oasis

I could be sleeping. But instead I am sitting cross-legged on the grass listening to the early morning crickets. The sun is just rising over our city, I came here this morning for peace. The type of peace you find at an oasis, at the edge of the water. I came here this morning to swim in the sunrise.

When I was a kid, summer meant swimming purely for the love of it... the freedom of loose limbs in water. Now, where I live in Texas, summer means swimming as a means to escape the brutal heat. It is one of the only ways to be outside during our dog days of summer.  Even though I am now a grownup, buoyancy brings me back to childhood. Floating on my back with my head in the clouds will always make me feel younger than I am.

On this morning I woke specifically to find myself kneeling in a field just as the rays of light spilled forth. And then I walked across the street to the golden child of our city, the oasis of swimmers and divers and fish and turtles.

I am most myself when I am in water. I realize this every single summer. Tell me, do you have an oasis? Whether it be the ocean, lakes, rivers, or pools ... where do you swim during the heat of your summer months? And if it is winter where you live, what summer memories do you treasure?

Comments

[Marcie]

I'm a true water baby. I swim in it. I sit by it. I photograph it.
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=1237

Stunning image - by the way. Love how the sky meets the city and the horizon.

[Kat]

The sky and the clouds, along with the reflection, in your image are amazing.

I don't like to be in water so much, but I love the peace and color and reflections of being by the water in the shade. Here is an image that shows my idea of a summer oasis by the water:
http://www.kateyeview.com/2010/07/exploring-with-camera-dappled-sunlight.html
Even thinking of this image brings me a sense of coolness and peace!

[cigi]

Beautiful image! I love the water, too, and find myself photographing it again and again. Here's a shot of a true desert oasis:
http://instamaticgratification.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/55365/

[Kathryn Dyche Dechairo]

For me my oasis is being near water, especially the ocean. When I lived in CT I used to be just 20 mins from the beach but after moving to VA it's over 2 hrs away. I really miss it.

[marina]

Meredith, your words "I am most myself when I am in water" are what I could say of myself too!!!
and your photo is amazing, I especially love its depth and that beautiful orange reflection in front of the ducks (I assume they are ducks, are they?).
I swim in the mediterranean, mostly. this summer the magical moment when I will be in the sea again has not arrived, yet. so, while I countdown to it, I keep photographing water in the city.
Here is a photo of drops from a sprinkler in a garden:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36167691@N03/4802859226/in/photostream/lightbox/

[Jen at Cabin Fever]

I sincerely live for moments like this one --> http://www.nekphotography.blogspot.com

The moments when you can sit outside, close enough to nature where you can feel the static in the air, watching an incredible electrical display above your head. The crispness of the air and force of the wind, yet somehow you feel perfectly safe, just far enough away.

Those are the moments of summer I live for.

[Becky Sue]

I'm impressed that you are frequently able to rise so early to capture the sunrise. I did that a couple months ago (not without struggle) while on vacation.in Virginia. Peace is an accurate feeling for that time of the day.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rslaflam/4634261154/in/set-72157607073097747/

Since I'm landlocked my oasis would be my garden.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rslaflam/4803047463/

[Jamie]

Summer heat also equaled snow cones :)
http://lifephotographylove.blogspot.com/2010/05/summer-summer-summertime.html

And when it was too hot or we were in the house for a few minutes, there were epic tourney's of this :)
http://lifephotographylove.blogspot.com/2010/07/super-mario-bros-never-left-austin.html

[Puna]

I don't actually swim here...might not be prudent:)

http://lifesignatures.org/wordpress/2010/07/july-18-the-power-of-the-setting-sun/

[Kathleen]

Ocean - always the ocean. Even better if we go in the evening light and float and jump and surf the frothy waves. It is my happy place.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ko2008/4756665358/in/set-72157624326903716/

[Katrina Kennedy]

Beautiful photo!

My garden is my oasis, without a doubt.

http://ianck.blogspot.com/2010/07/garden-improvements-brought-to-you-by.html

[~ kristina ~]

Most recent oasis was the Oregon coast - also spring in South Dakota every year to miss part of the Texas summer - here in Houston's summers my oasis is my house!

http://meadowlarkdays.blogspot.com/2010/07/traveling-tea.html

[Lori]

My oasis is this pool where I take a water aerobics class 5 mornings a week at 8 am - before that Texas heat is TOO brutal. Luckily we have lots of trees to shade us because, as you know, even at 8 am its getting warm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanderwood/4703877642/

[Linda]

My oasis is the beach in Jamaica. Every year my husband and I take a group of people and go to work in an orphange of disabled children. The days are long and hard. There are groups that work on building projects and the rest of us work with the children - pushing wheelchairs and singing songs. In the evening we head back to the hotel and sit on the beach watching the waves come in. We tell stories of the day and laugh at funny things the children did. A perfect end to a wonderful day....(I am so ready to go back - 176 days)
http://thebeautyofadreamer.blogspot.com/

[georgia]

i can always find something to relate to and some sort of comfort when you post here or on your blog. thanks for this. what a beautiful view you have to behold... i understand that gift of nature and seek it out myself.

here is my spot... my oasis... my calm. the beach near my husband's parents' home in long boat key, florida. i get to go almost yearly, and it is one of the highlights of my year!
http://itsjusthowiseethings.blogspot.com/2010/07/when-i-need-solitude-and-peace-and.html

[Deirdre]

I love swimming too! Summer just isn't summer if it doesn't involve swimming. We are in the country and swim in nearby creeks and ponds and lakes. We rarely get to the ocean or a swimming pool.

Here is a photo I took last week at the pond: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superdewa/4801171438/

[Michel]

I love your love for water. I wish I did. I just can't relax - I feel claustrophobic. I do find solace in the big blue sky though. being from the prairies, its a good thing too, I can just look up anytime and I am at peace.

http://michelfeist.squarespace.com/wishful-thinking/2010/7/12/sky-lust.html

[stephanie]

I'm currently studying for the CA bar exam and haven't had much time to enjoy the summer. Last time I went to the beach was spring break, when it wasn't warm enough to swim in. It was still beautiful though - and now I can't stop daydreaming about it!

http://bigmariolife.blogspot.com/2010/07/california-dreamin.html

[Vanessa]

though the Irish sea is icey cold, when the sun comes out we love to brave its initial sting and splash on in: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/sets/72157624279395978/

[Gooseberried]

Well, mine is definitely not involving any sort of water. I despise water but that's mostly because I never learned to swim. :) My oasis is when I go on walks in the summer right before the sun sets- right around 7:30. The sunsets in Arizona are beautiful and the sky is vast. I feel like I'm walking into an endless world when I go on these walks. So peaceful.

[Cherie]

We spend our days at the pool

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colopyfam/4806854040/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colopyfam/4809990513/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colopyfam/4813830813/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colopyfam/4814452532/

[DorkyMum]

My oasis is definitely by the sea too.. I was brought up on a tiny island in the north west of Scotland, with only 1000 inhabitants.

Despite Scotland's reputation for bad weather, in the summer it looks like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorkymum/4314245682/

[Trish]

We spend most of our summer in water - whenever we can. We live 20 mins walk from a beautiful small, warm lake that is restricted to non-motorized use. I have signed up my children children for swimming lessons at the lake and for the too-short two weeks of vacation we head to the lake every morning, then in the afternoons we drive 30 mins to the ocean. http://ceilidhontherun.com/?p=363

I have been dreaming a lot lately of buying a home on a lake, and a cottage on the ocean. One day.

[Liz]

doesn't get much better than this: glacier-cooled water when it is 107 degrees in the city.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilybeth29/3736959113/in/set-72157601163338911/