At Seventeen

...those were the days my friend...

Time has marched on and taken it's toll.

now, on the last day when the numbers

can be reversed, the old car has had a

number of overhauls, but refuses to run smoothly.

God willing, a little longer and then the scrap yard

or fertillizer for my roses. At least that's useful.

All our photos were lost in the 1983 bushfires,this is

one of the few remaining of my first 46 years of life.

Travelogue: - Being There, Part 1, BIRDS

Our first day at Currawong Beach was wet

See Intermezzo, a few posts down.

Spurwing plover, Vanellus novaehollandiae
is an early riser, as dawn breaks he is already

a busy bird.

The combination of hand held camera and

minimal light does nothing for photo quality.

Little pied Cormorant, Phalacrocorax melanuleocos
Another early riser, drying off just as the sun is rising.

Grey butcherbird, Cracticus torquatus

feasting on bacon rind

Little raven, Corvus mellori Trying to muscle

in on the BBQ breakfast

Only to be sent packing by the butcherbir returning

for a helping of scrambled eggs

Noisy miner, Manorina flavigula is never backward
in coming forward where food is concerned.

He doesn't try to muscle in, just pick pockets here and

there and gets his share none the less.

Rainbow lorikeet, Trichoglossus moluccanus
another early bird, feeding well before sunrise
and any other time of day.

For breakfast it's nectar from Erithrina x sykesii

A Blue-winged kookaburra, Dacelo leachii too late

for bacon rinds, whistfully surveys the the scene.

Black-backed magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen,

happy with crumbs from the royal feast

and lucky last, a Brush turkey, Alectura lethami

cleans up after every one has finished

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The Nest is Empty

The nest is empty now

the birds are flown

the joy of flight

their wings uplifting

life's unending journey

spurs them on to shoals

and dangers, happiness

and fears, through stormy seas

to light so blinding

that the senses swoon

What path awaits

in untried tumbling flight

where will their hearts

find haven after toil

we can but wish them well

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The nest is empty now

while silence deafening

booming our senses stuns

the home is silent now

small chirping children's voices missing . . .

Brenda's Photo Challenge

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Changing Seasons

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Plum blossom in the wild
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Magnolia tree just starting to flower

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SkyWatch *6

Are the cloud rising or going down the gurgler

off the edge of the earth?

Sunset at Port Augusta, South Autralia

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Some of you have asked about the lens I used:

I have a Nikon D40x with an 18-135mm lens

the photo is as I took it, I just chased around to get the

right angle before the light faded.

For many more skies aroud the world, click on logo.

Intermezzo - Rain

It rains,

and rains,

and rains,

and rains,

the skies and earth turn grey

the leaden sea laps leaden shore
trees shake off showers of water

in swirling seas in mists unseen

on rock sits Neptune's daughter

She sits her golden tressea rinsing

in sheets of rain enfolded

her lilting song the rain clouds calls

'till sky and air and water too
in greyness melt unendeing.

In swirling waves her senses swoon

slip into gentle slumber

her dreams the tides make rise and fall

her joy the skies to clear

compassion ships to harbour brings

her anger storms to quicken . . .

for now, she sleeps

and dreams of rain

rain sheeting, dripping, dripping . . .

Sydney, almost being there.

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Gates to the old Franconian

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Gargoyle above the gates

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Mirror, mirror on the wall but the mirror spake not at all

The show must go on, the opera house is still afloat

The famous Sydney coathanger.

....Next stop Currawong beach; yet to come