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sábado, 30 de novembro de 2013

MOVING SKIES

A roof under the blue roof, the travelling clouds painting constantly the sky with new shapes and colours. Moving is changing, evolution, eternal transformation, birth and rebirth. There’s no final dawn or sunset, only the reassuring flowing of the elements. They will return, they always return. They were born in the ancient home of the soul. They take the soul to her earthly home, again and again. The home is always there. The sea, the earth, the eyes… mirrors and eternal companions of each other. Imagination itself lowers its head and bows before the ever-changing beauty of the sky. Shiny blue, clouds of white, stormy gray, orange-pink delight, the whole palette of the will-bow… the visible footprints of the soul, always heading to the perfect home.

Eternal return

Life has only days
Suns, Moons and Seasons
Time without hours, minutes or seconds
Nothing repeats
Except the renewed novelty of each day
Each day is a wish
That rises from within
To shine until the last nightfall…

São Ludovino, 23/11/2013 – 2:07 a.m.

Side by side

Take me to paradise
Around the corner
In front of the large window of dawn
Coffee can wait
Let me taste first the creamy Curacao of the morning sky
It’s good to see you again around this grassy table
Our feet kiss the ground
While our eyes dance with the musical clouds…

São Ludovino, 23/11/2013 – 2:18 a.m.

Moving skies, Praia Grande, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino.

Moving skies - Autumn travelers I, photography by São Ludovino.

Moving skies - Autumn travelers II, photography by São Ludovino.

Moving skies - Autumn travelers III, photography by São Ludovino.

terça-feira, 29 de outubro de 2013

SOLITARY SAILOR

Solitary sailor, photography by São Ludovino.

REBIRTH

     The sand fields went on and on unto the eyes could gaze. Thousands of times, they had stared in wonder to the white-golden sands waiting for the night reflections. Hundreds of shooting stars crossed the sky in every direction and then fell on the sands without a sound and only explosions of light and colours. And after the rain of stars, each night they would sleep on the sands, listening to the voice of the sea, covered only by the warm veil of the Milky Way.
     Until one night the stars didn’t rain over the sands. Their eyes felt lost and the night became colder and colder. They could hardly sleep and an overwhelming fatigue invaded their bodies. The man’s skin was changing colour and his hands were becoming weak. He craved his fingers on the sands like claws trying to find a steady ground on the air. But he couldn’t grab anything.
    In absolute despair, the woman looked around, picked a shell, opened the man’s hand and put half of it inside. Somehow, the shell gave the man enough energy to stand up. He looked to the horizon beyond the sands and began to walk. The woman tried to follow his weak steps but she couldn’t. Her legs were paralyzed. She could only move her arms and cry. She opened her arms and cried “Please, don’t go!”
    Either the man didn’t hear or he couldn’t stop. The distant horizon was like an invisible magnet pulling him to the distance. And while he was walking he was slowly turning into sand and dissolving into the sands under his feet. The woman kept crying and watching the man disappearing.
    When finally she couldn’t see the man… only a shadow in her memory… she fell down and lost conscience. Time passed, nights without raining stars, dawns without hope. And during all that time she didn’t move. She kept holding the other half of the shell she had put in the man’s hand. She wasn’t even sure if she was dead or alive.
    In the high tide, the sea would cover her but even then she wouldn’t move. Her body would float on the waters, motionless… until the low tide laid her exactly on the same spot where she stood before; always looking towards the sands, forgetting there was a sea behind.
     One morning, when the tide was beginning to fill up, she heard a human voice coming from the sea, a very familiar voice that she never ceased to hear inside since the man was gone. She turned to the sea and for the first time she tried to get up and use her legs to walk. And she stood up without effort, as if pulled by an invisible hand, and walked towards the waves.
    Her eyes were blurred for the experience of trying to see reality after so long looking just inside. Overwhelmed by pure amazement and joy, she saw a well known figure walking out from the waves.
    The man walked towards her, smiled and whispered gently “I’m back! I’m back to where once I belonged!”

São Ludovino, 21/10/2013 – 1:37 a.m.

SOLITARY SAILOR, photography by São Ludovino.

segunda-feira, 23 de setembro de 2013

DANCING WITH THE DOLPHINS

     In Portugal, dolphins can be seen in their natural habitat at Azores islands, at Sado’s mouth (Setúbal), at Algarve’s coast and in the last years also in Tejo’s mouth (Lisbon). At Azores and Sado there’s still some large communities of dolphins (bottlenose dolphins) but they had disappeared from Tejo since the 60s, due mainly to the increase of pollution in the waters that caused a decrease of the amount of fish in the river. In the last years the program of treatment of the residual waters thrown into the river had positive results. The amount of fish increased again and the dolphins returned to Tejo. Each adult dolphin needs 15-20 kg of fish every day and now they have enough food to survive in the river.
     In artificial habitats, they can be seen at the Lisbon Zoo (Bay of the Dolphins) and at the Zoomarine (Guia-Albufeira, Algarve). I saw them several times in both places. In both cases they seem very well treated, comfortable and happy. Last August, I went again to Zoomarine and saw two different shows with a group of seven dolphins. The joy of the animals and their trainers was obvious and touching. The dolphins really enjoy what they are doing, they like the contact with humans and react joyfully to the voices and applause of the public. They are especially tender with the children as if they knew that they are more sensitive and fragile.
    They play, they “run”, they fly, they dance… The music, either noisy or calm, and the rhythm of a cadenced sound like the applauses are very appealing to them. They are agile, energic, meticulous and elegant in their movements. They really follow a determined choreography. The affective interaction with their trainers is the most touching. There’s a full and reciprocal trust between trainers and dolphins… or it would be impossible to do what they both do, for many of those exercises / games / dances could be dangerous and result in serious injury in both. It’s reassuring and gratifying to see such joy and harmony.
     The most part of the dolphins were born in the Zoomarine and the healthy life they lead allows them to overpass the common longevity of a dolphin. The oldest dolphin is now more than 45, quite old for a dolphin.
     The Zoomarine also has a sanctuary for wild animals in danger, sick or injured. For example, they treat the dolphins captured accidently by the fishermen nets.
     At the Zoomarine there’s also an Aquarius with many different species, including sharks and rays. It’s incredible how raias are sociable and swim very swiftly. They swim close to the surface of the giant tank and it is possible to caress them. Their skin feels like wet velvet…
     There are other animals in the Zoomarine mainly birds, like parrots, macaws, flamingos, swans, ducks, turtles, etc. Close to the pool of the turtles there is a machine where one inserts a coin to obtain a certain amount of food to feed them. They are extremely attentive and smart. They look constantly in the direction of the machine and if someone picks a coin they all run in that direction even before one inserts the coin in the machine!
    There’s also a fairground with several attractions mainly to the children. The view from the top of the giant wheel is really beautiful and allows a general view of the whole of the team park which is quite big.
    Below is a selection of photographs taken in two different shows with the same group of seven dolphins and two videos made with photographs of both shows.

Zoomarine oficial site: http://www.zoomarine.pt/en
Zoomarine (internacional): http://www.zoomarine.com/