I’ve missed a few of Hugh’s Photo Challenges these past few weeks, simply because I didn’t feel I had the right shot. However, this week I hope I meet the challenge – the theme is ‘Calm’ and here is my image.
It’s a shot of the beach near to where I used to live – our house was only a few minutes walk away and I could hear the ocean at night, humming in the darkness. The waves can get quite wild, rocks battered and sculpted into twisting shapes, the moving sands throwing up curling breakers when the wind and tides were right.
So this beach was more wild than calm , though it was often deserted, families preferring the safety of the bay. The ocean on this side brought treasures, carried on the waves coming up from the frozen South. I remember one day when the sand was covered with sea urchin shells, left in undulating lines where they had come ashore, victims of some undersea cataclysm. Glass and shells made perfect mermaid jewellery when the gorgeous girl was tiny, soft rubbed green and blue shards glimmering in the sunshine, heaped into a ‘treasure’ pile as we searched for more.
The reason this image speaks to me of calm is because this is the place where I found calm again. After a few years of stress and sorrow and losing my way a little, this is where I was able to get back on the path. To take a moment and just… breathe.
I feel very fortunate to have lived in such a place, and carry a little piece of calm with me wherever I go, treasure from the sea.
Helen Glynn Jones 
It’s gorgeous! Melbourne?
Thanks Kristin! It’s about an hour from Melbourne city, on the south part of the bay – it was such a great place to live 🙂
Is it always cold there or do they have seasons?
They do have seasons, and the coldest it gets is about zero degrees in winter, cold enough for frost. But the summers are very hot, high 30’s early 40’s (Celsius). The best time of year is autumn, February March time, when the days and water are still warm, but the nights are cool enough to make sleep comfortable.
Sounds lovely!
It really was 🙂
That’s one of the prettiest beaches I’ve ever seen!
Australia does beaches really well 🙂
Heck yeah it does! Lol
😀
Wow! You must miss it. Its gorgeous! And such a beautiful piece of writing to go with it. So glad you found your inner calm. Xxx
Thanks, Ali, that’s very nice of you to say. I do miss it – it’s the longest I ever lived in one place, and I loved our little house there, tucked behind the dunes. I miss my wonderful friends there, and being near to the water. I love being back in the UK and close to my family, but the beach will always hold a special place in my heart 🙂
I have very fond memories of beaches too. Until I moved here I’d never lived far from one.
Yes, me too – in Canada I lived on Lake Ontario, then Vancouver, and in Australia we were always near the beach. It feels odd, doesn’t it, without the water nearby?
It would… except we have sooooooo many beautiful lakes. So I absolutely adore beaches when I get the chance, but am lucky that I can still be near water.
You are! We just have the canal, which is better than nothing 😉
It is for sure! We don’t have many canals over here.
Really? I didn’t realise that. You do have some beautiful lakes and coastline though 🙂
We do. And lots of rivers too. And in winter lots of floods! 😂😁😄
Oh yes! You had a flood not long ago, didn’t you? And, on a slightly unrelated canal fact, did you know that Birmingham has more canals than Venice? It freaked me out a bit when I heard that.
What??? No way! I could never even have imagined that!
I know – it’s just mad, isn’t it? Yet apparently true.
Mad fact of the day! 😂
Yep, I’m just a mine of useless information! 😂
Haha! Not useless… interesting! 😁
Lovely shot Helen. And glad it gave you inner peace and calm, it’s special to have somewhere that resonates like that.
Thanks, Miriam – it’s a place that will always be special to me 🙂
I want to go there! Gorgeous!
Thanks, Allie – it really is! 🙂
Great photo!
Thank you 🙂
Gorgeous photo for the challenge, Helen, and I see why you’ve entered it for this week’s challenge. Just the fact there is a beautiful blue sky, the sunshine, and the beach is almost deserted (I think I can spy one walker) it really does capture calm in an excellent way.
You must miss it so much?
I love being in the UK now, but there are times when I really do miss it, and I know I was very lucky to have seven years there.
I’d love to live so close to a sea like that!
It was really lovely – life changing, really 🙂 I take it that means you’re landlocked, like I am?
Well, not really – Aberdeen beach is a short drive away but it’s not as pretty and cold lol
Yes, the beaches are a bit different here, as is the sea. I still love a bit of sea air though. I’m a good hour and a half from the ocean, which is strange after living near it for so long.
So your song request for tomorrow could be something beach related 🙂
‘Echo Beach’ by Martha and the Muffins, please! (and that’s about the beaches of Lake Ontario, where I used to live – my friend’s mum taught Martha piano!)
Oooo look who’s name dropping lol
lol name dropping by proxy, that’s all – sigh.
What a tranquil scene!
Thanks, Ericka! 🙂
Wow so beautiful and serene – what a place to have experienced
Thanks, Sacha – it was a wonderful place to live for a lot of reasons 🙂