Pamela Leavey

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Category: Merrimack River

Ducks On The River

Ducks on the River
Ducks On The River
by Pamela Leavey

The line moves
Drawn and driven
By a finely feathered force

It fans outwards
Creating a palpable pattern
Of disruption.

They look like small children
Scampering about
On a green lawn—

They flap their wings
Suddenly, they lift off
Splashing the still water.

They spiral downward
Then swoop and swirl
On the wafting wind

They sweep, swerve
Swivel and dive
And then they diverge

Back into the motionless drink,
Creating fresh, fluid
Lines of movement.

Suddenly, the lines begin to dwindle
While they intermingle
Amidst the still steel blue water

Motion becomes
Barely perceptible—
Reflection resonates

As the still water
No longer replicates
The movement of mallards.

Originally published on Red Skies Magazine.

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Food for Thought: Fear is a Subjective Emotion

Fear is a subjective emotion. We can choose to be ruled by our fear or we can choose to reach beyond our instinctive, individual emotions that drive our fear and look outside of ourselves and all of the things in the world that drive our fears, and see beauty in world.

Everyday the news is subjecting us to the latest stories that fill us with worry, concern, outrage, and fear. Constantly following the news, feeds our fear and plays on the subjective aspects of fear because we a choosing to let our fears control our lives. Not long ago the communication industry was not a 24/7 industry that played so heavily on our psyches.

Step back. Spend less time on social media. Disconnect. Turn off your devices. Free yourself from the outrage machine. Take a break from the news. Get outside. Take a walk. Breathe in the fresh air. Listen to the bird song. Connect with nature. Do anything that is not connected to following the latest news that pummel our senses and leaves us senseless and sometimes riddled with fear.

You can control your fear by replacing it with healthy thoughts and emotions. Be in the moment. Choose happiness over fear.

Namaste

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Fine Art Photography Show in Amesbury: Reflections on the River

The Blue Wave Art Gallery and Ovedia in Amesbury, Massachusetts are both featuring my fine art photography in a “reflections” themed body of small works focused on a series of work from summer 2016.

Blue Wave Art Gallery offers a range of cultural events in the North Shore region bringing forward new ideas in art, music and innovation to the town of Amesbury.  Blue Wave proudly exhibits the works of both established and emerging artists, and the gallery space provides a live stage for local musicians. And, finally, we hold art classes and lectures on a regular, monthly basis. Please email Gallery Director, Asia Scudder to purchase any of the works displayed below. 

Ovedia is a lovely chocolaterie and espresso bar located in the heart of historic Amesbury, just around the corner from the Blue Wave Art Gallery.

Reflections on the River captures the timeless essence of the history of wooden boat building in Amesbury, Massachusetts and intersects that history with views of reflections caught in the motion of the waters of the Merrimack River. (more…)

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Hawk Breakfast

There is a small Hawk up in the Shagbark Hickory tree just outside my desk window. I was looking out the window gazing at the River, as I am often wont to do, when it flew onto the lowest branch a few minutes ago and settled in. The sun is behind it and as such, it is hard to make out its coloring and markings, but I knew it was a hawk by the shape of its head when I watched it land.

What I did not see, when it landed, was that it landed with a small bird in its talon. Ah… Breakfast.

Hawk has been busy, sitting there on the tree limb shredding the Small Bird, sending its delicate little feathers to flutter and tumble-down to the ground below the tree.

Given the relatively small size of the hawk, I am thinking it is the same Sharp-shinned Hawk that I have seen in the yard in the past. A Sharp-shinned Hawk is America’s smallest hawk. It has a long tail, long legs and short wings. They are very agile fliers who easily zip in between trees to grab they prey.

One day a few months ago, I looked out the window in front of my desk, to see a hawk sitting in the yew bush right in front of the window. It was quite the surprise for the two of us, actually as I looked out saw the hawk staring in the window at me. “Oh,” I exclaimed, as the hawk ducked back down in the bush and then made its exit through the front of the bush.

A Crow landed in the Maple tree to the left of the Hickory that Hawk sits busily eating breakfast. Now Crow is shrieking at Hawk, demanding that Hawk leave it some dregs of Small Bird. However, Hawk has been up there so long with Small Bird I can’t imagine that he has not stripped the bones clean. There seem to be no more feathers fluttering to the ground. There is just Hawk and his breakfast. He is fastidious in making sure he does not leave a morsel behind.

Finished now, he hops to another branch and sits facing the sun. Pleased as he is to have had a healthy breakfast. Perhaps not as hearty as he liked or needed, his wings lifted and he flew off in the direction of the bird feeder on the other side of the yard. The cycle of nature and life itself, never ceases to amaze me.

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Food For Thought: Moments Like These

Never get so caught up in the noise around you, that you might forget that there are also moments like these when in the still you see the reflection of light and color and you are lifted up, if only for a moment, to the glory and the grace of beauty in its purest form.

Sunset on the Merrimack River

Even when things appear to be dark, there is still light behind that darkness. Let that light in. Seek that light. Let the very thought of it envelope you and protect your psyche, now and always.

Namaste… Pamela

Photo: Sunset on the Merrimack River in Amesbury, Massachusetts at Lowell’s Boat Shop.

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Food For Thought: Light and Darkness

Sunset on the Merrimack River in Amesbury, MA

Sometimes we see things so clearly and other times they are obscured in the darkness. At work in our lives there are are always forces, seen and unseen, some are in the light and some are clouded by darkness. There are shadows at play. There is light dancing delicately upon our view asking us to join it at play.  (more…)

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