26 October 2012

Favorite thing No. 123b

There's no way around it.  Where I live is one of my favorite things.

I am a coastal dweller. I could never NOT  live near a coast.
(Or at least near enough to be able to be there in under 40 minutes.) 

 Lakes are certainly beautiful. This is a lake near my brother's home.
But they are not the same as an ocean coastline.
For one thing, there is a boundary visible in the distance.
(Unlike the seeming limitless sprawl of an ocean.)
 And barring the occasional swell from a motor boat, a lake has no tide. 
And I am a person who needs a tide.
I need that pulling and pushing and the sense of being drawn away
into something far greater than myself.

I need the scent of salt air now and then when the breeze is just right,
and knowing there are boats at the ready not far from here,
going off in the night or early morning to ply the waters,
bringing bay scallops and other treasures to the markets.

See that little break in the horizon behind the trawler's cottage?
The one between the island on the left and the jutting coast on the right?
That is the pathway I need.... directly into open waters.

Sometimes wandering along the waterfront in one of the nearby towns is enough.
Just knowing that the seawater lapping at my feet is on its way into the Ocean's trough.
(And hours later it may return with stories to tell....
or it may journey on to somewhere more exotic.)

There are the long walkways that stretch outward over the water,
a perfect vantage point for watching Cormorants dive and hide under the waves.
And there are the shingle beaches where I find lovely shells and rounded stones,
worn by countless tides that tumble them in and out of the ocean, over and over again.
 
 And no rocky coast would be complete without its lighthouses.

 There are quite a few just south of here, some on the mainland
and some on neighboring islands, shining outward over the sea.

 Kindly Lights that have saved so many lives,
impervious to the seas that erode the very rocks that hold them.

"Even at this distance I can see the tides, upheaving... 
a speechless wrath, that rises and subsides."
—H.W. Longfellow

I cannot imagine living anywhere else.

Put on a shawl and walk up the coast with me to Claudia's place.



9 comments:

  1. You live in a gorgeous place, Haworth. I so wish we lived nearer to the water. I grew up in Michigan, surrounded by lakes. Don grew up in San Diego and lived near the beach. We really miss that.

    Thanks so much for joining up this week. Stay safe.

    xo
    Claudia

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  2. Oh my GOODNESS! These are such beautiful images. I can see why you would always want to live near the coast. Gorgeous!

    ~Liz

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  3. I love the entire post but that second photo is pure magic....my first thought was " clouds upon glass".

    I wish I could describe how much I like it in better words but all that I can say is that
    it is a stunning photo and I love it!

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  4. I'm probably more of a mountain person. :-) Nice post! Have a wonderful weekend. Regula

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  5. Your photos are beautiful! I'm inland but love any body of water whenever I can see it. My in-laws used to live on a lake and I loved sitting on their patio or dock and watching the water. So serene.

    I hope that Sandy doesn't bother you....

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  6. I am like you. I made a vow to myself when I was 17 that when I had a choice about where I would live, it would be at the beach. The furthest I have lived from the ocean since I was independent, was 13 miles from the Caribbean Sea at the top of a hill on the island of Jamaica. The first home we purchased was 1 mile from the ocean - too far away - so we moved to the beach side of our town and our tiny cottage is just steps to the sea. We walk on the work EVERY morning before I go to work and when possible, we walk when I get home.

    There is something so relaxing and therapeutic about life by the sea.

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  7. Thanks for all your kind comments, everyone. My brother took that second photograph as it's up in his neck of the woods.

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  8. What a lovely post. I live in your neck of the woods, in Massachusetts, and the coast is about an hour away.

    Thanks for your kind words on my Halloween Memories post. I'm so glad you stopped by :)

    Donna

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