Wanderlust: winter

Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts

Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Chronicles of Our Beach

Living in a small, simple town by the shore has forever changed my relationship with the beach. Before living here, the beach was always a busy, crowded place that tried to burn my skin, put salt in my mouth and leave sand in my pants. But living at the beach, I've been able to see that the beach has many different moods. The beach, like all things famous, gets stereotyped. And there is certainly a bit of truth to most people's expectations of my beach, but like most stereotypes, there is also so much more.

Welcome to my Beach

The beach, like everywhere, changes drastically with each season. In the summer, great crowds of frolickers come to play in the sand and sun and sea. They bring their umbrellas and their beach towels and they decorate the beach with their excitement and joy. The people find so many things to do on the beach: swim, surf, read, build castles, search for buried treasure, play sports, take naps, I even saw someone film a TV show. It seems everyone loves to do something different at the beach. Quite solitude is very hard to come by during the summer. But it can be found, especially after the sun goes down when, like most of the world, the beach gets much quieter.

The Beach decorated with People

Filming something for HBO

Children Playing

Searching for Treasure

In the fall and spring, the crowds mostly leave and the fishermen come out to play. They are most present during the twilight hours, I think because that's when the fish are hungriest. Some of them have great big poles the size of two men. They throw their lines out beyond the waves, shove their poles into the sand and wait for animals of the sea to bite. Others have simple fishing poles and stand on the edges of piers and jetties dodging waves and searching for fish.

People fishing at daybreak

Giant Poles

Exciting Discovery

Winter is certainly the quietest time at the beach, but people still try to surf in stormy waves or plunge into the freezing water for charity. But mostly people seem to take peaceful walks along the beach during winter, especially with their dogs. Dogs aren't allowed on the beach during summer, I guess because tourists and dog poo don't mix very well. If you want to be alone with the beach, winter is the best time to do it.

Solitude at the Beach

I've seen the beach change more than just moods while I've been here as well. It seems the constant assault of waves is carrying the sand from our beach away to some unknown adventure. To keep the beach from washing away, the government trucks in several tons of sand. But instead of dumping the sand evenly all over the beach, they built a 10 foot mountain of sand. Perhaps it was to help shield the town during the stormy season, but it also makes a great new vista point. I love walking along this new mini-mountain range and soaking in the beautiful view.

Erosion of our Beach

It seems there is always something new at the beach. Nothing ever stays the same, even somewhere as simple and enduring as the beach. I'm so grateful for the chance we were given to spend a year living on this beach. I have learned a lot about the place I once disliked and I have come to love the beach. I never know what I'll see or find next at the beach, which is all I really want from life anyway.

New York City as seen from our Beach

Some Locals at the Beach

My Wife's Footprints

Strange Object Found at the Beach

Monday, February 7, 2011

Surfing on a Snow Covered Beach

As you probably know, my wife and I moved to the beach last July and it's been a wonderful experience. I've tried my best to take advantage of the beach and I've been boogie boarding, thrown starfish back into the sea, had picnics and watched the sunrise on the beach. Although I imagined that nothing would happen on the beach once winter arrived. While things have certainly slowed down, people still find reasons to dive into the ocean even when it's below freezing.

A few weeks ago my wife and I just happened to visit the beach when a group of people know as the 'Ancient Order of Hibernians' gathered over 400 people together and then they plunged into the 40 degree water. Apparently they raised over $100,000 dollars for charity, a pretty impressive feat.

Hundreds gathered for Sea Bright's annual Polar Bear swim

'I can't feel my feet.'

Lifeguards on hand, wearing space suits?

The other day, I also saw a pair of surfers ready to brave the winter weather in the search for fun and adventure. I admire these guys' passion and dedication. They must really love what they do, if they're willing to surf with snow on the beach. I think when you're truly following your bliss, no obstacle feels too large.

The beach is a great place in the summer, so full of energy and joyful people. But I also love the beach in the winter. I love how quiet and peaceful it almost always seems, when the summer crowds are gone. When I'm the only one on the beach, which happens often in cold weather, nature's voice seems much stronger. If you've only been to the beach when it's sunny and warm, I suggest you try taking a walk on the beach during the winter. It's a completely different and very worthwhile experience.

A different kind of beauty

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

All Four Seasons in the Garden State

Before moving to New Jersey I spent nearly a decade living in the deserts of Arizona. I went to high school in Phoenix, college in Tucson and encountered very little seasonal diversity during those times. Arizona is a beautiful and unique place, but all the seasons feel a lot like summer. It rarely snows there and the botany mostly consists of cacti and imported palm trees. Before I left the desert, I had vague memories of the four seasons from a childhood spent in Oklahoma and Tennessee, but I was not prepared for the strength and vibrancy of each season. After moving to the garden state, I was completely captivated by the beauty and spectacle of the four seasons; I had to try and capture them on film (or SD card to be more accurate). I've posted links to most of these albums before, but now that the project is finished I felt they should all be together. Click the links below to watch my Flickr albums for each season.

