Category Archives: Block Island

Views near Golden Grove

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I went for a walk/run yesterday around sunset. I’d meant to go earlier in the afternoon, but our weather forecast of “partly cloudy” had generated some rainfall; then I had a late lunch; and before I knew it, it was 3:30 or so. Sunset time in New England! And me, not on my deck!

Never mind the deck. Me, without my camera.

Oh. Wait. The new cell phone has what’s supposed to be a pretty good camera. Why not use it?

And so… may I present… sunset over Sachem Pond!

 

Later, after the sun had disappeared, I found myself up on a hill on the south side of the pond, where I could see in the deepening dusk–my house! So here, only partially obscured by a pine tree in the bird sanctuary, is a never-before-published view of my house with Sachem Pond in the foreground and Block Island Sound beyond.

Views near Golden Grove

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The astute reader may have noticed that yesterday’s post included sunsets from November 11, 12, and 14, but not November 13. While it’s not exactly accurate to say that there was no sunset on November 13, it’s entirely true that the sunset was not visible from my house here on Block Island. Instead, we had a day of glorious wind and clouds and even an occasional bit of rain as a cold front moved through. The swiftly moving and changing clouds danced with the light on ocean and lighthouse and winter landscape to create breathtaking vistas, all clouds and cold, as the day went on. And so… just to prove that I don’t post only sunsets, I present… November 13, 2012 on Block Island!

   

Views near Golden Grove

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I’ve been on the island for several days now…really busy with work, writing and editing, and getting a lot accomplished, too. But I’ve begun to notice in myself–something not quite so obvious on shorter visits–that I am a real deep-in-the-gut sunset fanatic. (Well, duh! I can hear you saying. Eighty-eight posts of photographs on this thread, and you’re only just now noticing how many of them are sunsets? Photographs taken from the very same house?)

But listen, it isn’t just that I take all these photographs of sunsets, and it isn’t even that they’re all beautiful. It’s that every one of them is different. It’s the mystery of these sunsets that has me by the gut, that drives me up from my chair and makes me prowl around the house, camera in hand, heart beating rapidly, taking pictures from windows and decks and the path to the beach. I never know what each sunset is going to be like, in what way it’s going to be uniquely beautiful. I never even know from minute to minute how each one is going to change, how its beauty is going to evolve ten minutes from now, compared to now. Let me show you. Please allow me to present, in close proximity, the sunsets of November 11, November 12, and November 14, 2012.

  

And so I want to capture every minute of every sunset. I order my days around being home for this event. I have, dear readers, hundreds, maybe thousands, of sunset photographs in my archives, and every one of them is special. I am–I will confess it now–a sunset addict.

Views near Golden Grove

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It’s been a month since we were on the island–and how good to be back again!

The house survived Sandy very well. There were just a few loose roof shingles, and yesterday Dan climbed up there and nailed them back again.

Then…a lot earlier than it used to be, and a lot farther to the south…there was another glorious sunset.

Life is good, here in the island. I’m glad to be here all this week.

Views near Golden Grove

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After a long, hot summer, it’s great to be back at our home on Block Island again. It’s warm, humid, cloudy, a bit rainy today, and beautiful. As always.

The sunsets the last two days have been lovely.

As always.

Here’s September 2, 2012.

   

I’m assuming you all saw my nifty new tripod in the immediately previous post, with which I took this last photo!

 

Views near Golden Grove

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Sunset, May 31.

Another long near-solstice day. When you’re this far north, sunset takes a long time. Which gives the photographer many views and angles to choose from, lots of photos to take, and abiding gratitude that she no longer has to pay for film.

7pm

 

8pm

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The other night I couldn’t get to sleep. I had been writing, or thinking about writing, and a scene between two of my characters was simmering in my mind, spiced with some emotional component that had me alert and deeply engaged. So after maybe an hour of lying in bed, I got up to take an acetaminophen, hoping to relax enough to sleep.

The moon was shining in through the skylight, surrounded by clouds in dizzying patterns. There would be no sleep for me while this remained unphotographed.

This is the part where a camera with more pixel-depth would have helped. Or at least a tripod. But perhaps this photo will give you a small idea of the magic of that moonlight.

Views near Golden Grove

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I love these long days near the summer solstice. We sleep less. “Late afternoon” means 6pm, and the light is spun silver; the water is shining mercury.

May 27th. We wrap up a day of work around the house and go for a quick ride into town. Silver light turns the Great Salt Pond into magic.

 

Views near Golden Grove

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Roses!

The island is swimming in rosa rugosa. Mounds and masses of them line Corn Neck Road near Crescent Beach. Each flower is a gem.

    

The breeze blowing up the island past our house smells like heaven. Like a room full of roses, but it’s the outside air. We throw open all the windows.

 

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May 18, 2012. After a day of hard work (by Dan; me, I’m still writing) we get to play mojitos-on-the-deck redux. Another clear day, another gorgeous sunset. Today, though, there are fewer clouds, so the sun sails out of the sky round and even and glittering in the water.