery - they're all about detail... You can look at a beach and see just sand, or you can look more closely and see a whole world.
Thanks for stopping by, chatting and sharing my walk.

Andrea and Kim said...

You are so right, it is the detail. I love that, as well...all of those subtle things which make a huge difference in our lives...like wonderful friends :)