Quiet time

[vaneramos]

July 29, 8:39 pm: my favourite time of day





July 31, 8:49 pm


In 1995 when I was in the throes of overwhelming depression and anxiety, barely aware of how my mind worked, a counsellor taught me to breathe deeply and envision a peaceful place. My favourite spot in the world was, and still is, the dock at Lake Fletcher. I would visualize my arms resting in the warm sun, watch ripples glide, and imagine the live smell of the bay. In those days I would let Jesus appear. Now solitude and the ministrations of nature are enough.

When I'm actually there, all troubles peel away like the dragon skin of Eustace. Some friends who've seen me there say I become a different person, but actually I'm more myself.

Wednesday morning, I was startled out of Umberto Eco by 10 loons appearing in the mouth of the bay. Something excited them and they started to display, all crying at once. Several ducked heads and ran across the water, strong wings pounding the surface. All at once they dispersed, some taking to the air, others diving and vanishing. If I could find the key to understand their esoteric language, I would attend constantly. Foucault's Pendulum, while showy and unintelligible, is not nearly as compelling.

~~~~~~~~~~

Another photo is posted in weather_pics.

Comments

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

Can I borrow your peaceful place for envisioning sometimes? It looks perfect. (I promise I won't do anything untoward.)

Great photo. And ten loons at once -- wow!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Loons are highly territorial about their nesting sites, and won't allow other adults within something like a kilometre. However they seem to like gathering away from their nests to socialize and fish together. These meetings are accompanied by elaborate displays. Lake Fletcher is long and convoluted enough to allow several nests plus ample room for non-mated birds (they don't breed until about their fifth year) and gatherings. But in a lifetime of summers, this was the largest and most vocal group I (or my parents) remember seeing.

You would be welcome to visit my dock, perhaps someday in person.

[champdaddy.livejournal.com]

amazing...

[queenmomcat.livejournal.com]

What lovely tranquil photographs! If it weren't for the fact that it's a lake and not an ocean, they rather remind me of the San Juans and the Maine coast. I think it's the listing evergreens on low hills.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Witnessing it year after year I am still amazed. :-)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I've never visited either place, although the Inside Passage of British Columbia probably resembles the San Juans, and this summer we'll camp on Grand Manan Island, which is right on New Brunswick's border with Maine.