Peering at PIERS.
I have to admit that I'm never really all that excited about the subject of piers. Don't get me wrong, their purpose in life is very much appreciated by me, after all, how would I get to a boat, or back to land after a sailing if it wasn't for these sturdy, wooden walkways? Because the last time I tested my skill for 'walking on water', I was still pretty much..well...wet behind the ears. However, every now and then an intriguing thought to explore a pier's hidden charms floats past my mind and just begs to be docked for a spell.
It aPIERS to be magical.
Let's start with the air of mystery that sometimes envelopes them. Who, on the odd night or early morning, hasn't stopped and paid attention to them when the fog has rolled in? Doesn't the word eerie comes to mind? There's absolutely nothing to see because it's so dense, but we can't help standing there and staring into it. What's that about? Are we hoping for something to come out of the mist? And even crazier is, we'll remain standing there and then refer to the scene as beautiful. How do we go from saying, "Eerie," or "Spooky," or "Creepy," to then saying, "Beautiful," all in one breath? I find that fascinating in itself.
And there are other impressions that give rise to the same spooky feeling. For instance, take the following photo: no people, no birds, no boats, no oars... What an unusual sight for a place like this. Wonder what I would see if I turned and looked left? Would I see the people frantically boarding a boat? Would they be running away from the...
Whoa! The imagination sure loves to twist the magic of a place into something with the no real substance. I think I'll stay off that twisted line of thought, and head straight -- straight down this pier's walkway that is. I'm going to just walk on and into the light of this pier's sense of serenity. Now the mystery of what's going on is transparent -- no more obscurity. Because in this light, we can clearly see it's a PIERfect landcape.
This aPIERance makes another impression.
Or what would I see if I just stopped and appreciated the wooden planks. Would I be impressed with how perfectly they lined up? Would I only see the craftsmanship of the structure or would I notice an artistic element between the lines as well?
Then, if I sat with my legs dangling over its edge and peered between the guard rails, would I get lost in the rippling blues and greens dancing on the water? Hmm, I wonder if the impressionist painter Monet would have taken the time to see it this way?
PIERing at the littlest details.
One must also not forget to get in close and appreciate the details. Look at the texture of those solid hunks of wood. Only standing exposed to years of storms systems would give one the privilege of saying they were weathered and could handle just about anything thrown at them. Check-out the following beams - wrinkled, yet still solid as a rock.
