Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Southern Beauties - with a Maine Interlude

Imagine being a honeybee crawling on a fragrant gardenia. 


Gardenia fireworks - the shrub exploded into bloom almost overnight. 


Here we have a dramatic transition of subject, from the closeup views of a quarter-acre suburban garden to ....

the wild beauty of a rural Maine island in Casco Bay. 

 I slightly expanded the definition of backyard photos while in Maine. The bay with its changes in tides and winds and weather and sun draws me to it inexorably. It teaches me things 
that I cannot articulate. 

I try with the camera to evoke the mysterious beauty. I fail, of course, but I do not care. Life is happening according to rhythms that we cannot fathom or capture. Somehow that is a relief, a prayer.

But I am drawn to share the beautiful, and here's a bit of what I saw. 


A view from the walk to the stairs leading down to the beach.
This is one of the oldest cottages on the East End of the island.


The evening sun lights up the bay, seen from the porch of our cottage. 


High tide breaks on the ledge at the point.
How many hours (days) have I spent on this point I cannot say.  


Sunset at the wharf as seen through a lobster trap.
Lobstermen were just beginning to put in their traps for the summer. 


Twilight and eider ducks with their babies on the bay near the point. 


The beach at low tide. The rockweed has a beauty of its own,
and is home to all sorts of sea life. 


Eastern phoebes nested on the rafter of the front porch.
This phoebe alit in a lilac bush not long after fledging. 

In the miracle of modern airplane travel, I was transported reluctantly back to North Carolina. The lilies (not eaten by deer) and beginning to peak were a consolation. 



This post is the fourth in a series of "10 Days" posts featuring daily photographs from my backyard.


6 comments :

Beth at PlantPostings said...

Gardenias in full bloom--yum! I can only imagine. It looks like you had a heavenly time at the coast! Both locations are beautiful. And your landscape shots are great--I always think landscape shots are best when enlarged, so I clicked on them. Fantastic!

Sheila said...

I'm glad you enlarged the landscape shots. I agree that the small format doesn't do them justice - neither do photographs do justice to the majesty of big landscapes. But still I try.

Yes, both locations are beautiful, in such different ways...

Donna@Gardens Eye View said...

Sheila indeed a beautiful spot that I think you captured incredibly. I too enlarged the shots. The water shots are calling me and that deep orange daylily is breathtaking...love, love, love this series.

Sheila said...

Donna, thank you for the feedback! I am truly enjoying doing this series of daily photos. I think my photography has improved already and the practice of noticing something of beauty in the yard each day is a meditation of sorts..

I have also been posting the daily photos on my Facebook page and have been surprised at the positive response. (I wasn't sure how many people are interested in gardens and nature, but have been pleasantly surprised.)

The Sage Butterfly said...

A whisper of beauty all around. You captured it perfectly.

Sheila Read said...

I like that - a whisper of beauty...