Nature Photography Archives - Page 66 of 116 -

Secrets of the Dawn

By Simone Lipscomb | July 24, 2016

*The sky and sea as I finished my sea turtle patrol…just a little over an hour before this the sky was filled with outrageous color.*

Who could imagine that a little over an hour ago the rather common, blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds had been a blazing inferno of color? Or that the gentle, rolling waves had revealed bottlenose dolphins within a few feet of the shore. The sea and sky gave no hint of their dawn magic but I carried it deeply within, in the space where visceral memories of profound joy reside.

The large cloud overhead appeared white before the sunrise. There was only a hint of color in the eastern sky as the light grew in intensity. The puffy, enormous cloud that hung over the beach where I emerged from my car seemed to grab light greedily and use it to transform itself with each passing moment.

The walking sea turtle patrol rarely disappoints in variety of cloud and colors. This morning it seemed I was walking in beauty generated by a deity whose intention was to create spontaneous laughter from my depths. The colors and intensity of light were quite ridiculous. In a good way.

I have learned over the years to turn around often to watch for changes in the sky. In the west, away from the growing light, that one cloud appeared to glow with fire of the heavens that was more spectacular than the colors of the rising sun in the east. How can the sky look like this, I wondered.

There were great numbers of fish boiling in the water near the shoreline and following them was bottlenose dolphins rolling and pushing their sleek, dark gray bodies through the gentle surf. Everywhere I looked there were dorsal fins in pairs…mothers and babies.

*The color isn’t manipulated here. My iPhone may not have gotten the color perfect, but it was close to how I saw it. I didn’t change it at all while processing it.*

Then there was the rainbow cloud and by that time I was rather intoxicated by it all. Fortunately there was nobody else on the beach or I might have been reported as a wandering, raving drunk.

*Rainbow cloud behind one of our sea turtle nests.*

I looked for mother turtle tracks, checked every previously laid and marked nest in this section, and listened with a stethoscope to babies hatching and working hard in their process of being born and climbing into the light of this world. And the sky blazed with brilliance and a rainbow glowed overhead while dolphins feasted within a few feet of the sand where I stood. How could I not feel spontaneous, outrageous joy?

After I finished the section of beach I patrol and turned around to walk back, I allowed my mind to wander. Unless I was willing to experience the blackness before the dawn, I would never know the beauty of light. Isn’t that true in life? Unless we are willing to journey into darkness we will never experience the magic of light that is deep within us…that treasure of magnificent light.

*Outrageous colors from east to west in the Pano shot.*

Rainbows in the Desert

By Simone Lipscomb | July 19, 2016

Composite image. Base layer....Desert in Iraq provided by Ray Cooke...thanks! — *Composite image. Base layer….Desert in Iraq provided by Ray Cooke…thanks*!

Even with music filling my head through the ear buds, I could hear the rain as the large drops splatted on the paved trail. As the drops hit my bare arms and legs there was a delightful little smack. Blessed rain. As I pedaled on the path, every drop felt as if it was washing away dust from a dry, red desert.

The past few weeks of hate have withered my spirit. Like a fertile land in a time of severe drought, my soul thirsted for peace, love, joy. Yesterday’s sea turtle patrol gifted me with bountiful clouds, colors and a warm breeze as I walked. Medicine.

Then as I was driving to the back country trail before dawn, the building clouds gave me pause. The taller, the more likely they would produce lightning. I monitored them all the way to Gulf Shores and they appeared benign so before there was light to show the way, I began cycling.

A chuck-will’s-widow sang to me as I started. So clear and loud was the song.

Light increased as I pushed on. Cottontail rabbits munched breakfast along the side of the trail. Birds sleepily flittered from their roosts to begin their search for breakfast. Through arching branches of live oak trees I could see colors illuminate the cloud tops.

If there ever was a celebration of light and shape, it was this morning with the clouds showing off with multidimensional growth and outrageous hues. In the far west, exactly opposite of the rising sun, fingers of pastel pink light emitted from a central point of origin. What mysterious generator of light could create such a phenomenon? So soft, so subtle were the rays of light my phone camera couldn’t capture them.

Grooving to happy music and singing along, I saw the wall of water falling from the sky and heading my way. JOY! FUN! A sensory treat of cold, fat rain drops against my hot skin along with sound effects– SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! as each drop smacked the pavement or my skin. A rainbow appeared over the Gulf amidst the gathering clouds. YEAH! A rainbow!

After reaching the end of a trail I turned around and eventually pedaled out of the rain. I intersected with another trail and rode it until it ended. After turning around I noticed a beautiful sheet of rainbow rain falling across the forest. The softness of the colors and their shimmering, gentle glow created a burst of laughter from within. Those lucky trees…all that rainbow rain!

