Doing Nothing

The thought of spending even a few minutes simply doing nothing is an alien experience for
many. The work ethic by which we live tells us to stay busy and be productive.
There is much to be said for doing nothing from time to time.
But are we really doing nothing?
Merely sitting, relaxing, watching the shorebirds, hearing the waves and feeling the wind and
the warm sun on your face is a wonderful input to the senses.
Pardon my sitting here on the seawall doing nothing for a while.

Spring, The Wetlands

Even as the first green cattail shoots appear the Red Wing Blackbirds have returned to our bay.
One of the earliest and most populous migratory birds, the Red Wing Blackbird nests in the
wetlands and provides early colour and sound to today's walk. Being omnivorous, they are content to feed on insects and seeds equally. The male is colourful and easily spotted by listening
for their distinct mating call. The female is harder to find. She is smaller and drab in comparison
to better blend in during nesting. I was happy to catch this fellow in full song.

A Sign of Spring

A wonderful day for a walk and the beach revealed several signs of spring. I noticed that the
trees are in full bud, especially the Lilacs, so it will not be long before leaves appear.
A Cormorant caught what appeared to be a larger fish than he could handle. I watched while he made repeated dives trying to reposition the fish until finally he was able to flip it up and swallow it. His angling skills were far better than the several early fishermen I encountered today.
Walking home along the beach road I came across a blooming group of Colt's Foot.
Often mistaken for Dandelions, the Colt's Foot is a spring flower that turns into a ground covering vine in summer. They bloom before their leaves appear and I was very happy to see it.
It was the first wildflower of this year that I have encountered on the beach.

The Ring Billed Gull

I did not even get off the dock for my walk today when I came across a Ring Billed Gull
just standing, watching the world and enjoying the spring sun.
A sure sign of spring is the crisp whites of it's mating plumage, something that takes 3 years to
come in fully for this species. I wondered if he is one of our permanent residents or one that
migrates from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great lakes annually. Both are plentiful here.
They are the custodians of our beach, cleaning up any dead or dying small fish that come ashore.
They are also not above stealing your sandwich if the opportunity presents itself.
I did not disturb him as I moved past and we both enjoyed the beach, each in our own way.

Routine

On a windy day a walk along the shoreline separates me from my normal routine. I become
immersed in a different world, one in which time is measured, not by a clock, but by other things.
The cadence of waves, grains of sand slipping through fingers, the measured beats of a gull's
wings all attune me to the present and yet also lead me to reflect that this is the way things actually are and the way they have been since the very beginning.

Cormorants

from July 2014

Walking north today I come to the city park on our bay, not my usual destination but I wanted to see the progress they were making on the improvements to our entrance channel and vary my routine a bit.
I spied two Cormorants perched on some offshore posts. Despised by fishermen who feel that they ravage the baitfish stocks I find them a visually pleasing bird as they rest on the pilings, sometimes spreading their wings to dry in the sun.
The shapely silhouette of a Cormorant with long neck and slightly uplifted head and bill gives one the feel of the Orient, a classic presence painted on silk, more an icon of the far east than a summer visitor to our bay.
Rested, the Cormorants drop into the water to continue a day of underwater fishing.

A Cuban Beach

 

I had a break from the Canadian Winter and a chance to walk a beach on
The Isle of Pines, Cuba's largest Island other than Cuba itself. Behind me are a lot of tourists
yet facing southeast it was unspoiled. At low tide the two wrack lines of the previous high tides are visible.
The bottom was white coral sand untouched and smooth. It was a joy to walk here away from the crowds. Imagine the millions of sea creatures, shells and coral that, pounded by the waves of centuries, have been crushed to the fine grains seen here.

Close up you can see the coral and shells slowly being turned to sand by the clear waters of the
Caribbean. My footprints were the only ones here and soon the tide will erase them as well.
Walking back I chose the vegetation line and discovered some of the local flowers, which I cannot name but enjoyed immensely just for the opportunity to view them.

Too soon it seems, the horn sounds to return to the ship and this beautiful beach will again be deserted. Or will it? Only man will be gone, leaving the coral, flowers, shells and seabirds to their natural habitat as it has been for hundreds of years. As I walked back a Grey Pelican followed me as if to make sure that all of us left his domain as it was before we intruded.

What a wonderful day for a Beach Walk.