Early morning, Lucas Creek at Greenhithe, Auckland, NZ. Su Leslie 2018
To be perfectly honest, I’m really not sure what constitutes my place in the world . Even geographically, I struggle. I’ve lived in the same neighbourhood (indeed the same house) for 18 years, and yet I wouldn’t claim I’ve ever felt particularly “of” this place.
I feel even more adrift lately, as Auckland’s rapid and unchecked population growth pushes high density housing ever further onto formerly rural land that once nurtured the orchards and gardens that fed us.
This is still a beautiful place; a small claw of sandstone reaching out into the Upper Waitemata Harbour. Early in the morning, and at dusk, it is possible to find a place at water’s edge and listen to the tide lap boats and sea walls. To watch morning mists evaporate, or the sun take its nightly curtain call in rich, splendid colour.
Sunset, Christmas Beach, Herald Island, Auckland. Su Leslie 2018
It is still a beautiful place, and for now, one way or another, I guess it is my place.
Zimmerbitch 
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For many years NZ was “my place” and I still hold a special place in my heart for that beautiful country. Your photos really capture that stillness and beauty that can be found in little ‘ole NZ
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Thanks Pauline. Despite a lot of the bad things that are happening here, I have definitely come to love NZ and feel more at home here than anywhere else.
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I agree
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I have been in my place for 18 years too but I am still a little at odds with it. Beautiful photos.
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Me too. I can’t say where my place is either.
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😀 the more I think about it, the more I am coming to believe that I really just want to be at the beach. I guess with climate change and rising sea levels, all I have to do is bide my time here.
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Look on the bright side, definitely 😉
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Thank you. It’s interesting how many of us aren’t really quite at home in the places we live. A bit sad too.
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Yes, a bit sad because I think we pass on that sense of restlessness or unease to our offspring. My daughter once remarked on the difference between my house and an aunt’s house. My house was missing something. 😦
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It’s fascinating how places can have a vibe that is both shaped by, and shapes, their inhabitants.
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Those amazing photos tell, where your heart is, Su. I also deplore urban sprawl and the never-ending encroachment of rural land. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you Peter. I am quite heartsick watching an area I love being turned over to mile after mile of cookie-cutter housing and endless strip malls of fast food outlets.
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I feel the same, Su.
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It is beautiful. I don’t know what I would consider my place in the world—the town where I raised my children and lived for 26 years? The town where I now live and have lived for almost nine years? The street where I grew up from 5-13? The place where I lived from 13-18? My college? I think if I had to pick one it would be the area on Cape Cod where I’ve spent at least some part of every summer since I was ten years old. It’s the one constant in my life through all those other places.
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How lovely to have that constant; I can totally understand how a summer place can be quite grounding.
I’ve lived in this house four and a half times longer than I have ever lived anywhere, and although I it was a great place to raise the boy-child, it has never been somewhere the Big T and I really felt we belonged. Trying to figure out where we might feel at home in the future is proving challenging now that we’re actually doing it!!
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Oh, we haven’t had one summer place. As a kid we would stay in motels all in one room usually for two long weekends or one week. As an adult we did the same until about 30 years ago when we all started renting a house together for a week or two. We only bought our own place in 2005—a little cottage for the two of us again. Now we get to stay all summer!
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That is so cool. I the place obviously has tremendous “pull” for you to maintain that connection for so long.
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It does—the combination of a beautiful place combined with my childhood memories AND the memories of my children makes it irresistible.
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😀😀
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Your sunset shot is simply perfect!
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Thank you so much Tina.
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It looks idilic Su.
Leslie
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Thanks Leslie. Sometimes I can forget the motorway noise and encroaching housing developments 😀
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I have been a wanderer from birth it seems, so no place really feels like MY place. Although Cornwall probably comes the closest to somewhere I feel the most at home in. But the place that makes me feel the most content has to be anywhere with nature around me, be it a country lane, an empty beach, a remote hillside, a beautiful garden or even working in my own garden spending hours getting my hands dirty. Then I feel I am in my place.
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I totally get that Jude. And I think I realised something similar as I was choosing the photos. It’s more about being in stillness and in nature (and by water) than any specific set of geo-coordinates. I like the occasional trip into town, but I want home to be somewhere with trees and bird-song, and the garden that you and Tish are inspiring me to plan for my forever house.
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Amazing images to start my morning with. I echo your sentiment – it would be tough to pick just one place …..
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😀😀 that’s part of the problem we’re having deciding where to move when we finally sell this house.
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Goodness! I don’t envy your position!
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Such a beautiful place to be, at least, as you say, for now. I too can’t say that I truly feel connected to one place, least of all where I currently live. Which is why I have yet to create a post for this challenge. LOLAmanda
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Thanks Amanda. I struggled with it too. And actually, it made me realise that my “place” is near water (or in the kitchen — maybe a second post for this one) 😀
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Funny, I’ve never lived near water. I don’t consider Lake Ontario to really be water, it’s still kind of yucky and citified down at “the beaches.”
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☹️
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Very nice, I really like that second photo.
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Thank you 🙏
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Incredible clouds!
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I could rant for so long about unchecked growth and destruction of green spaces, but instead I’ll focus on your gorgeous pictures. I love that ribbon of fog hugging the tops of the trees in the first photo and simply everything in the last – the rich colour, the tree silhouette, the drift of the cloud … a perfect capture of a perfect scene.
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Thanks so much Joanne. I read recently that the city planners have FINALLY realised that building houses on productive farmland is maybe not such a good idea in the long-term. All the real people I know have been saying this for years. Sigh. 😕
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Your comment ties in perfectly to recent events here in Ontario. I could rant on at length. Grrrr!
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I do wonder sometimes if it isn’t time for sensible women of a certain age (I’m thinking of us naturally) shouldn’t just stage a coup and take over the world. We couldn’t do a worse job.
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Amen, sister!!
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Sunset captured perfectly.
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Stunningly beautiful, Su! To think all this beauty is going to be swallowed up by urban settlers is sad though…
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Thank you Sarah. It is sad. People buy land in scenic locations for the lovely views and access to nature, not realising that when everyone else does the same thing, the natural world is destroyed and they are the reason for it.
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Most people are simply too greedy and too dumb to get that simple truth. 😦
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I agree. The lack of awareness and reflection so many people demonstrate still astounds me though.
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I’m trying to get through all the blogs listed on this particular photo challenge because I love it so much. I randomly chose yours and what a coincidence! My place is also in New Zealand! It’s such a beautiful country!
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🙂 thanks for finding me — and for taking the time to comment. I’ve loved this challenge too.
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