Fall: Persephone departs and nature mourns

Winter: Persephone, Queen of the Underworld

Spring: Persephone returns and nature rejoices

Summer: Persephone, Goddess of Vegetation

I hope you enjoyed the change of the seasons as much as I did. I think I'd like to focus another series on the four seasons, this time concentrating on the less glamorous phases of each season like dead, brown leaves in fall, dirty snow in winter, sweltering heat in summer. Because I don't just want to capture beauty with my camera, ultimately what I'm looking to capture is truth.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Some Observations About Snow

This morning I woke up to discover that it was snowing outside once more. They were giant, fluffy flakes that drifted from the sky so calmly it felt like the world was moving in slow motion. Snow always makes me feel calm and in some strange way connected to the past. A lot has changed in the few thousand years humankind has lived on this blue-green dot. Our culture has changed, the earth's animals have changed, the earth's plants have changed, even the great big ocean is always changing. But not snow, snow is one of the few constants in this world. Sure there are different kinds of snow, and once it lands it never just stays pristine. But this is how snow has always been. Since the very first person saw their very first snowflake, snow has always been cold and white and beautiful.

Some things I have observed about snow:

Snow is not as easy to tunnel through as I had imagined. Tunneling is never easy business, even when it's through snow. If someone ever says to you, "lets go make a snow tunnel!", be prepared to get cold, wet and tired. It's still a worthwhile experience, just don't expect it to be easy.

Summer, a nice place to visit

My wife and I recently went back to Tucson to visit with some family for the holidays. The Southwest has a unique, exotic beauty. The sky is never so open as it is in the desert. My wife finds a certain freedom and joy in such wide open skies and distance horizons. While I on the other hand find it somewhat...oppressive. At least during the day. The sunsets are certainly beautiful in the desert, and at night the stars are spectacular.

An Arizona sunset captured while on vacation

It felt really good to visit Arizona during the winter and get a taste of warmer weather. A blizzard had just hit the East Coast, and it was nice to have a quick escape. But it was even nicer to return to glorious winter after our brief vacation. My world just doesn't feel complete without four seasons. Enjoying warm weather during winter is like eating breakfast for dinner; it's a fun, exciting change on occasion, but I wouldn't want to do it all the time. I love summer, but if I get too much it loses it shine. I spent a decade or so living in Arizona and I grew very tired of summer and sunny days. Constant summer is like eating your favorite meal everyday, without variety things begin to taste bland and boring.

But I don't just love winter because it makes me appreciate warmer weather. Cold weather forces me to live in the moment, which is sometimes hard for me. The cold can make even an ordinary day an adventure or a battle. Winter tests us all and keeps us sharp and strong. And how could I go without the beauty of snow or the joy of sledding and snowball fights and building snow tunnels and snow men! Hot chocolate never tastes as good as it does in the winter. Yes, my soul needs winter. Although sometimes, like exercise, I don't realize how good it is for me until I have it.

Our beach shortly after returning home

I love winter as much as I love summer, spring and fall. And though I loved taking a brief vacation from winter, it feels so good to return to normal.

"If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work." -William Shakespeare King Henry IV Part I Act 1 scene 2

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Winter in NY & NY 2009

Another season has come and gone, so here's another slide show of what I saw this year. A little taste of winter in the Garden State and the Empire State. Follow the link and please enjoy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffowick/sets/72157623683587443/show/.

I do love winter, but I am also glad to see it go. Spring is here and I am filled with joy and rebirth.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Absence makes the heart grow...

Spring is here and that means all kinds of change. Not everybody likes change, it often gets a lot of bad press. That's because with all change there is loss. Now matter how great the newness which change brings may be, the loss of the old can be bitter.

I'm going to miss sledding and hot chocolate on a cold winter's night and especially the smell of Christmas. But constant winter, or even constant spring, summer, or fall, wears on the soul. We all need loss, it makes way for new fruit.

It's not always easy to put in the effort and energy needed to bring about change. Especially when the loss is certain and the gain is unknown. I try to periodically examine the constants in my life, to make sure comfort and familiarity aren't holding me back. I once wore only corduroy pants for an entire decade. As comfortable as they were, refusing to change limited me in ways I didn't even imagine. If you don't absolutely love your job or your town or your life, you may need to consider change. Don't be seduced by the comfort summer brings, we all need a little winter and spring.

Wanderlust

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