Today the gifts have all be opened, the pizza is gone, the cake is half-eaten,  but the decorations are still hanging, something I noticed when returning from a swift walk to the beach to watch a wonderful sight.

I gave up first, Peggy followed soon after, but Sabina is still trying to catch a last look.  Of what?
You can perhaps guess.

Three whales who frolicked right off coast for ten minutes or so.  There were better photo opportunities, but I missed out on them.

When I returned, I was able to capture this shot of Sharon through the glass of the dining room window.

And we returned to making beads and other elements of fimo and fashioning them into necklaces, bracelets, earrings,

Sabina worked on her wonderful mirror fashioned of fimo, stamps and paint.

And Peggy worked on her quilt . . .

Until the fog rolled in and suddenly through that fog, I spied it:

Incredible, the Great Blue Heron stayed, standing silent, moving slowly as we stood silent, walking one way and another until we approached too close.  Unprepared, I caught only a ghost shot, like a watercolor, as it flew away:

Which could not help but remind me of one of my favorite poems “The Great Blue Heron,” by Carolyn Kizer, which you may read HERE.

Here is one more view of the heron:
This one looks more like a painting but is in fact a photo I took today with more saturated color–the way it would have looked if the fog had not entered our lives for the rest of the afternoon.