The manatees have left ‘the building.’ Warm weather has given my marine mammal friends an opportunity to forage for food after resting and gathering in the warm springs during the long period of cold weather. I am so happy they are able to get out and eat…finally.

The first trip out this morning presented not one opportunity to swim with a manatee. My first time ever that has happened. When the boat docked after three hours of looking near and far for those beautiful creatures,  I drove over to Hunter Spring and went snorkeling with my new camera housing and found myself completely in awe of it and how it gives me the ability to be creative underwater. After about half and hour in the water I was thrilled that I had invested the money in the new gear to house my Nikon D800.

Second trip out found me in Three Sister’s Springs. They have closed two large areas of the springs for manatees but there were none there so a volunteer paddled over and said it was okay to swim back into my favorite section of the springs. They call her the ‘ugly’ sister but she is magnificent.

It’s an area that is dark and full of twisted roots so many people dislike her but that particular spring is nature’s beauty at its rawest and most stunning. Textures, shapes, nooks, crannies are found there and today light beams made this a very magical place.

As I was adjusting the f-stop and shutter speed and glancing in the viewfinder I thought, these are some of the best photographs I’ve ever taken. The light coming through the twisty dark places made for rare beauty.

Our lives can be this beautiful as we allow light and love to shine in those dark inner places. It’s time we stop feeling bad about past mistakes and old behaviors and learn that we, like the tree roots, can drink from clear fountains of light that are always available.

When manatees are in the springs I’m focused on them so I am happy to have had an opportunity to embrace the beauty of the ‘ugly’ sister and to share her beauty with the world. And to receive the lesson she shared. Light, love makes everything beautiful.