Whitefish Bay - "Boundless Love"

 Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:4-5

Cape Coral, Florida - Giving Light to the Eyes

 The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

Psalm 19:9

Counting the Days - Sunset Cape Coral

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Bay of Plenty, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand,

 

The Sun knows when to go down

He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.  You bring darkness, it becomes night , and all the beasts of the forest prowl.  The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.  The sun rises, and they steal away, they return and lie down in their dens.  How many are your works, Lord!  In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.  There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number--living things both large and small.

~Psalm 104:19-26 NIV

Let Your Light Shine

 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds nd glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16 NIV

"Burning Bright In the Forest of the NIght"

 

 

The setting sun over Matanzas River is "burning bright in the forest of the night".  I can imagine the bright red light reflecting in the eyes of a tiger,.  The poem "Tyger" by William Blake is consider his most popular poem and has been used in lyrics, music, films and comic strips.

 

Copy A of William Blake's original printing of The Tyger, c. 1795.

 

 

The Tyger

by William Blake (1757–1827)

 

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, 

In the forests of the night; 

What immortal hand or eye, 

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp, 

Dare its deadly terrors clasp! 

When the stars threw down their spears

And water'd heaven with their tears: 

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night: 

What immortal hand or eye,

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

 

 

Blake has been quoted in a weekday strip of Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin recites a line from Blake's "The Tyger", while viewing a sleeping Hobbes, lightheartedly alluding to the lines "Tyger, Tyger, burning bright..."  

 

Sunset at Pier 60 "Meeting at Midnight"

 

 

These photos were taken at Pier 60, Clearwater, Florida.  I seldom get an opportunity to take pictures at the Gulf side of the state.  It was gorgeous with sea gulls flying against the sunset. 

A favorite poet of mine is Robert Browning.  Robert Browning wrote Meeting At Night in 1845 while he was courting Elizabeth Barrett. The two exchanged many love letters and secretly eloped in 1846, despite her father's protests. Browning's urgent love for Elizabeth is clearly expressed in this poem, and it is considered the most sensual poem that he had written up to that point. As you read it, notice how he uses your senses of sight, smell, sound, and touch to help convey his passion and excitement as he travels by boat during the night to secretly see his beloved.

 

Meeting at Midnight

By Robert Browning

 

I

The grey sea and the long black land;

And the yellow half-moon large and low;

And the startled little waves that leap

In fiery ringlets from their sleep,

As I gain the cove with pushing prow,

And quench its speed i' the slushy sand.

 II

Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;

Three fields to cross till a farm appears;

A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch

And blue spurt of a lighted match,

And a voice less loud, thro' its joys and fears,

Than the two hearts beating each to each!

 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote one of the most famous love poems of all time.

 

How do I love Thee?

SONNET #43

 

    How do I love thee?

    Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints – I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

 

  

Dairy of a Sunset

 

It was a cloudy afternoon so I wanted to take photos of the sun setting over the marsh at Matanzas River.  Naturally, the clouds drifted away and became sparse as the sun was going down behind the trees in the distance.  There was a lot of birds in flight across the marsh and several sail boats had dock for the evening.  I like the scenery of the birds flying across the horizon against the sun.  There are sail boats at opposite ends of the sunset and the marsh reflected a reddish glow. 

Fall Sunset Matazanas River

I don't know if a fall sunset is any different then a summer one except it is not as hot.  In October the temperature drops to the high 70's and the breeze from the Intra costal feels refreshing. 

Fort Matanzas Nature Trail Boardwalk

 

 

 

Fort Matanzas has a large conservation area on the beach.  The park has a nature trail boardwalk for people to use to walk over to the beach.  The deck protects the wildlife, sand dunes and vegetation.  These photos were taken at sunset.

Sunset over Matanzas River and Marsh

 

 

Waterway Park is a small park with nature trails and a view of Matanzas Fort, River and the marsh. The trees glowed with the evening sunlight.  The sky turned reddish orange over the green lush colors of the marsh just a spectacular scene.

Sunset Matanzas River

 

I rushed to Crescent Beach area to get the sun setting.  It was only a matter of minutes that the sun sink behind the horizon. 

New Plymouth Centre Coastal Walk

 

 

New Plymouth is a typical coastal town very similar to any you would find in the states.  After dinner, we enjoyed the nice weather and walk the Centre Coastal Walk until sunset.

A Fallin Fisherman at Sunset

RT Fallin loves to fish until the setting sun.  He probably fished all day and never gave up until he caught his supper.  His grandpa Louis Brown would have been very proud!

Poet Abbie Farwell Brown was an American author who lived from 1871-1927.  One of her famous children poems was The Fisherman.

