By mid afternoon, the rain had slowed to a drizzle and I hauled my sorry butt out of the recliner to take the dogs for a long, slow walk - not much exercise, perhaps, but at least some fresh air.
The shoreline matched the day - grey, muddy, drab - but a hint of light in the sky gave promise to a brighter hour or two.
Grey skies and glassy waters make for good reflections at the marina.
I was trying to snap a row of seagulls on a rail without much success (a truck drove back and forth disturbing them repeatedly), but when I downloaded the photos, I had to laugh at what I'd captured. Look closely at the bird on the ground (you can click on any picture to enlarge it, then use your back browser to return to the blog) - I can't decide if this is a naughty boy seagull looking up the ladies' skirts, or if he is saying "Hey, up there! Don't poop on me!"
One of the cats at the empty house decided to let me know just how boring people with cameras have become.
The seagulls on the beach were busy scavenging as the tide went out. This one's eyes were bigger than his belly - or his throat - as he struggled repeatedly to swallow a small starfish. He didn't let me close enough for a good photo, but you can just see one starfish tentacle sticking out the beak.
Another shot of the boats, as we headed back home.
No gloomy Monday walk in January on the island is complete without looking for signs of spring - I forgot to photograph the pussywillows and snowdrops we saw on our walk, but just to torment my readers from central and eastern Canada and US, (and especially from Ontario where the temperatures are among the coldest in thirty years), here are a couple of photos taken in my yard when we returned from the walk:
And one last splash of colour with an interesting story behind it:
A couple of days ago, a reader contacted me via the link on the side of this blog, and shared with me a watercolour she had done in the summer of 1969 when she visited the island, sleeping in her little MG with her dog (!!!!!) as she travelled around painting. It is with her permission that I post the picture here. Thank you Cathy, for sharing your gift and adding such colour and beauty to a gloomy, grey Monday.
Watercolour, Saltspring Island from Mill Bay
(c) 2011 Catherine McNaughton
2 comments:
It's not often you express the sort of malaise that often accompanies grey days, but the interesting thing is that, by the end of the post, you had found lots to celebrate: the really lovely painting, the amusing seagull that made you laugh, the spring flowers already blooming (I saw my first cherry blossoms on Sunday), and I suspect that bored cat made you smile too. At least, I know it did me. All in all, it was comforting to know that I'm not alone in feeling a bit blah on grey days. Those are the days I really appreciate having a dog, because once out, it is often better than anticipated. But, you already know that:) My problem is that the excuses preventing the fulfillment of the "to do" items are many and varied. Nice weather is every bit as valid a deterrent as rainy weather. Sometimes, about the only motivation for the stuff I'd rather not do is the looming deadline over my head.
It was a very wet morning but Sue and I decided to brave the rain and head for Swallowfield. The Swallowfield gods saw us and decided to smile on us and the rain stopped for the walk.
Spring is on the way, as lots of the vegetation was showing to show colour in it's buds.
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