Our Second Act-Where do I begin…

I am writing this to you from Fogo Island in Newfoundland. Fogo Island is in the northeast corner of Newfoundland. It is so far east that it has its own time zone - 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic time which means it is 90 minutes ahead of Eastern time zone. I booked this trip last December after a friend recommended that I check this special place out. I arrived at 4pm on Monday and already I do not have the words to describe the sense of place that finds its way deep inside of you here. The warm and kind people, the stark and stunning landscape, the sea, the wildlife, the birds… The love of - community, Mother Nature, culture, tradition, and each other. It is a place to follow old paths and strike onto new ones - I am so very fortunate to be here.

My posts to you will not be in any special order - I am giving myself permission to just do them when I have the time and share with you what I feel at that moment.

Clouds filled the sky when I arrived on Monday and late into the day. Sunrise here this time of year is at 5am and the sun sets around 9:20pm. One of the first things I have to tell is you is that I was hoping to see an iceberg during my time here. This is towards the end of iceberg season but there was still a chance… and guess what… there was one way out on the horizon! After dinner I changed my clothes and grabbed my camera and went out. The clouds were being stubborn but I was up for waiting as long as I had to for a chance to see the iceberg and photograph it.

Lorraine Magic has been all around always -it is in overdrive here.

It is time to come along with me -

As I waited the clouds rose higher into the sky and then on the horizon… the iceberg! The locals let me know that the iceberg is approximately 14 miles from where I was standing to take these shots….! They also told me that this one is enormous. Depending on winds etc. it may come closer to shore while I am here…. or not. We shall see -

A little later I zoomed in as much as I could for you…

And then looking about 10 degrees to my right….. my first sighting of the sun here….

The last shot of the iceberg for Monday evening -a few moments after this shot the sky filled again with gorgeous clouds.

Then the western sky became this….

Of course I didn’t sleep that night… well, thankfully I slept for one hour! I kept waking up and looking out at the night sky because it had cleared at around midnight… I could have picked the stars out of the sky with my bare hands. The Big Dipper was right outside my windows - so big in an enormous clear sky. No camera - just me enjoying in awe….

I had booked a guide to take me out for sunrise on Tuesday- our meeting time was 4:30am…. :). He was early - I already knew that I liked him! Because I hadn’t slept I was wandering around outside before he arrived…. just breathing in the clean fresh air - temps around 50 - I was totally in my element. He arrived and off we went to meet the sunrise. I will share my sunrise shots another time because I want to share with you what happened on our way back at about 6:45am. The driver that brought me from the airport the day before had told me that there was a fox family on the property I am staying at. He showed me where they sometimes hang out which is near their den. They weren’t there Monday afternoon but when we arrived back Tuesday morning guess who I spotted right away? In the most perfect spot for me to observe and photograph them - two adorable fox kits!

I can feel you smiling already…