Eye of the beholder

 Our weather has been warmer the past week, and we had several days without strong winds. Pleasant winter days enabled us to enjoy the outdoors on our daily walks. The lengthening days are a sure sign that spring is nigh as well.

Every day, I take a photo of the mouth of the stream and the bay as seen from the gazebo. This was the scene on Feb. 14/26.

While it was warmer last week, it is nothing like the same day two years ago. In 2024, the bay was free of ice. It will be a few weeks before the bay opens up this year.

We walked in the sun a few days last week. Exposed ice surfaces shone brightly too.

The area of the bench which I also photograph every day, had a different look on a sunny day.

This was that setting on Saturday when it was snowing.

While we’ve seen tracks of snowshoe hares, we haven’t been fortunate enough to see them yet this year. However, a Ruffed Grouse is around again. We feared the Bald Eagles had found it. 

We haven’t spotted the resident Bald Eagles recently but we drove to the area of the Confederation Bridge last week and spotted this beauty along the way. It was surveying the banks of a river where ducks were gathered.

Finally this week, this is the Confederation Bridge which links Prince Edward Island to mainland Canada. 

The ice moves with the tide but the bridge can withstand the onslaught. To me, this is a beautiful structure, not esthetically as much as its significance. 

The bridge creates a physical link to the rest of Canada for islanders. Transportation to and from the island is mere minutes over the almost thirteen kilometres of bridge. To a person originally from an island which will never have a fixed link, I appreciate the freedom this bridge represents. A thing of beauty.

Have a great week.

Fresh Air

Last week was warmer, so my husband and I managed to walk the boardwalk more than we had the two previous weeks. Skies were overcast most days as you will see. However, the scenes before us made me stop to capture the moments and each day presented something new if one took the time to stop and look.

One day, the sun was barely covered by the lowest layer of a thick cloud. Along the horizon stretched a band of blue and a hint of twilight in the mid morning though a shielded sun was obvious.

Sometimes, clouds can stand in sharp contrast to the vast ice-covered sea especially when they appear to be blue. Again mid morning resembles twilight.

Another twilight morning, a band of blue cloud made a horizontal line across the sky in Bedeque Bay. It added a new element to the scene from the bridge over the salt marsh.

Snow overnight gave another layer of softness to the shoreline one day as the sky blue attempted to push up the cloudy blind.

Our breath of fresh air on so many levels! Hope you find yours!

 

Boundless

A few weeks ago, a fellow blogger*

https://pattietierney.blogspot.com asked about the most unusual thing my husband and I have seen on our walks around the island. After giving it some thought, and talking with my husband about it, we decided the most unusual thing is a horizonless sky. 

Such a sky occurs when, due to atmospheric conditions, sea/land and sky blend together and appear as one. Fog can cause such conditions, sometimes resulting in a white out or a scene like below:

I photographed this shot from Cabot Beach on setting day in 2018, as the fishing boats headed out to set their lobster pots for the season. A light on Fish Island hangs in the air as a bird flies above it all.

Snow can do the same as we see here on Prince Edward Island when drifts of snow cross the open fields.

So, we see horizonless skies periodically but the most unusual one was this shot of two fishing boats headed out Bedeque Bay in Summerside in April of 2017. The sea was calm and the cloudless sky reflected in the water. The wake of the boats disturbed the surface of the water behind them. But ahead…

To me, the scene is a symbol. The world ahead of the boaters is boundless, with endless possibilities and opportunities. Into the unknown they go, trusting in their experience, training and skill to handle what’s ahead. We are the boaters.

What do you see?

*Pattie’s blog features a wonderful combination of amazing table settings for every occasion, recipes, personal stories and beautiful photographs. The blog is an oasis in a troubled world. Check it out!

P.S.

I choose to see the world this way. The reality of the threats we face in the world today can be overwhelming. I am aware but choose to focus on a better future and work towards it.