Tag: Rain

Parched

by Ebb Then Flood

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‘Parched’

This is what a drought does.

It leaves the local freshwater lagoon almost devoid of water and its normally hidden base soil left desiccated and cracked.

From a photographer’s perspective the repetitive abstract patterns of the dried mud are brilliant.

But the birdlife and fish at the lagoon have struggled through Auckland’s worst dry spell in a quarter century .They have boxed on in their sad-arse environs and I have felt sorry for them.

Rain is forecast for today, mercifully. The dawn showers are starting to fall, the heavier stuff will roll in later in the day. Being a pluviophile (rain lover) of sorts, I have a sense of keen anticipation. And the ducks, herons, geese, eels and carp are gonna love it!

When you are parched, you fully appreciate that which slakes your thirst.

 

 

Wet Welcome

by Ebb Then Flood

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Following on from the sprinkling I got and mentioned in the previous post Hollyhock, things got a whole lot wetter at the bowls tournament venue today.

Lawn bowls, it may surprise, is not an underwater sport.

But rain it did today in Auckland, right on cue for my biggest bowls day of the year.

After 45 days or so without rain.

It was a deluge at times, rendering the greens unplayable.

A drought breaker.

A wet welcome…

Rain Delay

by Ebb Then Flood

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A damp scene at the lawn bowls last season.

It’s a summer game really, not that you would know it from this picture.

The rains have come, and the water is pooling on the green.

Play is delayed while we wait for the sun to re-emerge, and the little lakes that have formed, to dissipate.

Nothing to do in the meantime  – just wait.

Contemplate your navel, the universe, whatever…

Have a cup of tea.

Chat amongst yourselves, people.

For it is a mere hiatus – play will recommence shortly.

 

 – Remember, this too shall pass –

 

 

 

Gravestones And Battlements

by Ebb Then Flood

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It was a dismal weekday afternoon as we trekked towards Calton Hill in Edinburgh.

Then, joy of joys, just before  our destination I saw some stone stairs leading up to a small cemetery.

Like a rat up a drainpipe, I quickly found my way to this vista, with looming castle battlements to ice the proverbial cake.

Victorian gothic nirvana!

I would have lingered, but my wife and daughter were less than impressed with another funereal photographic detour.

I rejoined them, and when we reached the top of the Hill, the drizzle became hard rain, forming waterfalls down the steps.

So wet, so grey…and I was so happy with it all.

Sometimes I wonder what the f**k is wrong with me.

 

Sunset On Suburbia (Muse Dream)

by Ebb Then Flood

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A quiet midweek evening in the ‘burbs where I live, the terribly ordinary framed by the fantastical colours of sunset , with rain about to fall, and fall heavily.

I tend to think magic is often found in the most mundane things and places.

Or at the very least there is magic trying to break through.

As Irish pop band The Thrills had it:

“The suburbs dream tonight of finding their muse”

(from ‘ The Curse of Comfort ‘)

 

Abundance

by Ebb Then Flood

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“The source of all abundance is not outside you. It is part of who you are. However, start by acknowledging and recognising abundance without. See the fullness of life all around you. The warmth of the sun on your skin… or getting soaked in an abundance of water falling from the sky. The fullness of life is there at every step. The acknowledgment of that abundance that is all around you awakens the dormant abundance within. Then let it flow out”

 -Eckhart Tolle, from “A New Earth”

Wires Signal Evening Rain

by Ebb Then Flood

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All the way along the waterfront on the train today , the rainclouds hovered darkly just above a layer of evening light.

They were still that way as I alighted onto the platform.

Ominously some might say.

Not me, for the anticipation of rain and its release upon us is so wonderfully life affirming.

And what was signaled has now fallen with great intent…