My blog post begins when I choose a photo. I never know what I’m going to choose unless of course I’m posting about a trip or something specific. But today, I flipped through files and just chose this photo. This was taken a long time ago when I lived on Wheeler Lake, a wide spot on the Tennessee River. I adored living there. The place was so dynamic, so charged with the energy of nature while at the same time offering respite from the busy-ness of Life.
This is where and when I became a sunrise photographer. Always an early riser, capturing a sunrise had never occurred to me until I moved onto the water. There, lake and sky enchanted me most mornings. Even cloudy mornings entertained with herons perched in trees, fish jumping, fishermen fishing, the thrumming of barges passing by in the fog. My senses were always happy there.
These days I’m grateful for the opportunity to live across the street from the Atlantic Ocean. The Cape Fear River is just a couple of miles to the west of us. We are on an island. A very slender island. The dynamics here are so different. On the river there were always boats to watch, fishing tournaments and bi-yearly bird migrations as we were along the Mississippi Flyway. The ocean is beautiful, but I’m no sun worshiper. I prefer early mornings and late afternoons/early evenings. Rarely does a boat go by. Bird migrations do happen here, too, thankfully. My Best Friend continues to live at the river and she and I compare notes constantly. “What’s flying by today?,” I’ll ask. Or, I’ll send her a hurried text saying “The cormorants are flying north by the thousands!” Birding, photography, sunrises go hand in hand. And exploring new places. It’s time to go exploring.