Eventually I turned onto a trail that would take me to my car. Before long I came upon clear puddles of water on the trail. Large drops were still dripping from dark green, waxy live oak tree leaves. Rainbow raindrops from the cascading shower seen from the distance.

As I pedaled I imagined the soft, pastel colors splashing on me from the puddles and from above. Cleansed with rainbow energy. Renewed. Filled with nature’s sweetness. At peace once again. Joyful once again.

My soul felt so desert-like and then rainbows appeared three days in a row reminding me….it’s all okay.

Message in a Bottle…#3

By Simone Lipscomb | July 18, 2016

It washed up during the sea turtle patrol walk not far from where I turned around. Usually I walk back on the road but the sand was firm so walking wasn’t difficult and it was a glorious sunrise with wild cloud formations over the Gulf and beach,

The bottle with the note in it was sitting at the edge of the surf. In the five seasons I’ve volunteered with our sea turtle team, I’ve found three messages in a bottle. Oddly enough, all during mid-July.

The first was after a wedding or commitment ceremony. It contained a prayer, images of the couple’s dreams and their vows. Their message, cast out into the Great Unknown, brought me a message of love and hope. I sent their hopes onward, out into the Universe, and kept the bottle in my office next to a dream board my daughter and son-in-law made.

The second bottle contained a very moving note about a young man that died in a distillery explosion in Kentucky. His mother’s friend sent her message out into the Great Mystery and asked the finder to let Kyle’s mom know it was found. I wrote a blog about it, let the damp note dry and sent it all to Rhonda, Kyle’s mom. I hope her grief was eased by knowing Kyle’s story lived on, his life touched others he had never met.

This last bottle had blue liquid in the bottom. Somebody forgot to use waterproof ink. They didn’t seal the cork. They also used a form letter…imagine sending a form letter out into the Universe. A fill-in-the-blank message in a bottle….with water-based ink. The paper was saturated and was falling apart when it was removed from the bottle.

I wondered….how often do people use a fill-in-the-blank wish list for their lives? Are we willing to live life by default or can we have the courage to work for our dreams? Are we sloppy in our life dreams? Are they easily erased by the challenges that come our way? Can we have the audacity to use permanent ink and create imaginative requests of our lives and be so full of belief that Something Out There will find it and respond that we seal the cork well so when it’s opened, the message is received with clarity.

It was a fun thing for the kids to do…fill out the form letter, toss it in the water and imagine. No big deal. But it reminded me to live with intention and realize that everything I do affects not only my life but the lives of others around me. Whoever opens up a blog post and reads it or sees one of my images of dolphins or whales or ocean life…they are, in some way, affected. When I smile at the grocery clerk or hold the door for a stranger….or snuggle with my 11 month old puppy…or rub my kitty friend’s ears…every action matters.

It’s easy to live in a vacuum and forget that we do make a difference. Every little thing we do….it matters.

What would your message in a bottle say? Would you use permanent ink? How would you prepare to send it out into the Great Mystery?

Waiting for Light

By Simone Lipscomb | July 17, 2016

I was seated on my mat waiting for class to begin. Behind me I heard a voice whisper, “I love you, Simone.” That’s when I began to come out from under a cloud. I turned around and gave Caitlyn a quick hug. “Thank you,” I whispered back. Finally, breath returned as I inhaled deeply and refocused on the yoga instructor.

The past few weeks have been heavy with hate. From Orlando to Minnesota, Louisiana, Texas, Iraq, France….the killing, bombing, acts of hate built up a dark cloud that felt smothering. It didn’t help that I was bullied and learned what it felt like for hate and meanness to be directed at me during this time. I came away from the situation with more compassion and understanding for those who are hated…for any reason but perhaps something like their skin color, who they love, their religion, their gender…education level….size of bank account….species… every day I went out on my back porch and sat in the hammock swing under the shade of a grandmother oak tree and stared into a lush courtyard. How can hate be so rampant? What are we doing to ourselves, each other…the planet?

Times like these are when my choice to be single really weighs heavy on me. This is when I want a man’s strong arms to embrace me and tell me it will be okay or if it’s not, at least I have someone to share the pain and grief of a world gone psycho. When the world is imploding on itself is when I most want companionship…not to fix the insanity of the world but to help me keep from slipping into the dark hole with so many others.

Toward the end of the week I was struggling. My self-talk was getting progressively more negative and I was quickly slipping into old behaviors of self-doubt and admittedly…self-hate. I mean, everyone else is doing it….

