Sunday, August 19, 2012

A cool walk in the fog

While so much of the country suffers from severe heat, here along the coast of Atlantic Canada we often dress in layers - it cools off at night!  My son and I took this photo of ourselves using the self timer one early evening last week - look at us - mid-August and he is wearing a sweatshirt and winter vest - but shorts too.  Yup, a mish-mash of weather to be  sure.  Fog is common.  When I sleep at night I can often hear the fog horn's call drifting through my window.  On this day we were were careful to not go directly in front of the fog horn because trust me, it doesn't softly drift when you are right in front of it - more like blow you off the cliff!  We call fog our "spa" weather, ha ha.  Oh - and look how long-legged my boy is getting!  
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Here is a photo of the sun trying to break through.

The flowers are pretty.  I like to take close up photos when I don't have time to doodle them on the spot.  I like all the details - the variety of leaf shapes, the way the petals bend backwards, etc.
So many of the flowers that I doodled in mid-July have now gone by and had to be cut back.  Oh - and there is a weed in this sketch too (top right), but I like its' funky shape.  I often feel like I don't have the time to be creative, but everyone has time to doodle.  I like a pigma pen because then I can go back and add water color if I want too.  Plus - it is good for my son to see me doodle and hear me laugh at my own efforts when I really mess up (you should see my pitiful attempts at drawing a horse!) - because then he is inspired to draw himself and isn't overly self-critical.  But anyway - the fading flowers are a good indicator that summer is racing by.


And here is a photo of that fog horn.  I wrote a poem about it last year - let me look in my notes and see if I can find it for another post!  I love how this light house is tethered to the rocks and have taken many photos of these cables.  For some reason they fascinate me.
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Before that fog horn, there was a fog bell.  It weighs 2000 pounds and was made in 1907 (I think that is the right info anyway).

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The lightkeeper's house - from when it was a tended lighthouse.  It has been bordered up and empty for the past several years.  Before that it was leased as an inn.  Except you have to go up/down MANY stairs to get there... and the fog horn would be your pillow.  Now, exciting news, there is an artist in residence for 3 months.  I have no idea what kind of art this artist is working on, but it is good to know that the place is once again occupied.

The many steps - it looks like they have the old freight "train working again though to carry supplies up and down.

A slice of my life this summer.  I was dead, tired on my feet this day, but... time goes by quickly.  Yes, it was an effort to go, but what fun we had!  And when we got home we had hot chocolate and warmed up (and I got to put my feet up)!
Self-portrait of the 2 of us.  Life is good.

3 comments:

Mary Johnson said...

I love fog, lighthouses and the coast. Your post makes me homesick for the east but luckily I get to spend some time in Maine next month.

I can't believe how tall your son is getting, they grow so fast!

Doodlebug Gail said...

Great post! Your son has grown and wow, he's changed a lot. He's growing into a handsome young lad. Love the photo of the 2 of you - hope you print it out and frame it.

Linda C said...

How your son has grown! Going to be long legged just like his momma? He will be back to school soon too, I bet.

What fun to see you camping and him steering the boat. Would make his great grands happy to see him.