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Sunday, July 01, 2007

Sea and Sky

As I said in my Thursday post, I'm obsessed with the sky lately. Here are a few photos from the last few days:


This is taken from an upstairs window in our house, looking west


and this one is looking southeast over the hills - the only hills for miles around, with the full moon rising behind cloud


Not long after sunrise this morning, looking northeast

Today I went orienteering at Leithfield Beach,and after I finished my course I went down to the littoral zone to take photos (no, littoral, not literal. I've been fascinated by that word since I discovered it. It means the area where sea meets land)


Looking south, you can see the dim outline of Banks Peninsula (Christchurch City is situated where the peninsula meets the plains) behind the "flung spray and the blown spume". (If you can identify that poem and its author, leave a comment to say so).


The first half of my course was in this pine forest on sand dunes. It's quite tricky, as there are all sorts of little bumps and hollows in the dunes, so it can be easy to miss the one where the control is hidden. The rest of the course was easier, with long runs across open paddocks (at least, the navigation was easier, but since I'm not much of a runner, I was at more of a disadvantage than on the parts where the navigation is tricky).


This is the Pacific Ocean. The nearest land to the west, apart from an occasional island, is South America. A long, long way to the west. I think that sky is magnificent - always something new, it gets me every time.

5 comments:

OldLady Of The Hills said...

These pictures are superb, Catherine...really BEAUTIFUL! That sky is so amazing with all the changes...I understand how this can "get you" every time...I understand that from the sky views here at my home....Sometimes it literally takes your breath away, doesn't it?

Michele's says "HELLO, CATHERINE", too....And so do I!

craziequeen said...

Michele sent me to see your beautiful photos....

and to learn the new word 'littoral' :-)

I'll have to find an excuse to use it.

cq

Anonymous said...

thanks for introducing me to a new word (littoral). i am going to have to use that one too!

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

- john edward masefield. from sea fever.

i am a beach-lover myself. i grew up by one and am missing the ocean terribly being land-locked in central midwest usa right now. can't wait to get home! thanks so much for sharing your photos of the ocean.

carmilevy said...

After seeing these pictures, I think I'm obsessed with the sky, too. Beautifully captured, Catherine!

I hope you take your camera along on your journeys more often. The sky really is different in the southern hemisphere!

Hi from Michele!

Jan said...

Catherine, lovely to learn a new word...and such an evocative, special one. Thankyou for that!