Every moment in life is fleeting. Before we have even noticed time has shuffled us along to the next moment, the next experience. Sometimes it’s good to pause and notice the wonder unfolding around us. I took this photo just as the sunlight began to fade into the soft light of the gloaming twilight. The clouds had swept themselves into wonderful and impossible lines in the darkening blue sky. They drew me away from the earthbound golden petals of the buttercups, and up into the fleeting light of dusk over the croft.
This photo was taken just moments earlier, and the light hadn’t quite begun to fade from the sky. Maisie was enjoying the light and the soft grass beneath her paws, but it was fleeting.
And this was taken maybe five minutes earlier, in full but softening sunlight. Any moment now the buttercups will begin to fold their petals in for the night, and Willow will run away across the meadow towards the house, looking for her evening meal. The clouds will begin to to stand out from the darkening sky, and dusk will begin to fall. Fleeting moments caught on the edge of fleeting light, as we head towards the shortest night of the year.
Here, high on the Scottish West Coast, the fleeting light of dusk falls around eleven o’clock. It’s a beautiful soft light which never quite fades in the northern sky, rising again around four. Yet in just three months the length of night and day will be equal. To me this speaks of the constant change which is life, and in which we live our lives. From one moment to the next nothing really remains the same. Every moment is unique and precious, and if we chose we can savour its fleeting flavour, and its unique patterns.
You can see lots more takes on the theme of ‘fleeting’ at the weekly photo challenge
breathofgreenair 
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it’s my favourite thing about living in the north – the looooooong summer days, and all the shifting kinds of light.
Couldn’t agree more, I love these days which stretch forever into the edges of night……the longest one of all is tonight 🙂
those clouds are magnificent.. and everything in the photos 🙂
Beautiful shots Seonaid – love the first but the addition of your baby in the second makes it a tough choice!!!
These are very beautiful moments that you have shared with us – thank you!
Blessings ~ Wendy
Great post. Life is ever changing, the west coast looks amazing, and Masie, well she (and her companion) captures the unique spirit of the great highland air.
Thank you, there’s nothing like a good dose of Highland air to relax and rejuvenate, and the dogs love to run free in the fields and mountains 🙂
Its sounds exhilarating. Reminds me I must return to Ben Nevis again. You can walk for days… in the sun and melting snow.
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What magical and gorgeous shots! I can never stay awake until eleven or even later now that the evenings are so light.
I find it really hard to head to bed when its still light outside, especially on glorious sunny evenings. Somehow I seem to need a little less sleep in the summer 🙂
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As in others’ comments, the fleeting nature of life here on this plane, comes to mind… in the pics but also in your written interpretation. Thanks again, for a beautiful post.
My pleasure, this constantly shifting world in which we live is full of wonder at every turn.
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There are so many things I love in these pictures, the meadow, the beautifully photographed clouds and my favourite dog breed :). Well done Seonaid 🙂
Thanks Paula, lovely to meet another bearded collie lover 🙂 And I have to agree that dogs, meadows and clouds were a match made in heaven!
Really gorgeous, and an excellent choice for this theme.
Thanks Naomi, it’s a theme close to my heart, and I wanted to share that gorgeous sky.
Beautiful shots. I enjoyed seeing the changing light in each. I so enjoy those moments when I can slow down and take in such wonderful and subtle changes.
It’s amazing isn’t it, when we are immersed enough to slow down and truly be present in the subtly ever shifting world.
thank you Seonaid,
you made me smile again with:
+
“Maisie was enjoying
grass beneath her paws”
They always just seem so happy bounding through the soft grass, and their paws had been all the way up two very rough stone mountain tracks the day before. my feet hurt and I was in walking boots, so I was imagining the cool grass felt great on their slightly tender paw pads 🙂
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love the clouds and the dogs.
Thank you Mrs Carmichael 🙂 that’s lovely to hear.
Some of the best moments are the fleeting ones because you know they will never be recaptured. Another visual triumph Seonaid!
Too kind Caro. It’s so lovely to hear when an image which stirred me enough to try to capture its beauty delights someone else. And triumph is such a strong compliment 🙂
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Great interpretation, skies and dogs (where is/how is Molly?). I feel I should know the name for this type of cloud formation – I am now resolved to find out about these and others 🙂
Thanks for the compliment, and Molly is doing just fine. She was in the meadow, but out of shot, crouching in the grass and flowers waiting to pounce! Let me know if you find out what these clouds are called…..wavy lines is what springs to mind but that is not nearly Latin enough for a cloud formation name!
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Wow! I’ll just say, Life is beautiful provided you are there!
That is the perfect comment for this post. Thank you 🙂
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very beautiful fleeting clouds (and cute dogs) collection. ♥
What a lovely comment, and the clouds were stunning that particular night…..you never get the same show twice 🙂
…and the cloud show is free admission! even better ☺
Beautiful photographs! The dogs are lovely subjects also. 🙂
Very kind Angie, and I have to agree about the dogs. I just can’t resist snapping shots of them in the flower meadow….something about dogs and meadows just seem to go together perfectly 🙂
My pleasure! They’re a beauty to look at. 🙂
Wonderful post and pictures—the cloud shot is amazing.
Thanks John, those clouds were even more stunning in person. They swept so dramatically across the sky.
I really enjoyed reading this post. Thanks 🙂 Annie
My pleasure Annie, I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I’m always delighted to share the images I capture, and to hear how they effect others 🙂
This one resonated for me today, not only for the beauty of the setting and photos but for the message. My dad passes away six years ago yesterday. Time is fleeting, and moments we can spend doing what we love with those we love; are precious indeed. And, Those puppies just kill me with their adorableness!!
The loss of someone we love definitely brings an acute awareness of the passing fleeting nature of life. I hoe you savoured some cherished times with your dad before he passed. And I’m delighted that my post came at just the right moment.
I can only agree with you about the dogs….they are too lovely for words 🙂
I did. He was so much fun! My puppies are pretty awesome too. I have a chocolate lab and a black border collie mix. 🙂
Aw, your dogs sound adorable. Maisie has a thing about dark labs….she gets all girlie and frisky around them. She’s 11 and usually takes life at a leisurely pace, so it’s very funny to watch 🙂
Sophie is 7, and epileptic. Her meds make her a bit of a doofus. Shes so goofy and adorable. Chewbacca, (Chewy) is a cuddler. That’s him with me on my “About” page. 🙂
The cloud fleeting image is stunning! Maisie is adorable 🙂
The clouds were amazing Amy, and I can only agree with you about Maisie 🙂
Agreed, I was having similar thoughts about the fleeting nature of life today. It seems so easy to be trapped by our past to live so precariously in the future. My goal is to live more in the moment and create a distance for both the past and future so they don’t rob the joy of the here and the now. Thank you for your gorgeous photos that are such a strong metaphor for all of this.
That’s a great goal Charlie, we live so little in the present moment that we often miss many wonderful and inspiring things. To live mindfully is to waken up into the present and all its wonder. What a great aim in life 🙂
wonderful to have been present and ready to capture a fleeting moment of beauty!
Thank you, and I was indeed lucky to be carrying my camera at this moment…..although my husband would swear that I am surgically attached to it 🙂