The cloud began to lift on the way to yoga class. A rainbow appeared in the sky. Rainbows have been very prominent in my life over the past few years, especially when a message is trying to come through. Then in class my friend reminded me there is love in the world amid hate. Then this morning’s sea turtle beach patrol brought more peace.

The darling dog boy awakened me at 3.15am. My alarm was set for 4.30 so going back to sleep wasn’t an option. I quickly jotted down a couple of dreams, fed the critters and then headed to the beach. It was far too early to begin walking the patrol section but the need to connect with the Gulf was great.

In yesterday’s meditation I saw, in my mind’s eye, a man holding my hands and then placing them on the white sand of the beach and then standing beside me as I knelt in surrender. When I arrived over 45 minutes before sunrise the beach was far too dark to see turtle tracks or nests I had to check. So I stood and then knelt and placed my hands on the sand and surrendered.

Waiting for light…what a perfectly timed teaching to receive. How agonizing it is to wait for change….of self, others, the world…in those dark moments before the light returns fear can grasp the strongest mind and heart.

The street light in the distance was brilliant as I stood in near complete darkness at the water’s edge. One light can illuminate such a large area. And the sun…well, that can illuminate massive areas of our Ocean planet. Like the beach this morning….every small bit of light increased my range of sight. Yesterday’s mediation reminded me to focus on light and love every time doubts, fears and grief surfaced.

As the light grew, moment-by-moment, peace returned to my mind and heart. As I began walking, a chant arose. Peace to you, brothers and sisters, peace to you. Love to you, brothers and sisters, love to you. Joy to you, brothers and sisters, joy to you. To every gull, tern, ghost crab, great blue heron, dolphin, shark, human…Peace to you.

At one point I looked out over the Gulf and saw a very high blow from a cetacean…too big for a dolphin. Who then? I glanced behind me and there was a cloud forming a big okay symbol, like a hand. That brought a smile. And then the large rainbow as I neared home brought even more peace.

During this time where hate is being exposed, where the insanity of darkness seems to fuel hate, it’s important to let nature heal our hearts and minds. And it’s a time to join together in harmony and love and build upon peace by living it with those ready and willing to be in that space with us.

Soul Cycling

By Simone Lipscomb | July 12, 2016

At 5.15am it was still dark outside but it was also cooler with lower humidity than we’ve had lately so the little LED light on the handlebar would have to do. My tactical, super-charged headlamp I usually wear on my helmet was missing in action.

It’s not that I was afraid of the dark. I just didn’t want to run over any snakes that might be warming their beautiful, slithery bodies on the paved trail.

I hadn’t been pedaling for more than a few minutes when a large shape swooped over my head…then another. Large birds but not owls. Perhaps a pair of nighthawks but there was no eerie vocalization. Just two large shapes disturbed by my passing. Sorry to wake you.

During the past couple of weeks after returning from the dolphin adventure I had not cycled. First, a nasty blister on my foot from a fin rubbing…even while wearing my super-cool scuba socks…kept me out of shoes. So no cleats. Then it was hot and so humid in the mornings I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. But I missed the woods, the trails…the wildlife.

Terry Tempest Williams said, “My spiritual life is found in the heart of the wild.” In The Hour of Land she writes of her personal journey with some of our national parks. Her writing resonates with my own journey in nature and especially the state park in which I ride.

During summer breaks from high school and college I worked at Gulf State Park. After earning a degree in Outdoor Recreation and Resource Management, I returned to work there as a state park naturalist.

The 6000 acres of nature are especially important in our area as they contain some of the last undeveloped coastal forests and beaches in the area. But politicians continue to chip away at what’s left of its wildness.

When I cycle there my soul is given opportunity to relax and connect with friends there…bobcats, pine trees, water snakes, alligators, live oak trees, gopher tortoises, egrets, eagles, hawks, osprey, cottontail rabbits, wild hibiscus, morning glories….a seemingly endless gathering of friends.

As I was riding through a pine forest there this morning I thought about how the trees take root, deep into the sandy soil and remain there throughout their lives. I found myself uncomfortable with the idea of being that grounded, that rooted into one place. But then I had an image of the trees being connected to each other and communicating with other pine trees all over the planet.

Not long ago I read an article about how trees not only communicate but send extra nutrients to those in their area that are not well. This was a scientific study, not a new age article. Trees cooperate with each other and send information back and forth, at least in their own forest. I got the impression this morning they ‘chat’ more long distance than we can imagine.

Each time I ride there some aspect of nature teaches me, gives me ideas to ponder. The physical exercise is great; however, it’s the spiritual expansion that keeps me returning even with summer weather that brings humidity, warmer temperatures and potential thunderstorms. Soul cycling is a necessary part of my spiritual practice. I find my truest self in the wilds of this amazing planet.