Wildlife Wednesday: Great Blue Heron

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“Here is your country.

Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources,

cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage,

for your children and your children’s children.

Do not let selfish men or greedy interests

skin your country of its beauty,

its riches or its romance.”

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Theodore Roosevelt

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“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.”

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Gary Snyder

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“The wild is where you find it,

not in some distant world relegated to a nostalgic past

or an idealized future;

its presence is not black or white, bad or good,

corrupted or innocent…

We are of that nature, not apart from it.

We survive because of it, not instead of it.”

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Renee Askins

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2019

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“The boundary between tame and wild

exists only in the imperfections

of the human mind.”

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Aldo Leopold

WPC: Shine

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Light always attracts us.  We follow the mysterious glint and shine of something unknown, hoping to find a treasure.

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After several stormy days along the coast of the Pacific Northwest, I was called down to the beach by the glint and shine of sunlight sparkling on the sand and sea foam.

It was the first real sunlight we’d  had for days, and I was determined to get in some beach time before packing my bags for the long flight home.

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I was hoping for a small agate or shell, left by the waves, to take home as an added treasure from this trip.

The waves still crashing high and hard, my path hugged the high tide mark at the base of the cliff.   There were long strands of sea grasses, still wet and shining in the morning sun.  Huge hunks of wood, some already charred from beach bonfires, littered the beach.  Sea foam sparkled as it skittered across the sand.

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Focused on my photoing, I almost didn’t see the sneaker wave rolling up the beach.  I ran for the rocks, but still found myself ankle deep in the cold Pacific surf.  Not so bad, except I had worn my favorite Sebagos on this jaunt…

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Time to turn around and head back to the condo, to dry out and wait for low tide.  The treasures I’d found were locked deep in my Nikon’s memory card.

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Woodland Gnome 2016

 

For the Daily Post’s

Weekly Photo Challenge:  Shine

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Wednesday Vignette

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“How you refill,

Lying there. Something like happiness,

just like water, pure and clear pouring in.

So good you don’t even welcome it,

it runs through you in a bright stream,

as if it has been there all along.”

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Peter Heller

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2016

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Wordless Wednesday

Central Oregon coast, April 2015

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Photo by Woodland Gnome 2015

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