Wavelets snap and turn
in the sunlight, deceiving eyes
into believing there are creatures
emerging from the depths;
Strands of kelp curve and twist
like the wake of a ship, glinting
just enough to hint at sea otters
frolicking in welcome brilliance;
Markers the novice misses, looking
too hard and long while gulls
soar and dive in the distance
and this, only this indicates activity
worthy of the quest;
As the sloop approaches the kerfuffle,
a rank sea smell overwhelms the senses
and I am reminded of our encounter
with a Hawaiian monk seal detected
by aura alone on shores too distant
for ancestors to comprehend traversing.
All photos 2019 ©Bela Johnson
Sailing is an exhilarating experience and you have captured it beautifully in your words Bela. Thanks for sharing. Can you please share your email? Congratulations for winning Timeless Echoes.
Ohmygosh! Cool! Thanks so much! ❤️
And yes, sailing is exhilarating! Even if the whales we all hoped to see didn’t show up (it’s early yet), nobody was the least bit disappointed. What a beautiful day on the water with a small clutch of people. All Aboard Sailing out of Friday Harbor was who I went with, and no regrets whatsoever. I will do it again! 🤗😘
Please check your mail, your gift is waiting to be downloaded Bela. Happy reading!
Thank you so much! I will start reading tonight. 🙏🤗💕
More gorgeous photos!!
Many thanks, Betty! There were people with camera lenses about a foot long, and I told one of them that I felt quite inadequate with my little Canon PowerShot. But in the end, I did get some sweet shots, so why spent thousands of dollars on that kind of Nikon equipment? If I lived here and was out on the ocean a lot, I might change my mind. But I don’t and I’m not and I’m good! 😬😎😘❤️
So beautiful, Bela! 🙂
Mahalo, Vidur! I leave this part of the world in another couple of days, but three weeks has been just about right to have time to experience some of the things that I have.
Hope you’re having a great weekend! 🙏🐋😎
Yes, thank you…and a wonderful weekend to you too! 🙂
Lovely words and photographs!
Thanks, Paul! 🙏🤗
What a lovely poem describing the seas and shores around you. This was my favourite line: ‘just enough to hint at sea otters frolicking in welcome brilliance’. It is such a vividly imaginative line, and I picture sea otters lazing about and stirring at what’s approaching them. At the end I like how you allude to how some shores might be too far for us to travel…we can all dream 🙂 Great shots as usual. That last shot is amazing. That bird looked like it found something to eat 🙂
Aloha Mabel. Thanks as always for weighing in. I am glad you had the visual of the otters pop for you even though they didn’t exist in fact. 🤗 I kept thinking I was seeing them, trick of waves on open water. And yes the distances we travel. My father traveled all over the world as he had government contracts as a consulting engineer. My mother stayed at home, didn’t venture very far and that was fine with her. In their parents’ generation, It would’ve seemed impossible to imagine traveling the distances we take for granted today. That was kind of the gist of that line. And your meaning fits as well of course.
I appreciate, photographer to photographer, your praise of my photographs as well. I love your work as you know. Other people on the boat-there were eight of us-had thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment. I had my little Canon PowerShot which cost under $300USD. And I was really happy with the shots that I did take. This was, closest we could gather with two naturalists among us as guides, a juvenile golden eagle; rare to see there or in fact anywhere these days. I don’t think any of us could see what it was eating, but when I got home and downloaded the photos onto my laptop, I could see it had killed a duck or some other seabird when I thought it was likely a fish. Pretty cool. 🤩😘
Your father is very lucky to have traveled the world and it would be a luxury back in the day. He must have not only seen but learnt a lot during his work travels.
Your Canon PowerShot takes amazing shots. I also have one but it has had it’s day. But it served me well. Very cool shots and hope you continue taking that PowerShot around, Bela 🤩
Mahalo, Mabel! I like that you have/had the same camera – it was suggested to me by a professional photographer at an event here in our community. He had a huge long lens and was photographing the event, yet had the PS around his neck. I asked him about his camera during a break in the action and he took the PS off and handed it to me. He said he always carries it, despite $$$1000’s of other equipment. Said go ahead, use it, shoot with it, and I’ll forward what you shot. And he did. And I was convinced. Good little camera 😉 Aloha xoxo
It is a good little camera. Canon has always served me well, and my PowerShot lasted for many years. Hope yours continues to be by your side for a while to come 🙂
Thank you! 🙏🥰💕
Stunning photography to go with your well crafted words.
Thank you! Love your blog by the bye. 🤗