My Sea
The sea a stone's throw from my house, my daily landscape that shapes my days. It’s my ozone replenishment zone. The sea has many guises, waves crashing, noisy and loud, thunderous, but then soothing, gentle and whispering and repetitively resonant. The sharp call of the circling gulls fills the air and the stones crunch underfoot.
Vast, endless waves stretching towards France, sometimes wild, murky, and tumultuous, with playful white horses disrupting the surface. Then in contrast, on a gentle, soft morning the sea like a mirror, the flat calmness is inviting. The sparkling surface stretching into infinity, a delicious feeling to immerse oneself in this watery wonderfulness. Looking into the distance and the luminous light, a time to reflect, to breathe in gratitude and consider what a privilege it is to live beside, this, sometimes scary powerful monster and at others something benign and tender. The rhythm of my life follows ‘My Sea’ — driven by the moon’s gravitational pull, and rise and fall of the tides.
Images of 'My Sea' captured January 2026
A JANUARY MORNING
The sky is a bruised plum colour, its edges smudged with the palest pink as we step out into the still-dark morning still an hour before sunrise. Our eager footsteps sound along the well-trodden pavement, today glistening with frost, and we dance around the frozen puddles. Even the pebbles are solidly iced.
Sliding down the hill of stones, thrown up and moulded by the sea’s endless ebb and flow, we meet our merry band of dippers. Standing close to the waterline swathed in coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. Anticipating but still hesitant
Then coats are swiftly abandoned and we all rush forward.
Shrieks and laughter resonate and ragged cries are heard as the cold finds every sensitive place. The waves lift and drop us, slapping our faces as we push through while the tug of the current draws us away from the shore.
Deep breaths, slow breaths,
Heartbeats loud and insistent.
Stress dissolves, the mood lifts, and we are released,
We float, buoyed and laughing, the cold so intense. In this sharp chill we are uplifted, boosted, euphoric, and unexpectedly ready for the day ahead.
We only last a matter of minutes,
Reading and watching the waves
Hand in hand, we wade back in and reach the shore.
Glowing
Exhilarated
Gratified
Soon we are bundled once more In wool and fleece
Already imagining the heat and weight of the cascading shower and the taste of our awaiting breakfast.
Melanie Chalk
February 8th 2026