Ink, Yarn & Beer

What Once Was

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles today
To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
And, while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.

–Robert Herrick

I rather liked the detail of this picture, but the detail is not the leaves of the amaryllis, but the bokeh and the crosshatching of the screen. My studio window faces east, and this is what I saw early in the morning as the sun appeared over the horizon.

I do need to wash my windows and screens!

Roost

There is something quite fascinating about sailing past cliffs rising straight up from the sea and watching the birds circling, diving, nesting, and perching on the stones. In the middle of a whale-watching crowd, the sense of loneliness and isolation is found here.

Tip

This is the furthest tip of Anacapa Island, one rock beyond Arch Rock. It marks a boundary between the Santa Barbara Channel and the great blue Pacific! To me, it is amazing to think that the next continent is Asia, thousands and thousands of miles away across the sea. I don’t think I would want to have to sail there from here, much less swim.

Joy

Whale watching on Valentine’s Day found a few whales and oodles of dolphins. Unfortunately, none of my pictures really did the dolphins any credit. I never seemed to get one that caught their energy and spirit. Still, I want to post something . . . this was taken as I stood at the front of the boat, watching the dolphins leap and turn in the water. This guy is the pin-up for that day!