One of the things they tell you in a guided meditation is that each breath is unique and if you pay attention, you can learn to notice it. I haven’t quite got there yet.
What I have noticed on my morning walks is that the water in the Iron Cove Bay looks different on every single day. The colours change, the movement of the tides vary, the reflections shift from one moment to the next.
Big Boy and I watch the light bouncing off the waves and marvel at how different it is compared to the previous day, week and month. The very texture of the water can appear to change noticeably over the course of our walk; sometimes the sun will pass over and produce a magical effect that will last mere minutes.
Today (and all the photos in this post are from this morning), the drizzly skies produced light blues and greys…
…and magical sky mirrors…
…and perfect rainbows, both in the clouds and the water…
…and amazing glass-like silver tones…
After more than six months of walking this route, it continues to bring me enormous joy and a blessed sense of calm. It’s the perfect exercise, because it never feels like a chore.
And as I watch people jogging past us, plugged into their headphones, I have to fight the urge to stop them and say “Don’t miss this! It will never look exactly the same again!” ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I do the same walk in Liverpool most days and even though I never vary the route everything else varies. I saw a kingfisher the other day and it was so uplifting.
I saw a white egret hunting yesterday! First time I’ve seen one on this walk. :)
Ah, yes, don’t miss this – it’s easy to let such things pass you by, especially when you’re plugged-in to technology. I love the colours of the bracelet you made, they really do reflect the colours in your photos.
Watching water is magical isn’t it? I want to tell people plugged into their headphones to listen to the birdsong. Actually, what I’d really like to do is to creep up behind them and make them jump but they tend to jog faster than I walk.
I walk often by the sea. I love the way the sea changes, depending on the sky and the light and the wind. Lovely photos! Meg:)
How lucky you are to have such beautiful scenery so close to home! Your photographs show just how observant you are – the sea looks like mercury in the last photo!
Yes, yes! Always changing, so much beauty. Hope those plugged-in people see at least a little of it.
I love living near the water and it changes every day – from the river to the ocean. I don’t think I could live away from it again. Love these photos.
Beautiful pictures. Sky mirrors are so pretty. There is so much to observe, especially in the early mornings, from the cheerful morning bird songs to the everchanging scenery. There is a certain prescence in the early morning that disappears as the day progresses. Those that are plugged in to their headphones don’t know what they’re missing!
Although I haven’t started walking again yet this year, I do stand in my driveway, and do a “noticing” exercise. I also sit at my counter and simply watch. The night sky is also lovely, and being more of a night person, I look up at the sky a lot. It also changes from night to night, and it’s wonderful to observe. It’s all about stopping everything else, and just Being with it all. If I plug into anything in that moment, it’s simply how blessed I feel to Just Be!
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful… great that you live near such natural beauty, and above all, that you know how to “inhale” it…
(says Sally, who used to run to music to the point of pulling a hamstring trying to keep up with the beat… ;-)
YES, take those bloody things out of your ears!!! love the sea and her moods.
I so agree. And as for folk who walk along constantly messaging on their phones! But maybe I’m just getting old. I vary my walks withe the pups but always return to a few favourites here in Bexhill or in Spain where we’re heading next week. I go at different times of day and love how everything changes not only with the passing days but with the light of the day or evening.
You have hit the constantly changing nature of the sea perfectly. I volunteer on Monday mornings at the Tide Pools at Cabrillo National Monument on Pt Loma in San Diego. When you sit there looking at the sea, it’s hard to believe that there are over 1 million people on the other side of the point. Some days the sun and the fog play tag. Other days the wind murmurs, rages, roars, refreshes, chills, blows off the tops of the waves, or denies the low tide by sending combers rolling into the cliffs. It truly is different every time I’m there. Sometimes I see migrating California Gray Whales, other days a carrier or a submarine exiting or entering the harbor. The ‘new’ light house stand guard as it has for over 126 years. The ‘old’ light house further up the hill has been restored to what it looked like in the 1880s. Between the two light houses, if you look closely, you can see slits where the bunkers were when the point was part of the Army Coastal Artillery during the World Wars.
My words for the moment are “Pay attention”, so your post really rang true. You are so right, we will never see this again, so we have to pay attention to the now. Thank you.
I go at different times of day and love how everything changes not only with the passing days but with the light of the day or evening. Ah, yes, don’t miss this – it’s easy to let such things pass you by, especially when you’re plugged-in to technology.
I was going to head downstairs to go on the treadmill for an hour but you have inspired me to go for a very long walk outside instead. The weather is beginning to warm up and I am excited to see all of the new growth — we had a nice warm and sunny day yesterday so I’m sure things have exploded into spring!
Gorgeous photographs again Celia. I am forced to slow down on my walks at the moment and am really enjoying spotting the details in the world again :)
how beautiful and calming it looks. i love the reflections in the water. and the pelican. one of my fave birds.
Hello!
I found your blog many years ago, not long after we moved to California, and this is our 20th year here. I was enchanted to read about your hens and I tried one of your fig recipes, but my honey fig tree had not yet rendered enough fruit to do it justice. I loved your carrot jam recipe! Because of you I started using the peels from my green pippin apples for pectin. I don’t actually cook up a batch of it but find it helpful when trying to thicken my apple and plum sauces. I’ve enjoyed reading of your life experiences and thoughts for so many years and am excited to tell you that my husband’s job will be taking us to Australia for a month long visit later this year. I haven’t a clue what to do first! I’m hoping to find a cozy quilt shop somewhere so I can pick up a few yards of fabric for a souvenir quilt. Thanks so much for your very sweet and entertaining blog.
This is a lovely, inspiring post. I am a keen (slow) jogger but also walk on a daily basis and this is my meditation. I have a poetry blog here on WordPress and today’s poem is about a hard going jog in the heat in case you have time to look? Have a good afternoon, Sam :)