What I saw and learned today

So I finally took the camera out today.  I took a few shots while on the board walk at Solomon's Island.  It was a beautiful day, sun shining, a nice breeze was blowing.  The temperature up near 65F which brought out the variety of clothing: shorts and flip flogs, to fairly heavy jackets.  That's always fun to see - variety.  There were dogs and kids, parents and grandparents, couples and singles all taking in the view and the scenery.

There were a few things that caught my attention today.  The birds as usual of course.  The gulls were gliding along the edge of the boardwalk and quite close.  Then there was a waterbird that grabbed my attention.  I thought at first it may have been a loon.  After zooming in on my photos, I'm still not sure what it is.  I'm hoping my post to FaceBook and request for help identifying it will turn up a positive result.

Ring Billed Gull in flight

Where I parked is at least a couple feet lower than the boardwalk. As I was getting out of the car, I could see the Thomas Johnson bridge  in the distance, but to see it, I had to look past the railings of the guardrail.

It made me think of being in a jail.  That if your perspective is just right, or maybe just wrong, you might think the bridge is out of reach.  I might believe that you can't get there, that's it impossible.  Yet if you step back, and take in the bigger view, you'll find that the bars are as I first described, just railings to prevent you from falling to the rocks below.  You (we) couldn't tell that the barrier was there to protect us until seeing the bigger picture.  The first take is that the world is a little less colorful and the distance (the future) is not quite in focus, only the bars are really in our sight.  The larger scene is more colorful and there's a sense that the next step (near ground) is sharp, the bridge while still a distance off and large and perhaps imposing can in fact be reached.  I needed to learn this today.

I also found the beams of a gazebo to be a nice study of line and color.  As you can see in the second shot, I am not the only person to have been there.  Clearly, Gerry wanted us all to know that he was there too.

And lastly, I wanted to capture a little more of the feeling and promise of spring, especially since the forecast is calling for a bunch of snow tomorrow night!

Have a blessed day,

Peace,
Brian