Chaos in my soul.

 “You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.” 

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Autumn’s here! 

How do I know?

The sun’s still shining as brightly

and only setting at 8pm in the evening.

The temperature during the day is a gorgeous 22/23 degrees.

BUT

my scarf has become a necessary accessory as we exit the house in the still-dark morning.  

Shorts and a short-sleeve T ... with the addition of a sleeveless fleece .... is still the outfit of choice but it’s the scarf that indicates the changing of the season.

That nip in the air is off-set by the addition of this scarf to my rambling ensemble.

Yes.  A knitted scarf.  

Orange.  

Sunrise and sunset colour. 

Bright.  Vibrant.  Cheerful.

A bit like me!!

The orange scarf is my calling card during autumn and winter.  

Sam recognised it INSTANTLY this morning.

I’d been making word art in the sand and was trying to capture it on camera 

when the feet-seeking missile hit my feet.  

He was DELIGHTED to see us!

He’d come to the beach SANS rugby ball though so a tussle ensued 

between the hound and him as to WHO was to have ownership of the ball. 

 It’s a Labrador thing.  

Only they understand it.

Even the sparrows were confused as to ownership.

They’re used to seeing TWO hounds with TWO balls.

TWO hounds and ONE ball just doesn’t look right, 

unless they’re retrieving it from the waves together.  

Even then you can see the tugging as they try to out-muscle one another.

Even Coops, the mighty-mouse hound of the hound world 

knows not to come between the hound and her ball.  

His usual ginormous leaps in and out of the waves to help her retrieve it were rather subdued this morning.  

I’d forgotten though that he’s NOT a Labrador

and isn’t as partial to cold water and weather as the hound.

Chaos in my soul?  

I think so.  

Dancing in the waves?

Mandatory.

THIS has been a good day.

“When we can do nothing else, we can still love, 

without expecting any reward or change or gratitude.” 

~ Paulo Coelho

Sometimes my days are extra-ordinary!

Seize every moment ..... every ray of sunshine .... every reflection ...... every grain of sand!! Every day is special and sometimes in the most extra-ordinary of ways.

Yellow on one side of the bay ....

.... and pink on the other!

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve stopped and gazed in awe at the visual feast that assaults my eyes when I’m rambling. Sometimes it’s so fleeting I don’t even have time to think of taking a pic before it’s gone. The four Rosea performing their aerial manoeuver as I walked up Cliff Road this morning were one of those moments. They were so beautiful with their rainbow coloured plumage and left me reeling with their magical kaleidoscope of colour. 

Try as I might I couldn’t find them again. Their brief but glorious burst of colour on my world was intoxicating ... I was beaming from ear to ear as the hound and I continued up to the view site. THEY made my day.

I love my time on the sand and in the waves ... yes it was cold - icy cold this morning. I even wore a SCARF - WITH my shorts. I could be persuaded to start wearing long pants if the temp persists in being so low at 6.30 in the morning ... it was a very icy 3 degrees today .... brrrrrr! Coffee couldn’t come soon enough .... and not because of the caffeine!

My caffeine fix nearly went flying though! The hound, distracted by persons who shall remain un-named, nearly pulled it out of my hand .... right outside the Co-op! I had foam all over my gloves and sleeve!  BAD hound!! Gareth and Julia found it most amusing ..... hmmmm.

The frost on the grass in the park!

It was SO icy this morning there was even frost on the park ... it’s the second time in a week we’ve seen frost in the park ... winter’s here with a vengeance!

Such a gorgeous reflection ...

The White faced Heron

The heron was in the bay again ... it’s a White faced Heron and is always solitary. I’ve not yet ever seen another heron with it or even in the bay at the same time. As with a lot of  bird species here in New Zealand, it’s an Aussie import ... typical. I do like him though ... he moves so gracefully through the waves and along the rocks and isn’t intimidated by any of the other birds. The only thing that sends him soaring majestically into the air are hounds chasing arbitrary balls through the waves. And yes .... even when he’s in a hurry, he’s still elegance personified.

The more photographs I take of reflections, the more reflections I see around me. They are everywhere ... on so many surfaces ... always visible to the eye that can see. Reflections, like so many things in life though, aren’t always seen BECAUSE they’re so obvious. We don’t always see what’s right in front of our eyes.

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see ...” ~ Henry David Thoreau

Reflections ...

I can't get enough of them!

Pity this wasn't better focused.

The kingfisher on the way home .... RAIN bringer!

See ... more reflections.

The little white-eyes drinking the nectar