Thursday, November 02, 2023

Tower 1 stands empty

Always watching
Port Stanley, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I was lucky enough to have been a lifeguard during my teenaged years, and it turned out to be a pretty decent launching pad into what’s become a fascinating life.

(Note to parents: encourage your kids. It’s a phenomenal experience, with lifelong benefits.)

To this day, I pay close attention to the guards and their equipment whenever I find myself at a pool or a beach, and Tower 1 at Port Stanley was no exception when we visited this past September.

The season was over. The swimmers were long gone, and the staff here had all gone back to their regular lives. Yet the equipment remained, a kind of silent sentry for the knots of visitors strolling the sand on this brilliantly sunlit autumn afternoon.

The vibrant red against an equally intense blue sky caught my eye, and I stood under it for what seemed like an age as I reflected on my own time, long ago, above the crowds, watching for anything amiss.

I was reminded of the quote by the late, incredibly great Fred Rogers:

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

Mr. Rogers was - and is, and always will be - right: We all need more helpers in our lives. We could also be helpers ourselves. On the beach, or anywhere else.

#portstanley #beach #ldnont #ontario #canada #great #lake #erie #blue #sky #red #lifeguard #tower #bird #gulls #flight #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Baywatch North, July 2021
Guard duty, February 2008

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