My love for gulls is no secret. Yesterday evening we went down to the beach and found the gulls pleasantly eager to pose for my camera. Incredibly, I came home with 79 pictures of these common and seemingly unremarkable shorebirds.
It was a very windy day as you can tell by the ruffled feathers in some of these shots.
It’s a good thing I took so many pictures of the other kinds of gulls last summer because we aren’t seeing many of them here this year. (But we did have oystercatchers this year, much to my surprise and delight!) These ”regular” ring-billed gulls seemed very happy to have their beach back to themselves… I envy them at times…
Some bodyminds have more stormy weather systems than other bodyminds, just as some geographical locations have more stormy weather than others, and it is neither helpful nor relevant to compare ourselves to others. It is also very liberating to realize that change always happens on its own timetable, not on the the timetable the thinking mind conjures up. Especially in our speeded-up, fast-food, modern culture, we tend to want instant results, and life just doesn’t work that way. Most changes in nature happen slowly.
~ Joan Tollifson
(Nothing to Grasp)
As I sit here wishing for another bout of figurative “stormy weather system” to pass me by, communing with the gulls reminds me that change always happens on its own timetable…
Barbara – these photographs are exquisite. You really(!) need to submit them to a magazine.
Thank you so much, Laurie!
I think of Gulls as very UNcommon even though I live near the ocean. Lovely photos.
Thank you, Sybil. It seems that the more I observe them the more interesting they become…
I was enjoying looking at the gulls until falling upon the Joan Tollifson quote. You are one of the few people I know who have read and enjoyed her. She is so very gentle and inclusive. Something relaxes when allowing her words to penetrate.
Kathy, I know what you mean about the effect her words can have on us – the lessons she finds in nature are so simple. The above passage has been so helpful to me whenever my thinking mind starts conjuring up the “Why me? Why now?” story again. The gulls already know, it is what it is…
Thanks, Barbara! Your photos in these gull posts are beautiful. I was just having my own turbulence and thought a peek at your blog would be calming, and so it is.
Oh Susan, I’m so pleased you liked these photos – it seems I will never tire of capturing gulls on film, and they are so cooperative. So sorry to hear you’re having some turbulence in your life, too, and am happy to know you found some peace here. Can’t wait to see you next month!