The seasons on the move…

Well, Spring arrives on September 1. Winter hasn’t been cold…so much so that I am still in my summer clothes.  I live in Queensland, the sunshine state of Australia, where the temps are never as low as those of our southern cousins. Since I arrived back home 13 years ago, I’ve never felt cold — because the 10 years I had living in the USA in a cold climate made an Aussie winter feel quite tame. I wonder sometimes if I should have been born in the USA as I prefer the cold weather to the scorching summers we get here. My preferred time here is Sept – Nov (spring).  Though I would say that spring seems to be shorter every year, with summer temperatures coming mid-way through the time.

I took this photo a while back, on the protected side of the island, in the Pumicestone Passage – which runs between the island and the Australian mainland. I loved the pattern on the crest of the incoming swell. Also the delicate bubbles.  Their more powerful cousins are on the other side of the island, at Woorim Beach, where I live.

We haven’t seen rain for most of this year, and very little in 2018. There’s a storm blowing in from the ocean right now, but it seems to be all lights, sound and no action.  Best I shut down in case of a power outage.

Meandering and pondering life

This morning I got up fairly early and went for a slow meander along the beach, pondering life.  I only took my cell phone with me for photos (I may have mentioned in a previous post that I have severe tendonitis in both hands, making it impossible to use my DSLR — I just don’t have the manual dexterity to be able to hold it nor change settings.  Even carrying a tripod is not feasible right now).

It’s winter here, but the temp was warm enough for me to be in shorts and a shirt without a sweater. We don’t get that cold here on the island anyway, but it’s certainly not normal to be having the temperatures we are right now. Probably should get used to it, given global warming. I live on a small island off the Queensland mainland — Bribie Island. It used to be a sleepy place with a lot of beachy types of people.  Some of them are still here, but also there are young families and retirees. Sadly, with an increase in population, comes big city issues, such as littering and angry drivers. The latter seems to be more exemplified by young men in 4WDs (SUVs) who love to tailgate. One day they’ll learn to slow down (hopefully).

I live on the surf side of the island – in fact, I just walk across the street, over the sand dunes and there is the beach.  On the other side of the island it is protected waterways. Both have their own beauty. The surf is supposed to pick up in intensity the next few days and a number of beaches south of here were closed today.

This photo I took on the walk this morning. Not many others there at the time, probably having a sleep in on a Sunday morning.

Enough for now — I’m pleased with myself for doing a post.  More to come.

Cheers from Australia!

Caring about our wildlife…

Well, it has taken some frustration with human beings to get me to post again. It’s been a while and hopefully I can get back into a better routine.

So you probably don’t know (unless you’re a Facebook friend) that about a year ago, I moved to live on a small island off the Queensland coast, called Bribie Island.  It’s connected to the mainland by bridge.  It was once a sleepy little spot where alternative life-stylers flocked to. These days it’s a mixture of young families and retirees, and those in between. I’m a member of the in between group.

So….the island has been a buzz of excitement for a couple of weeks, as a lone seal has adopted our waterways.  Unusual, because they tend to hang out in colder climates, but the water apparently is cold enough to keep it close by.  What has annoyed me (and many others) is the utter lack of common sense of so many who think it’s OK to get near this wild animal, for photos, to feed it, and, probably worst of all, allowing their dogs to get way too close.

Thankfully, some of our local photographers have been out and used their zoom lens to achieve fabulous shots.  One, Sharon Holt, had her photos picked up by a couple of newspapers.  The Brisbane Times was one that used her photos.

An update from Sea World is that they think that there are now 2 seals. Double cuteness.  Let’s hope they both survive being superstars.  🙂

Evoking memories…by sound

I happened to be out driving today and had the radio on.  I searched for a new station not normally listened to.  Living near the sea, I’ve noticed that there are a few beach themed ones. So I listened to whatever came on, and first song on was an old favourite, Summer Breeze, by Seals and Crofts.  Anyone around my age (I’m 60) would likely remember this one — they released it around 1972 I believe. So I’m driving along, with memories popping in to my head…of the years that I surfed.  My best friend’s father taught us the finer points and we took it from there.  We were never going to survive as professional surfers, but it sure was a nice time spent with other surfies over a few years.

Here’s a shot I took recently.  It was at the start of September, which is the start of spring in Australia.  I doubt I’d be able to balance on a board now, so instead I watch and photograph.

…and if you’re interested, here’s an early video of Seals and Croft playing the song live.