Barnegat lighthouse

Lighthouses are pretty.
They are often in some of the most beautiful settings with wide seas and wider skies.

The era of lighthouses has passed into history, though.  Modern navigation systems can "see in the dark" and find their way unaided by lighthouses.

The Barnegat Lighthouse hasn't been a working lighthouse since 1927, but the people of Long Beach Island still make sure the light turns on.
It's been there since 1856 and a hundred years later, it was turned into a park area.

Maybe ships no longer need lighthouses, but people do.

Green lights

 What are those green lights out there?
A distant city?
A bustling airport?

Nope.
They're squid boats.

The green light, is seems, attracts the squid to the boats.
So that's a city of boats out there bringing fresh calamari to the plates of Thailand.

Patient fisherman

This man had one fishing net and no boat.  He didn't expect to catch enough to supply a restaurant or feed dozens of people.
He had his own expectations.

He stood there in the setting sun, waiting for the perfect moment to toss out his net.


For most of the time, though, he just stood there, looking out into the water. 

When he did cast his net and brought it ashore, he pulled out only a few small fish which fit into the bag he wore around his waist.  Then he spent several minutes straightening and carefully folding the net to cast out again. 

With all that effort for a few small fish, and with the sun quickly dropping behind the horizon, I didn’t understand his long moments of waiting. 

I sat there waiting, too—with my camera ready for that perfect ‘photographic’ moment when his net was flung wide over the waves.  Why didn’t he throw out the net more frequently so that he could have more chance of catching something?

I could tell from the intense way he looked into the water and slowly moved to the right or left that he could see something in the waves that I could not.   

He had more at stake than the ‘perfect photo’, and was more patient than I at waiting for just the right moment.

I suppose the fisherman’s patience reminded me of God.  How he takes a long time—by my measurement—to work out all the projects and plans he sets in motion.  He waits for the perfect moment to capture us with his beauty, grace and glory.  A net cast just right to bring us to our knees in worship.

God’s patience brings about the perfect ‘catch’, the perfect picture, the perfect moment every time.

 

Island airport

The Bali airport is built right out into the edge of the sea.

So when you come down to land, the water rushes up beneath you.

And suddenly there's the runway, out in the water.

It's a pretty cool thing to soar over the fishermen and feel like you're about to skim to a stop on water.

Nusa Dua

Nusa Dua is where the 5-star hotels hang out in Bali--probably because it's just such a beautiful place with blue, blue water.

It's also where Water Blow is found--and that is something worth seeing.

This is where the Indian Ocean meets the cliffs on the eastern side of Bali. 

The waves roll up and get caught in a gap, building up pressure until it explodes up into a burst of sea spray.

If you're standing in the right--or the wrong, depending on your perspective--place at just the right moment, you'll be soaked.
Soon after I took this woman's photo, she was dripping wet and sorry for having stood so close.

Other times the water seems to only lick the sides of the cliff and roll away again.

Nusa Dua, Water Blow is a beautiful place to sit and watch the sea.

Secret Point

Secret Point is not such a well kept secret.
If it looked like the first two pictures all the time...quiet, just you and the sea.  Then maybe you could say it's a secret.



But it doesn't.
Maybe that's why its real name is Tegel Wangi beach.

Soon after I arrived, these folks showed up.
Because this is what this beach is known for:  wedding photos.

And they brought their photographers.

Secret Point wasn't really secret or empty at all.

There were photo-shoots happening up and down the small beach.

Just because the sea is nice to look at and listen to, you can watch the video pretend you're there and no one else is around.

Padang Padang beach critters

See that beautiful beach?
 There are all kinds of creatures out there.

Crabs hiding under rocks.

Crabs hiding in holes in the sand.

And there must be millions of fish out there, too.

















Here are two poor attempts at videoing nature.

Did you ever wonder what a sea slug does all day?

The second one I call:  Suicidal Hermit Crab

Padang Padang beach--it's alive.

Playing at the beach

This is one thing I have come to appreciate about Indians: their childlike-ness.

They will sing a song with motions and enthusiasm.
They will create a short performance for the enjoyment of others.
And they'll play in the sand at the beach with abandon.

The simple enjoyment I witness of some of life's small pleasures has been good inspiration for me.

Take this guy, for instance--he sat enjoying putting mud on his knee and having the waves wash it off for over half an hour.

And this other man took his sandcastle building very seriously. He was working on it all afternoon and into the sunset. People walking by stopped to have their photograph taken with his masterpiece.

Yes, simple enjoyment--it's a good characteristic.