The beach draws me in the off-season. There’s something about the wide expanses of sky, sand and sea that soothes me. On Sunday afternoon, my husband and I spontaneously headed to a nearby beach. The sand was indented with horse prints, deer tracks, dog prints, and lots of human footprints, but during our visit, the beach was uninhabited. We walked and walked and reveled in the solitude.
The ocean has many moods and on this day it was especially serene. Off shore the buoys stood straight, not leaning over in the current or surrounded by tell tale ripples of water, divulging the force and push of the tide. No waves rolled in, crashing against the shore. Just the faintest wash of tide moved in and out, like gentle, rhythmic breathing. Even the birds seemed calm. For most of our visit, we watched one seagull walking along the shoreline ahead of us. He never took to the air, but contentedly strolled along.
The tide was very low, lower than I’ve ever seen it, and ocean footprints rippled the sand, making fascinating patterns. Autumn leaves dotted the beach and clustered at the shoreline.
I luxuriated in the brisk fresh air and in the respite of photography. Taking pictures forces me to slow down and focus on the world around me. It helps me put things into perspective. As I walked idly down the beach and stopped off and on to take pictures, I felt like I was breathing deeply for the first time in weeks.
Lonely Leaf
Captured ocean
Sand capillaries
Ghost Leaf
Nix the comfort zone 
Your pictures are magical. I’d love to go to a beach. I have to settle for the brown bayou. Did you use any photo apps to enhance your pictures? At our workshop, we learned about Adobe Lightroom, a free app.
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I imagine there’s plenty of magic to be found in the brown bayou, too. I played around a bit with the photo program on my laptop (Photos?)–primarily just cropping a bit here and there. I’m not familiar with Adobe Lightroom. Do you recommend it?
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I found it fairly easy to use.
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I love the beach in the winter. You captured some beautiful images with your pictures and words.
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Off season beach time is the best! The closest beaches are just far enough away (about 40 minutes) that I never take beach visits for granted.
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Thanks for the reminder to make the effort to go to the beach. Ours is just two miles away as the crow flies. More pictures for your future coffee table book of Maine – A Slice of Life
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You are lucky to be so close! We’re about 40 minutes away which can be a bit of a deterrent sometimes.
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I love most places more in the off-season. Your pictures really capture the essence of the beach in November.
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We used to go to Florida in October. It was a lovely time to go to the beach. One of things I loved most was that the beaches were less crowded.
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