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.

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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!

Capturing life…

On Bribie Island where I live, I’ve come to discover that there are a lot of photographers, of varying degrees of skill. The island is well-known for its sunrises and sunsets.  But there are other photo opportunities here as well.  So I came to know of a woman, originally from Germany, but now an Aussie citizen, with an amazing vision when it comes to capturing the environment around her. Not surprisingly, Kathrin Dierich was announced as the July Artist of the month at the local arts centre.  At the launch of her exhibition, she gave a short insight of her work as a photographer and artist (she has had a great year as an artist as well).

Here she is during that talk.  Her photos held my attention for some time. Her discussion and photos have inspired me to improve my own skills.