The Fisherman

The fisherman goes out at dawn 
When every one's abed, 
And from the bottom of the sea 
Draws up his daily bread. 

His life is strange ; half on the shore 
And half upon the sea — 
Not quite a fish, and yet not quite 
The same as you and me. 

The fisherman has curious eyes ; 
They make you feel so queer, 
As if they had seen many things
Of wonder and of fear. 

They're like the sea on foggy days, — 
Not gray, nor yet quite blue ; 
They 're like the wondrous tales he tells 
Not quite — yet maybe — true. 

He knows so much of boats and tides, 
Of winds and clouds and sky ! 
But when I tell of city things, 
He sniffs and shuts one eye !

Sunset at Tauranga Harbour, New Zealand

We were fortunate enough to be at Tauranga Harbour when the sun was setting.  Boats were settling in for the night, people had setup their canoes and returned home for the evening.  It was cool, breezy and with a serene peaceful night coming in. I am studying landscape oil painting and I definitely will try my hand at painting this beautiful Harbour at sunset.  Afterwards, I experience driving at night on the "wrong side of the road!"  Missed my turn and ended up going to never never land with road construction, blocked exists, detours, and the GPS was completely lost.  It was "An Adventure" better than anything Bilbo Baggins had with the Company of Thorin Oakenshield and his dwarves in The Hobbit.

"Thunderclouds of Love" Sunset

Not all sunsets are brilliant colors of red and pink streaks in the sky.  There was a thunder storm everyday I was in the Rocky Mountains. I love being caught on the trails and getting soaking wet!  The temperature dropped drastically when the sun is covered with dark clouds.  These are photos of the sun setting over Columbine Lake. There is a bluegrass song entitled "Thunderclouds of love." 

Thunderclouds of love

 Your love hit me just like a flash of lightning
It came pouring from the thunder clouds of love
At first the turn of love was frightening
Now I know that it was sent from God above
I had been prayin' for nights on end
For some one who could make me laugh again
Then all at once from the darkness of my heart
There grew a light, the light was you love, fell like rain
No more, no more will I ever be lonely
I'll always have you here with me to love
An angel sent for an angel coming
To fill my heart with thunder clouds of love

Spirit's That Form'd this Scene by Walt Whitman

These photos were taken from top of Cedar Heights at Manitou

Springs.  Colorado Springs is on the left side and Pikes Peak is on the right.  It is a fantastic view and the Rocky Mountains are spectacular driving from Pikes Peak to Estes. 

 

In September 1879, Walt Whitman visits Colorado, the farthest west he'd ever get.  While in the three-year-old Centennial State, Whitman rebukes critics of his poetry with this poem.

 

 

Spirit That Form'd This Scene

Spirit that form'd this scene,
These tumbled rock-piles grim and red,
These reckless heaven-ambitous peaks,
These gorges, turbulent-clear streams, this naked freshness,
These formless wild arrays, for reasons of their own,
I know thee, savage spirit---we have communed together,
Mine too such wild arrays, for reasons of their own;
Was't charged against my chants they had forgotten art?
To fuse within themselves its rules precise and delicatesse?
The lyrist's measur'd beat, the wrought-out temple's grace---
      column and polish'd arch forgot?
But thou that revelest here---spirit that form'd this scene,
They have remember'd thee.

                                       --Walt Whitman

Fiery Sky over Matanzas River

Matanzas River after sunset glows like a smoky fiery sky.  Reminds me of the book "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers.  A hometown girl like me from Columbus, Georgia. Listed below are some quotes from the book.

 

“The Heart is a lonely hunter with only one desire! To find some lasting comfort in the arms of anothers fire...driven by a desperate hunger to the arms of a neon light, the heart is a lonely hunter when there's no sign of love in sight!”

 

“In his face there came to be a brooding peace that is seen most often in the faces of the very sorrowful or the very wise. But still he wandered through the streets of the town, always silent and alone.”  

 

“I´m a stranger in a strange land.”  

 

“the way i need you is a loneliness i cannot bear.” 

 

 Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American writer of novels, short stories, plays, essays and poetry. Her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts of the U.S. South. Her other novels have similar themes and are all set in the South. She was born Lula Carson Smith in Columbus, Georgia, in 1917. Her mother was the granddaughter of a plantation owner and Confederate war hero. Her father, like Wilbur Kelly in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, was a watchmaker and jeweler of French Huguenot descent. From the age of ten, Lula took piano lessons. When she was fifteen, her father gave her a typewriter on which to compose stories.  Carson McCullers was one of the leading female writers of southern gothic fiction in the twentieth century. 

Her last published book, a collection of poems for children:  Sweet as a pickle and clean as a pig

Unfortunately, not many people will ever have a chance to read her poetry since the only copies are between $99 to $125 each.