Autumn

I love this time of year. I'm actually more productive; as if the cooling weather stirs my creativeness. Better yet, I'll have that creativity until the weather warms up again in late spring.

There is something magical as the leaves turn, the jazz band plays outside at a local cafe, tourists sit in the park, sipping capaccino, feeding the birds, the sky is a crystalline blue, the air fresh, nipping with the scent of freshly mown grass.

Today, the surf added an extra extravagance. Big, booming surf. It was an astonishing sight to see towering waves crashing between Bowen Island and the headland, some ten kilometres across the bay. I could actually see the waves forming barrels before exploding in white. It's something so rarely seen, all I could do was be amazed.

Coming through the heads, between Point Perpendicular and Bowen was a Tall Ship, the training ship, Young Endeavour. All sails bar one were furled, and soon the jib was pulled down and the ship turned towards the Naval College. The ship wallowed in the swell, the hull disappearing then coming up the waves, the masts swinging left and right.

I felt sorry for the trainees on board. If anything was going to engender sea-sickness, that was it. It was a truly magnificent sight. I could have stood and watched for hours; Mother Nature at her majestic best, demonstrating how wild the sea can be while the shore is peaceful and calm.

What a day. It makes me so thankful I live here.