Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place.
~ Rachel Carson
Marine air moving to shore from the mighty Pacific Ocean at Moclips Beach, Washington, USA.
Sea’s edge
Category: Travel
Jervis Inlet
Photos by S.W. Cosgrove
Jervis Inlet runs 55 mi (89 km) from its head at the mouth of the Skwawka River to its opening into the Strait of Georgia near Texada Island. It is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast, about 59 mi (95 km) northwest of Vancouver, and the third of such inlets north of the 49th parallel, the first of which is Burrard Inlet, Vancouver’s harbor.
It is the deepest fjord on the British Columbia coast with a maximum depth of 670 m (2,200 ft).
The inlet is made up of three arms or reaches:
- Prince of Wales Reach
- Princess Royal Reach
- Queens Reach
A faded memory
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
A faded memory from a box of old photos. 1973. From the roof of our hotel.
The next day we sailed from New York Harbor aboard an Italian oceanliner bound for Cannes.
We returned to NYC the next year.
The Twin Towers were still there. We thought they always would be.
How foolish.
Alone together
Photo and poem by S.W. Cosgrove
alone
together
watching our footprints
vanishing
into the eternal sea
with each receding wave
If dogs run free, why not me ~ In harmony with the cosmic sea
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
If Dogs Run Free ~ Written by Bob Dylan
If dogs run free, then why not we
Across the swooping plain?
My ears hear a symphony
Of two mules, trains and rain
The best is always yet to come
That’s what they explain to me
Just do your thing, you’ll be king
If dogs run free
If dogs run free, why not me
Across the swamp of time?
My mind weaves a symphony
And tapestry of rhyme
Oh, winds which rush my tale to thee
So it may flow and be
To each his own, it’s all unknown
If dogs run free
If dogs run free, then what must be
Must be, and that is all
True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall
In harmony with the cosmic sea
True love needs no company
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole
If dogs run free
Dragons in the water, in the sand
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
“I do not care what comes after; I have seen the dragons on the wind of morning.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Farthest Shore”
Jervis Inlet
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
Aboard the Slatery Bay-Earls Cove Ferry
Sunshine Coast
British Columbia
Canada
Fading of the light
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
Dusk is a mirage
Twilight’s but a shadow
But tides are forever
Landscapes of water and reflection
Photos by S.W. Cosgrove
Art is not a reflection of reality, it is the reality of a reflection. ~ Jean-Luc Godard
These landscapes of water and reflection are an obsession. ~ Claude Monet
Walking on the Western Edge: Ruby Beach
“To a Seabird” by Francis Bret Harte
Sauntering hither on listless wings,
Careless vagabond of the sea,
Little thou heedest the surf that sings,
The bar that thunders, the shale that rings,
Give me to keep thy company.
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove – Pacific Coast, Washington, USA
The day our daughter was born
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
Early on a hot August day, we made a quick 2 a.m. run to the Rotes Kreuz Hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany. I called before we left our home in Königstädten, normally a 20-minute drive. There was no traffic at that hour, and I made it in less than 15 minutes. The doctor was already there waiting for us, and a room was ready. “Baby An Bord,” as the German bumper sticker said. We were soon to be parents.
My wife was in labor, but after several hours, the doctor decided to do a C-Section because she was becoming very fatigued. “She’ll need her strength for the days to come,” he said. I was relegated to the waiting room.
I paced the floor, waiting less than patiently. Within an hour, two nurses came into the room with our daughter, Shannon, wrapped in “swaddling clothes” – clothes that wrap an infant tightly in cloth to help the baby transition from the womb to the outside world.
The nurse placed her in my arms and said, “Hier ist Ihre kleine Tochter.” Her eyes were open and deep blue. Later she closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes were brown, like her mother’s. She was returned to her mother and I came in a little later to take this photo.
Wife and daughter were kept in the hospital for over a week with full care. The head nurse explained to me that they believed in keeping the mother safe and resting because “she’ll be plenty busy when she gets home.” An vast understatement, as we soon found out.
Theresa had a private room in the elegant old hospital on a hill overlooking the city of Wiesbaden on Schöne Aussicht Strasse – “Beautiful View Street.” And so it began.
Riding through the forest
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
Impromptu shot from horseback on a trail in the Taunus Mountains near Wiesbaden, Land Hessen, Deutschland.
My home for over a decade.
My horse – “Chagall.” German warmblood. A sporting gentleman.
Walking on the Western Edge – Riverine Reflection
Photo by SW Cosgrove
Moclips River walk, Washington coast.
3 March 2021
Pure reflection – single, unmanipulated image.
Ocean storm
Photo and text by S.W. Cosgrove
There’s a hush in the gloaming
as black clouds move in from the west
You don’t need a weatherman to see this storm coming
One last walk on the beach
But don’t tarry
– S.W. Cosgrove
Still water reflects
Photo and text by S.W. Cosgrove
still water reflects
light dancing on the surface
but look just below
Evening’s ebb tide at Iron Springs
Text and photo by S.W. Cosgrove
Evening’s ebb tide at Iron Springs
pulls the Pacific Ocean waters back into its infinite bosom,
etching paths in the dun sands
as I watch from above
Rincon Valley
Photo by SW Cosgrove
Riding horses on Rincon Valley trails under the Rincon Mountains, Tucson, Arizona. Spotted a cougar for part of the ride who was keeping an eye on us.
Home of the Jumping Cholla Cactus (Opuntia fulgida), which gets its name from spiny segments that detach so easily they seem to attack any creature that passes by. I found out the hard way.
Bridge over the Tacoma Narrows
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
Know when to cross it
Know when to burn it
Know when it’s real
Know when it only exists in your mind
See the USA in your Chevrolet
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
Do you remember?
See the USA in your Chevrolet
America is asking you to call
Drive your Chevrolet in the USA
America’s the greatest land of all
On a highway, or a road along the levee
Performance is sweeter
Nothing can beat her
Life is completer in a Chevy
So make a date today to see the USA
And see it in your Chevrolet
Travelin’ east, Travelin’ west
Wherever you go Chevy service is best
Southward or north, near place or far
There’s a Chevrolet dealer for your Chevrolet car
See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet.
The Rockies way out west are calling you
Drive your Chevrolet through the U.S.A
Where fields of golden wheat pass in review
Whether Trav’ling light or with a load that’s heavy
Performance is sweeter, oh.. nothing can beat ‘er
Life is completer in a Chevy
So make a date today to see the U.S.A
And see it in your Chevrolet
The song “See The U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet” (title as filed for 1950 copyright) is a commercial jingle from c. 1949, with lyrics and music by Leo Corday (ASCAP) and Leon Carr (ASCAP), written for the Chevrolet Division of General Motors.
The Changing Light
Photo by S.W. Cosgrove
The view from my office window high above Market Street, looking up Van Ness, as the fog rolled in from the Golden Gate onto The City, changing day into night. I always had a sweater ready in the middle of summer.
The Changing Light by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The changing light
at San Francisco
is none of your East Coast light
none of your pearly light of Paris
The light of San Francisco
is a sea light
an island light
And the light of fog
blanketing the hills
drifting in at night
through the Golden Gate
to lie on the city at dawn
And then the halcyon late mornings
after the fog burns off
and the sun paints white houses
with the sea light of Greece
with sharp clean shadows
making the town look like
it had just been painted
But the wind comes up at four o’clock
sweeping the hills
And then the veil of light of early evening
And then another scrim
when the new night fog
floats in
And in that vale of light
the city drifts
anchorless upon the ocean
SW COSGROVE 