Up before the sparrows fart.

“You have to find the place that brings out the human in you.

The soul in you.

The love in you.”

~ R.M. Drake

There is nothing mundane or mediocre about life.

Far from it.

Being out every morning before the sparrows fart provides ample opportunity 

to witness that which is definitely NOT mundane or mediocre.  

Quite the opposite in fact. 

My mornings are both beautiful and dramatic.

There are some moments though when it feels almost sacrilegious to pull the camera out.  

When all I want to do is drink in the majesty of the spectacle Mother Nature puts on.

Reverence is a word that comes to mind.

It’s at these moments that I fail miserably as a photographer.

From woefully wintery skies to the most fierily blazing sunsets my world is left better by these dramatic and beautiful happenings.  

Even the woefully winter skies hold a moody magic all of their own.

Who would have thought one could be so transfixed by our ever changing skies.

As one morning moves to the next I’m left flummoxed by how quickly time’s passing.

There is a never-ending relentlessness to the ticking of the clock.

A persistent reminder that there is still so much in life I want to do.

I want to capture sunsets in remote parts of the world

Stalk birds in far-flung locations.

Walk in the waves on sunburnt shores.

I want to shoot stars in the desert

and witness the bright dancing lights of the Aurora Borealis.

It’s my photographic bucket-list and time is a-ticking.

“One day she remembered that the only person that could make her happy was herself.  

So she took back her power, 

reclaimed her place in the world, 

and shined like never before!”

~ Wild Women Sisterhood

Mayhem rules.

“It takes courage to grow up and finally become who you really are.” 

~ EE Cummings

Exploring the Birkenhead side of Harbour Bridge this afternoon

Tears wash the soul clean.  

Every time.  

In every way.

Beautifully.

They restore a semblance of calm to the soul and order to the body.

My tears are necessary.

Early morning in my bay

It’s been a week of busy-ness and mayhem.

Not enough hours in the day or minutes in the hour.

Too much to do and NEVER enough time to do it in.

Birkenhead Artisan Market - lovely spot

Mayhem RULES but I still thrive.

I’m learning that what doesn’t get done today will get done tomorrow

... or the next day

... or the one after that.

Ironically, it’s this very BUSY-ness that creates the magical moments that I love.

Ted ... snuggling into his human as it was his first day with her.

Take the common House Sparrow for example.

It must be the most successful of all the bird species.

Opportunistic and busy, they’re EVERYWHERE.

They have a marked similarity to mankind

... able to adapt and thrive no matter the environment.

AND they’re CUTE!

Splayed legs ... almost like the hound

Photo ops of other birds have been in short supply.

They just AREN’T doing winter.

Even the Kingfishers have been camera -shy.

The Sparrows HAVEN’T.

They joined in our coffee and cake after the market at Birkenhead today.

We were celebrating the shortest day of the year.

Yay to having more minutes of sunshine in my day.  

More light on my world.  

Earlier sun-rises and later sun-sets.

The early bird catching the worm kind of thingy.

Sparrows probably.

Winter, despite being delightfully cold, has a downside

... especially on these rather DARK rather COLD winter mornings.

MORE than enough reason to celebrate!

“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely,

every hundredth of a second.” 

~ Marc Riboud

The wind can rattle my bones.

“Always find beauty in things that are odd - imperfect 

- they are much more interesting.” 

~ Marc Jacobs

Any interest I MIGHT have had in the Americas Cup has long gone. It’s impact on the immediate economy has been dismal.  It’s affected productivity AND sales.  The number of people letting of steam about the sailing ... and the inability or otherwise of Team NZ to pull of a win ... is phenomenal.  Everyone ... and I mean EVERYONE .... is talking about it.

In the words of an individual called Sandy Abbott who wrote an open letter to Emirates Team New Zealand “No other country does this like we do. This is who we are. This is why we win. When you take on Team New Zealand, you take on the whole country.” 

I’d be lynched if I even for a moment suggested that Oracle deserve to win as they’ve come from a 7-1 deficit to an 8 all tie ... but I know nothing about sailing.

It’ll all be over tomorrow and the country COULD be in mourning. I hope I’m wrong.

Yachting aside, the hound and I have thoroughly enjoyed our rather wet and windy rambles the last two days. They’ve been so therapeutic.  There’s something about the wildness of the weather that’s appealed to my mood. That low pressure front engulfing the country has bought copious amounts of rain and Wellywood wind with it.  

It has been blowing .... HARD.

Standing at the viewsite this morning with the wind rattling my bones was unreal.  I spoke to the hound and the words whistled off into the ether.  She looked as confused as I did.  My mouth was moving but neither of us could hear what was coming out of it. 

Somewhere someone down on the beach must have heard me laughing.

I hope it made them smile.

The gulls were performing their usual aerial acrobatics.  Wind propulsion enables them to perform the MOST incredible manoeuvrers .... all quite unintentional.  I lost count of the number of times they overshot their landing and had to circle round and try again.  It was like watching jets landing at an airport.

The sparrows don’t appear to struggle as much with the wind as the gulls do. The cheeky little blighters flit from branch to ground and back again totally unperturbed by it all.  In the meantime I’m struggling to keep my hair out of my mouth and to propel the rugby ball in any direction but BACK at me!

Our time in the waves ... and the wind ... is over FAR too quickly on the days that I work. Caffeine fix to hand, the hound and I take the back road home. Life goes on.

“The only way of finding the limits of the possible 

is by going beyond them into the impossible.” 

~ Arthur C Clarke