Storm cloud over Skateraw, East Lothian, Scotland
The warm stillness of the day had gathered in my bones, and I felt the urge to walk it out. I needed space, movement and freshness so I headed for the coast. The sky was filled with patches of white clouds and blue sunshine, suspended in a lively breeze, but the breath of this breeze was warm and humid. It gathered on my skin in moist pools as I walked, and the clouds above mirrored this gathering, closing in around the edges of the sky. The further I walked the fuller the sky became, and the day lost it’s breath into the heart of a summer storm.
Storm over Barn Ness lighthouse, East Lothian, Scotland
A pool of sunlight clung to me as I walked out along the coast amid thunder and lightning. Rain fell in dark sheets to either side of me, bouncing and filtering the sunlight into beautiful highlights. The white limestone rocks, and the white tower of the lighthouse drew the light.
Storm over Skateraw, East Lothian, Scotland
The light and energy of the storm rolled and wove itself between earth sky, foreshadowing and foretelling drama to come. A small part of me wondered if I should head back to the car, but it was all to beautiful to miss. I felt wild and free as the wind picked up, pulling at my hair and clothes, beneath the gathering storm.
Gathering storm, Barn Ness Lighthouse
I reached the lighthouse, it’s stone towering up into the clouds, unmoved by the passing storm. It’s light has been warning ships, away from the sharp stone reefs littering this stretch of coast, for over 100 years. It barely noticed the passing drama of this summer storm, as the clouds rolled past.
Golden grass in storm cloud
I turned and headed back towards the car, and the heart of the storm clouds. The sun stayed with me, lighting the golden grass as it rippled in the thunderous air.
Path into storm cloud, East Lothian
The path led me into the dark clouds and the wild energy of the storm, and I felt free.
Not a drop of rain fell on me as a walked among the storm clouds. It made me think about the way we think we know what’s going to follow on from the foreshadowing signs arounds us. We often act and make decisions based on the things we see and notice in front of us. Yet often we are wrong, and we miss out on unexpected delights because we were so sure that we knew what was coming.
Staying open in the face of a potential storm can be a challenge, but I would have missed out on this wonderful energising walk if had listened to my predictive brain. I would have headed back to the car and missed the whole amazing one time only show which unfolded around me.
When storm clouds start to roll into the horizons of life, try to stay open to the reality which is unfolding, rather than tumbling into predicting with certainty, and shutting off from the event. It might surprise you in unexpected ways……but only if you are open enough to allow it.
Click on any image to see it enlarged in all its glory with more detail.
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breathofgreenair 
Just browsing further on your blog. Dramatic skies.Really like the long view with the rugged rock formations. Ah, Scotland! No place like it… 🙂
Love that opening line.
Thank you, it was rolling around in my head all day after taking the photos 🙂
a lovely morning walk through your ever delightful pictures..thank you
Creativity – going against the grain of your predictive brain – and you were rewarded on your walk which sounds so beautiful to be in (mindfully).
I need to come for a walk with you – you always find the most amazing places. And you always poetically encapsulate what we might feel when we are there.
What a lovely comment Kellie, and you’re very welcome to join me on a walk anytime 🙂
It’s having dogs which helps to keep me out and about looking for new walks, but the coast is my go to location at this time of year.
I know the area so well. The natural light is amazing. Beautiful photos.
I especially love it when someone local loves my photos. Very nice to have you visit 🙂
The light that day was amazing, with its dramatic pools of light and shadow.
Wonderful photos of beautiful East Lothian. The sky is so expansive, open and dramatic.This land really calls out to you.
Thank you Mary, it’s a place which centres and balances me 🙂
And I do love a bit of drama!
The ocean and the movement of the waves is the music of our world. I have always believed that if you lay on the beach at night and listen to the waves as they come ashore you will hear the universe whisper to you.
Beautifully put Charlie. You are a poet at heart, and I agree with your thoughts. The universe whispers to us from all around.
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A brilliant first sentence, and you lived up to it all the way through
Very kind Penny, glad you enjoyed the read. It was a very invigorating experience 🙂
So true…if you are open enough to allow it. Beautiful post!
Thanks Amy, I love that you like the written message woven through the images 🙂
These are great photographs!!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed them 🙂
I am always excited when you have uploaded a new post, and it is never without reason. Thanks for sharing, Seonaid. Lovely wise words I could not agree more.
All the best,
Hanna
Hanna, what a lovely comment, thank you. How wonderful to think that someone looks forward to my posts….and that we think the same way about life and its surprises 🙂
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Great photos and story. My kind of country too even though I live at the other end of the globe 🙂
Thanks Suzanne, there is something universal about beaches and coastlines…..and of course I love the ever shifting nature of these spaces. Somehow eternal, and yet ever changing 🙂
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Lovely!
🙂
I very much enjoy the way you’ve managed to marry the prose and the poetry … love them both. Thanks for taking me to the brink and back again. Exciting and refreshing … wish I could have been there. D
Thanks David, I would have loved to have you along. I went on this walk with the thought of exploring some of the fossil rich rocks this coastline is known for, and I think you would have enjoyed that too, and perhaps have helped with species identification 🙂 However as you can see nature had other ideas about what the main attraction would be!
I love your poetry here as well as your photography! We write with similar styles. Please feel free to check out my website http://www.joyfulstormhunting.com and click “Storm Chase Log”. Just put some dramatic photos and account up this afternoon of a storm chase by subway car.
Very kind Stephen, but looking at your blog I think you chase wilder bigger storms than me! You caught some great images….there is something so primal and exciting about storms…..for me anyway 🙂
I could feel the energy in these photos, Seonaid. Breathtaking, invigorating- everything that speaks to me in a beachside setting. 🙂
Jo it sounds as though you like storms too. All part and parcel of the coast and it ever shifting weather. 🙂
Really wonderful captures Seonaid – love the lighting throughout. Beautifully done!
Thanks Tina, nature puts on some wonderful lighting shows for us, and this was certainly one of her more dramatic productions!
Great pictures on a great story, feeling to walk the way 🙂
So glad you enjoyed the walk, thanks for letting me know 🙂
Spectacular landscapes. I’m glad I clicked to get a bigger view, it helped to guage the distance of your walk, at first it seemed like it was many, many miles. Wonderful 🙂
Thanks very much, and yes when I started walking I thought the lighthouse was a long way off…..it took perhaps an hour, and was such a glorious experience surrounded by these wild clouds!
Wow! That was just what I needed! Stunning images and a lovely lesson in the power of the elemental. How very much better to be open and welcoming to what comes rather than to shut out the experience, no matter what it might be. Thank you.
Thank you, it’s great that this was what you needed, and that you liked the reminder to stay open 🙂
I love storms too Seonaid. There is an energy that is intoxicating. Your words and pictures conjure up that energy for me. thank you
My pleasure, and it was extra fun because I don’t actually get wet!
The first two and the last look seriously threatening……
It was amazing, thunder, lightening and dark sheets of rain all around, but not on my wee patch of earth…..I think if I had been caught in the rain I wouldn’t have enjoyed the walk quite so much!
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lovely shots and personal story.
Spectacular photographs!!!
Thank you….I was quite pleased with what I caught 🙂
How incredibly invigorating! Fantastic images.
Thank you. Storms do that for me….I find them quite exciting, and was very pleased with some of the shots I got 🙂
That lighthouse reminds me of our Ponce Inlet lighthouse – the three windows. I’m glad you went on that walk 🙂
I am too Cynthia, and I love lighthouses 🙂
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