Setting Sun

'How can you keep a ray of sun in your hand?

How can you make stay a wave on the sand?'

According to the official scientific definition, our Sun is "a medium-sized star located in a spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy, orbited by all of the planets and other bodies in our solar system and supplying the heat and light that sustain life on Earth.
Nuclear fusion produces tremendous amounts of energy in its core reaching the temperature of some 16 million degrees C (27 million degrees F), while the surface is about 6,200 degrees C (11,200 degrees F) hot. The energy then radiates through a radiation zone to an opaque convection zone, where it rises to the surface through convection currents of the Sun's plasma. The Sun's surface is constantly disturbed by turbulent phenomena, such as magnetic storms, sunspots, and solar flares. The Sun was formed along with the rest of the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago and is expected to run out of its current hydrogen fuel in another 5 billion years, at which point it will develop into a red giant and ultimately into a white dwarf."

But I think there's much more to it than just nuclear reactions...

'The sun shone as if there were no death' —Saul Bellow.

Sun setting into the sea. (© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

All Flesh is Grass

The voice said, “Cry!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." — Isaiah 40:6

There's something very romantic about the grass undulating, swaying, and blowing in the wind.

Ammophila (synonymous with Psamma P. Beauv.) is a genus consisting of two or three very similar species of grasses: Marram Grass, Bent Grass, and European Beachgrass.
Ammophila arenaria grows in the coastal zones of Europe and North Africa, and is the dominant species on sand dunes where it is responsible for stabilising and building the foredune by capturing blown sand and binding it together with the warp and weft of its tough, fibrous rhizome system which can grow laterally by 2 meters (7 feet) in six months. One clump can produce 100 new shoots annually.

Mediterranean dune vegetation. Ammophila arenaria, Pancratium maritimum,
Carpobrotus chilensis. (© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Golden Sunset on the Sea

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”  ― Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds

Sunset on the beach. (© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Snug Places

Some snug places to spend an afternoon.

Palm trees on the beach
(© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Summer Colours — Flowering Trees. The Blue Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia)

Summer is all about the baking hot sun, bright light, busy insects and the beauty and fragrance of flowering trees.
The Blue Jacaranda, Jacaranda mimosifolia, or simply the "Jacaranda", is a sub-tropical tree native to South America that has been widely planted elsewhere because of its beautiful and long-lasting blue flowers. It is also known as the Black Poui, or as the fern tree. The curious thing about this tree is that when its leaves wither, the tree gives off a pleasant vinegar-like smell.

Jacaranda tree in full blossom. (© 2012 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Black Poplar (Populus nigra) Fluffy Seeds and Fluffy Clouds

These days black poplar (Populus nigra) trees' fluffy seeds float in the air, wrapping everything in a kind of cotton like down (hence the name cottonwood).

Black poplar (Populus nigra) fluffy seeds.
(© 2012 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Beach on a cloudy day

Even on a cold cloudy day there's always something on the beach that will catch your eye — like the reflection of a lonely water motorcyclist in the wet sand,

Water motorcyclist on the beach on a cloudy day
(© 2012 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Places.

Has it ever happened to you, you see a place and suddenly feel sad for no apparent reason?
Well, none of the following scenes actually filled my heart with sadness, but rather the opposite is true. Anyway, every place has its unique spirit, mood or vibes and can evoke a wide range of emotions.

Here's an example of an unconventional way of life. Mind, there're no children living here.

Unconventional Lifestyle
(© 2011 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Old Buildings. Stone Walls.

Sometimes roaming off the beaten track you can stumble upon ancient ruins or cosy medieval buildings that aren't major tourist attractions, which means you won't have to elbow your way through the throng and no one will block your view.
Stone buildings are probably the only truly sustainable structures — they keep heat in winter, stay cool in summer, last centuries and are pleasing to the eye unlike modern perforated boxes. That's how I conceive architecture. This of course clashes with our single-use mentality society. If I could afford to build my own house it would certainly be a stone house.

What attracts me most to such places are the details rather than the whole since modern surroundings all too often break the spell.

A wooden door in a dry stone wall.
(© 2011 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

The Dunes in Late Spring.

There aren't many places left in the world where natural coastal dunes hasn't been gobbled up by ugly hotel skyscrapers, oil refineries and the like, especially in Europe. Fortunately, you can still come across the patches of almost virgin coastal dunes to chill out.

Sea daffodils (Pancratium maritimum) on the Mediterranean dunes.
(by-nc-nd)