April 5, 2013

Seagulls and Obadiah








I promise this will be my final ocean post, but I just had to add these seagull photos to the blog. I love the way they turned out. They look almost ethereal, more like paintings than photographs. Maybe it's because the gulls were so backlit.

At first they were all bathing in the estuary that comes in along the north end of the beach. Then some darker weather started moving over and they began to face into the wind. Some tucked their heads to stay warm against the gale and some just stood tall, beaks pointed south, bearing the heavy gusts.

I was reminded of a favorite childhood book, Thy Friend Obadiah. It's the story of a young Quaker boy who reluctantly befriends a seagull in his Nantucket fishing village during the Colonial time period.



I always loved this book — the cobblestone roads on Nantucket, how the family dressed and cooked their meals in a big stone fireplace, the way Obadiah's mother tucked him under heavy quilts in his attic bedroom (by candlelight no less). But the best part was when Obadiah peeked out his bedroom window and saw his loyal seagull friend, perched on the chimney facing into the wind, keeping watch through the night. I wanted a seagull friend who would sit outside my window, darn it.



15 comments:

  1. I love children's books with beautiful illustrations but have somehow missed this one! Logging onto the library website now. . .

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    1. There are a couple about this little boy, Obadiah. The illustrations are really sweet.

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  2. Oh you crack me up. I imagine you'll be back in your colonial attire now for a week or two. :) The book sounds lovely and the photos are amazing. You should print some off on watercolour paper. I bet they'd be wonderful framed! xo

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    1. ha ha! Tracy, I think you're starting to figure me out. That book DID make me start thinking all "Colonial" again.
      I love your idea of printing the photos on watercolor paper. I'm going to try it!

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  3. That looks like a beautiful book. I love books like that too; I think about some of my childhood books pretty often, and the illustrations are still so clear in my mind.

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    1. Over the years I'm collected quite a few of the books I remembered from my childhood. Like you said, the illustrations are just burnt into my brain.

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  4. Hi- lovely pictures. Which ocean? Have a seagull pic on my blog taken last week on Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland. Snow on mountains - spring slow to arrive in UK this year.

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    1. Hi Eleanor - We were on the Oregon coast in the U.S. Very pretty there and lush - probably a lot like the greens in Ireland.

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  5. I missed Obadiah, but now want to find him. Thanks for the wonderful introduction to him, Jenny.

    One day as a teen near Kansas City, Missouri, I walked by my dad who was sitting in our living room. He was listening to a recording of Ebb Tide that had recorded the mew of seagulls along with the sound of ocean waves coming and going. I noticed tears in his eyes and realized then how much he missed living near the ocean in Massachusetts where he was born.

    That, no doubt, is part of the reason that being on an ocean beach is my favorite place on the earth :)

    Thanks for posting!
    xx,
    Gracie

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  6. Your seagull photos are very atmospheric and the book looks delightful. Used to love reading illustrated books to my son when he was younger and have kept a few of the favourites.

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    1. I've kept so many books from my own childhood and my daughters' younger years - it's hard to give them up.

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  7. One of our favorite activities at the beach is feeding the seagulls, they will eat cheese curds right out of your hand! Beautiful pictures, they take me there-I can hear the cries of the gulls. I also love the Obadiah book, I have a worn-out copy (the cover is worn off, I need to tape it up) that I use to read to my kids often, I love Obadiah's change of heart-such a great message-we can find friendship in unusual places.

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    1. Of course you have the book Rebecca! Sometimes we're so alike it's crazy.

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  8. Hi Jenny

    Thanks for your visit to my blog. It's always fabby fab to meet other bloggers.

    I like your blog header enormously - it's so creative and just wonderful to look at...also love Audrey Hepburn, by the way - huge fan.

    I've added your blog to my reader so I can keep up with you.

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Thank you for your comments. Hearing from you makes my day!