Lens-Artists Challenge #93 – Morning

SOCIALLY DISTANT MORNING

“I didn’t want normal until I didn’t have it anymore”

Maggie Stiefvater

Our challenge this week is to share aspects of our mornings as we adapt to the “new normal” of COVID-19. My response was inspired by one of our followers, who recently asked if I’m doing more photography in light of the extra time available under new curve-flattening regulations. When the question was asked, I realized that the answer was no, and I set about to change that.

LITTLE BLUE HERON

“When it is becomes impossible to go back to normal ,we have to create a new normal and adjust to it.”

Sabine Shah

I decided to combine my morning exercise routine with my love of nature photography by taking my camera on some morning bike rides – a great way to enjoy our beautiful springtime weather while maintaining good health. Today’s images are some of my results. I began (of course) on our beautiful beach, where I found the lone sun seeker pictured in my opening image. Then, since several of our golf courses are closed, I rode the cart paths, a perfect place to catch our local creatures as they go through THEIR morning routines.

DEEP IN THE WEEDS

“Life went back to normal after that, as it will do if you’re not careful.”

Michael Monture

There are certain areas of our island where one can be assured of creature-sightings. One of them is a lagoon on the first hole of a nearby course. It was there that I captured both the little blue heron and the alligator images above. I find it interesting that although alligators will often eat birds, for the most part they co-exist peacefully, albeit with a certain distance between them. The birds are ever-watchful of the seemingly docile gators, as well they should be!

CATCH OF THE DAY

“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.”

Maya Angelou

The image above was not captured during the same ride. I actually shot it with my iPhone during a morning round of golf on a different course later in the week. My friends and I laughed at the little juvenile gator who was so proud of his catch, and was being very protective. They say the juveniles are actually more dangerous than full-grown alligators, as they don’t realize they can’t seriously hurt you. We are all agreed never to test that theory. As an aside, those of us on Kiawah are very happy that a few of our courses remain open for play. We follow social distancing rules carefully, carry or push our own golf bags and enjoy the ability to get some fresh air and socialize with friends.

BAMBI

“Do you really think this will be over someday and things will go back to normal?”

Jason Medina

My final image captures one of our many deer, who unfortunately decided to make her move just as I hit the shutter button. She’s included because she was a part of my ride, and because deer are definitely a part of Kiawah mornings.  In response to Mr. Medina’s quote above, yes, I do believe this will be over someday. But I’m not sure “back to normal” is either possible or desirable. Hopefully we have all learned some valuable lessons about what’s important in our lives and will be more focused on those things as we return to the new normal sooner rather than later.

Thanks to Ann-Christine for giving us the opportunity to share a key part of our lives. I chose to skip the part of my day when I lumber sleepy-eyed into our family room to join my husband, who always has coffee and the newspaper waiting for me. I am not now, nor have I ever been a morning person, so I’ll just leave that part to your imagination 😊. Thank you, as always, for your continuing support. We look forward to sharing what your mornings look like these days. Remember to link them to Ann-Christine’s original post here, and to use the Lens-Artists TAG. We hope you’ll join us next week when Amy presents us with our next challenge.

In closing, because Earth Day is celebrated this week on April 22, I’m including a link to a beautiful presentation by the NASA artist who designs their annual Earth Day celebration poster. It’s a truly beautiful piece, is quite short, and makes one feel good about life here on earth, COVID-19 notwithstanding. You can view it here – preferably full-screen. A big shout-out to my friend Diane who sent it to me.

 

 

Tags: Earth Day 2020, Kiawah, LENS-ARTISTS, morning, nature

• April 18, 2020
• Photography
• 129 Comments