In Praise of Half Light

New England is blessed in the soft days of autumn with a half light that is like nothing else in the world. Every place has something like it, yet unique to itself. In Ireland there are long evenings where the sun seems to cling to the lip of the horizon, painting everything gold. In the west the sunsets are blazing and breathtaking. Even smog creates a strange brand of beauty, water-color dreamy and soft.

This evening I needed some time to myself. I spent it with my camera, celebrating the half light of the South Shore coastline:

Silent, O Moyle

This time of year the swans who live here in Green Harbor and around the surrounding areas start showing off for passers by. The males become more noticeable and the females less so, as lady swans are more often squatting over nests and the men of the... err... bog are standing about looking nervous. It has always astonished me a little bit that those who live here are so tolerant of my frequent invasions into their privacy. Sometimes I think they are a modern incarnation of Lir's children.

Today, while the weather held, I took a few photos of this grand lad: