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Snowy Cliff just north of
Ingonish Beach, Nova Scotia. The Cabot Trail is a road that
follows the outer edge of Cape Breton Island in Northern Nova
Scotia. The most scenic portion of the drive is through Cape
Breton Highlands National park.
Sunday
I woke when a snow plow was
taking care of the 12 inches of snow around my truck. I got
out of my vehicle and asked the plowman if the gas station was going
to open today. He was the owner and had kept his station open
both Christmas and Boxing Days. He didn't plan on opening on
Sunday. After I told him about my dilemma, he said he would
try to get one of his 8 children to open the station and get me some
decent tires. Soon, Andy opened the doors of the Esso petro
station and put snow tires on my rear axle. While he was
working, I boiled some eggs. Soon, my truck was finished, and
the weather was looking great. I decided to travel back across
the mountains that I had driven in the dark the night before.
Just after leaving Ingonish Beach, I came across the scene.
Looking over a large bay, the sun had broken trough some clouds to
light up the red rock cliff. I parked at the next wide spot in
the road and walked back down to a clearing in the trees.
After exposing several frames, I noticed that the waves had a
pattern to them. Frame 23 of 24 was the best from the roll
that I shot on this scene.
The 18x24 enlargement shows
the tops of the clouds. Soft, gentle curves top the snow
storms clouds lit well by the sun. There is no definite
horizon over the Atlantic due to the storm approaching in the
distance. Three sets of waves are breaking, and a 4th wave is
building nicely. The 3rd wave is crashing with great power on
the rocks below. Snow capped boulders are seen where the land
meets the sea. The texture of the red cliff is accented by the
white fluffy stuff. The wind was not yet strong enough to blow
the fresh snow off of the evergreen boughs.
There is so much going on in
this photo. Just the other day I noticed something that I
hadn't seen before. What a magical piece!
I showed this photo to several people over the years, but not until
we sat down and picked it apart did someone notice the most
prominent feature of the photo. In fact, I can no longer look
at the photo without noticing it. Near the center of the shot,
there is a reddish rock outcropping. It looks like the face of
a sailor. I say that it is the face of the sailor that died in
the bay during a storm much like this one. His face is forever
locked on the cliff, looking into his watery grave.
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