I was caught up in a wonderful graduation day yesterday (Friday) for the daughter of dear friends. She received combined MBA/Law degrees plus an award for top marks in both. It was indeed a day to celebrate! Beginning with a beautiful ceremony at Convocation Hall, in the magnificent grounds of the University of Toronto, we lunched while awards were presented, then rushed home to shower, change and drive back downtown to the terrace of The Fifth for dinner and party-time!
In fact I was having such a great time celebrating, I forgot to move this post out of draft by hitting “Publish”. So here we are … a day late. But, never mind, let’s celebrate World Oceans Day every day and do our part as best we can.
If it’s Friday, it must be France …
The Mediterranean is a sea. A beautiful, historical body of water that has a unique magical aura. In fact, connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltor, the Med (as it is affectionately known) is defined as a sea because it is mainly surrounded by land.
June 8th is World Oceans Day so please click this link take a minute to visit their website. I should have been talking about this weeks ago but, to be honest, in my state of *finish the MS total self-absorption*, I wasn’t aware of it.
In fact, it was my friend Tele Aadsen’s blog that gave me the reminder. As well as a writer, she fishes commercially in Alaska and no one in my world is in a better position to speak on this topic than Tele. She also has a video in this post that she shot as five whales accompanied them on one of their outings. If you haven’t already visited her blog, do it now. You’ll be very glad you did.
Tele also introduces us to Roz Savage whose memoir, Rowing The Atlantic, describes her 500 days at sea in a 23-foot rowboat. CAN YOU IMAGINE? I am always fascinated by individuals who take up such challenges and can’t wait to read about it.
Fellow writer/blogger Nancy J. Nicholson and her husband live on their sailboat and are cruising the Caribbean at the moment. Needless to say, they have a strong commitment to doing all they can to support the ongoing work of preserving our oceans. You can find her here.
In Toronto, we live on Lake Ontario and last weekend saw the annual lakeside clean-up by everyone who cares to give a day and help take care of the lake shore. An annual event, the turnout is always impressive – rain or shine!
Last summer we lived in Antibes on the shore of the Mediterranean for almost five months. Living with that awesome view of the Med and the hills and mountains beyond was a very special experience, we’ll never forget.
We never tired of the view or of spending as much time as we possibly could hiking the coastal trails, enjoying the catch of the day, or doing beach-time. Here are a few of my favourite Med shots.
Okay, okay … I’ll stop. I had a great time sorting through my photos for those and could go on and on …
How far do you live from the sea or an ocean or any body of water? Let’s make a commitment to do all we can to conserve and protect our rivers, lakes and oceans today and every day.
Patricia Sands 
Beautiful photos! Oceans are such a big part of our world and we are working hard to destroy them and all the creatures in them. I’m glad to see a ban on plastic bags coming up in Toronto. I hope other cities worldwide follow suit. It’s so sad to see how many animals die from our plastic garbage.
You would certainly know about this! We need to work so much harder to try and make things right.
Such beautiful blue water. 🙂 Unfortunately, I’m kind of allergic to the beach. I can go for a couple hours, but longer than that and something about the beach aggravates my asthma.
The blue is magnificent, isn’t it? Angela, just stay away from the beach and write about saving our oceans in your beautiful novels.
Your photos are so beautiful, Patricia! The thought of five months on that hillside with that view made me so very happy for you – what an amazing experience! As always, many thanks for the shout-out; my best wishes to you and yours.
Yes, it was quite the most wonderful time! All I can think about is when I’m going to get back there … to keep my heart company!
It’s so refreshing to hear a post on this topic. My favorite body of water is humble Buzzards Bay between Cape Cod and the mainland. Not the azure of the Mediterranean, but lovely greens and blues. The ocean is a mystical place. Thank you! The photos are gorgeous.
Thanks for stopping by, Helen. Buzzards Bay sounds beautiful. I’ll have to look it up.
Just booked a week camping near St Tropez for the end of August, can’t wait to explore the coastline 🙂 I love oceans with rocks and cliffs and depth, swimming off rocks in the sea swell makes me feel like a sea creature 🙂
You’ll have a wonderful time there, Claire! It is so wonderful to bob around in that beautiful blue.
My hometown, Belgrade, is at two rivers, the Sava and the Danube; they could both use some protection. Also, I’ve recently been to Croatia, visiting family in the small town of Omišalj, at the Adriatic sea – if you like sea pictures, there are some here: http://sleepyangelcat.blogspot.com/2012/05/who-likes-to-travel.html
I’ve never seen an ocean, though, except on pictures, or from a plane, from high above.
I just clicked on your link, Ivana, thanks. I’ve never been to Croatia and would love to see more photos. I bicycled along part of the Danube in Austria several years ago and it was a beautiful experience. We really do need to pay attention to our planet’s bodies of water – large and small. Let’s keep talking about it!
O.M.G. I must go! STUNNING pictures…
I couldn’t agree more about doing everything we can to conserve our bodies of water. We are blessed to live very near to a number of rivers and lakes and the ocean is only an hour or so drive away. It makes me cringes when I see garbage or when I hear about disaster spills in our oceans. Our waters and the animals that live in them deserve to be protected and cared for to the extreme!!!
Wow, I’m a little late to the party. Your pictures are so gorgeous! Your view in Toronto is equally as beautiful as the view from Antibes. I just want to dive into every picture and stay awhile. I have to live near water, specifically the ocean, but a lake would probably do as well. I think since I’ve always had the ocean as a backyard, I understand about respecting it and taking care of it more than some of the tourists we get each year. It is a fearsome, beautiful force that I have been in love with my whole life. Thanks for sharing your pics with us!