11 March 2010

Standing in surf at sunset, southern Wairarapa

The pull of the sea
On the beach in the evening we stood at the water's edge, watching the afterglow over the distant Kaikoura Ranges. Waves rushed up the coarse dark sand and around our feet, then sucked back towards the ocean.  “Come,” they seemed to say, “this is where you were born; this is your true home.” 


All content © 2010 Pete McGregor

9 comments:

Me from Cali said...

Lovely.

Is it just me, but I immediately saw the face of a small dog lying in between this person's two legs -- the closed eye and the nose and its black fur.

Also another face just to the right of the right persons leg (the viewer' right -- the person's left).

pohanginapete said...

Ah — I'd seen the second one, but didn't recognise the dog until you pointed it out. Thanks Paul. (And the dog is very appropriate for this dog-loving person) :^)

Relatively Retiring said...

The 'pull' effect of this is so dizzying that I find it hard to look at for more than a couple of seconds.

butuki said...

My eye keeps resting on the tattoo.

And your caption, Pete, that is exactly what the Siren's keep singing...

Zhoen said...

I keep catching on that golden glint right at the bottom near the center.

pohanginapete said...

RR, that's exactly what it's like — trying to walk in this kind of surf is difficult, not because of the physical pull but because it's so disorienting. I have to look back at the land, or out to sea.

Miguel, I find myself simultaneously in love with and frightened by the sea. (I'm sure the psychologists would have fun with me.)

Zhoen, that glint catches my eye, too. To me, it adds extra life to the photo, like a catch-light in the eye of a bird, or a person.

butuki said...

Anyone who has been drawn into, tossed about like a rag doll, sucked under, and then spit out by the sea has every good reason to fear the sea. Once when I did an open water crossing of a bay in a sea kayak and found myself rising and falling on open sea swells I was terrified of and mesmerized by the hugeness of the sea.

That could say a lot about the women both you and I were attracted to over our lives, though, too. I think I finally learned last year never to go running into the surf without testing for the undertow! ;^P

leonie.wise said...

that photo is magic. then i read the caption and think of home... which is not where i am.

your photos really evoke something fantastic each time i visit. thanks pete.

pohanginapete said...

Thanks Leonie :^) I think most New Zealanders can identify strongly with this — with the coast seldom far away, we do tend to look to the sea in many senses.