writing in ripples and grass

[asakiyume]

wakanomori ran a marathon this past weekend, in Portland, Maine (and did very well!) While he was running, I was admiring the salt marshes in the bay. When I started walking, the tide was out, and I was feasting my eyes on all the colors, and on the wave-tufts of the semi-flattened grasses:





I liked looking at all the treasures in the tideline:




feathers...



and a little crab



But what was most mesmerizing and enchanting was when the tide started coming in--insistent ripples pushing in on the grass:



And the grass and ripples were like calligraphy--words written on water:

Comments

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

I've never seen a salt marsh, before. How beautiful. I love the way the ripples of grass create a grassy seascape.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Oh they're very beautiful! I'm so glad to be able to share one with you.

[sovay]

While he was running, I was admiring the salt marshes in the bay.

I love salt marshes.

And the grass and ripples were like calligraphy--words written on water

I like your tidal calligraphy.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Love of salt marshes is something we emphatically have in common.

They call the most loose of the Chinese calligraphies (and Japanese calligraphies) "grass script," and you can really see the similarities:

[scallywag195.livejournal.com]

Beautiful pictures. I love Maine any time of the year.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It was my first time to visit. I liked it very much indeed.

[oiktirmos.livejournal.com]

sometimes I wish I could unrope our house and see where it might float to
Perhaps Maine.
And the grass and ripples were like calligraphy--words written on water
Dear Em,
You write the most beautiful sentences.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

When that sentence first came into my head, I didn't yet know whether those floating houses bobbed in warm or cool waters--it became clear it had to be warm, because winter would be very hard, up north, and yet I can imagine some of Em's kin (or ancestors) might have managed it.

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Flying through grass
I lost four feathers
fibrous tribute.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I found four feathers
and am building my wings

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

The photos are gorgeous, especially the last ones!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Thank you--it's all in the beauty that's just *there*

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, the salt marshes are glorious!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

They really were. I took so many pictures!

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

We have freshwater marsh close to our new abode, but this is amazing!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Freshwater marshes are gorgeous too! Wetlands are lovely.

[stormdog.livejournal.com]

Lovely! I'd very much like to see that one of these days.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I hope you can! Definitely worth seeing. They have them along much of the US Atlantic coast.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Lovely and soothing images. I feel the need to go visit the ocean today.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

A visit to the ocean is almost without exception a good thing.

[syomsong.livejournal.com]

we don´t have the tide. beautiful to see it through your eyes. calligraphy - we have that.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I love how *you* see calligraphy in light and shadow--at least, I presume so from your photos.

[kishenehn.livejournal.com]

I love these! :)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

So glad! A salt marsh is a very photogenic subject.

[danceswithwaves.livejournal.com]

So pretty! I love salt marshes.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Me toooo---they are magic. See khiemtran's comment below.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

Hugs

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

((big hugs back))

[ericmarin.livejournal.com]

Those are lovely photos. :-)

Ripples of gray light, dark water,
the scents of grass, mud, salt--

the bay murmurs to itself
in its sibilant tongue,

as a chill breeze teases
awake the autumn morning.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

**Love**

I love that these pictures inspired you to poetry. Thank you.

Its language of whispers
recorded in the reeds

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

Is that an egret I see in the second-to-last picture?

I saw a few egrets and a great blue heron on my way into Boston today... wait, yesterday.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yes it is! There were egrets, herons, and ducks. I thought I saw a bittern, but when I got home I realized it was just a heron. I shouldn't say "just"--it was still excellent. But I would have loved to have seen a bittern.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

The in-between places are the best! I used to live near a flood plain that was mostly dry land, but every so often a lake. I think it made a big impression on me about the potential of things to change and to be more than what they normally were.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow, yes: you've helped me realize something--that with in-between places, we can see transformations at a speed that we can appreciate. (I mean, a flower unfolding to bloom is a transformation, but it's slow, and the same with the change of seasons, or a house being built.) Before our very eyes, the landscape changes, and yet it's the same place.

Seeing the flood plain transformed into a lake must be--or must have been, the first time around--awe inspiring.

[abendstille.livejournal.com]

great photos of a wonderful scenery. Thanks for sharing!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It's my pleasure--thank you for stopping by!

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

I am reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I see that you gave it five stars on Goodreads--what's it like?

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

And these are beautiful, calming pictures

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It was a *very* beautiful place. I'd like to go there again.