The Mundane as Art: Round 8: Sand Patterns. Shellharbour to Bass Point Marine Reserve. NSW. Australia. Original photography.

Imagine singing Orinoco Flow to the words of:

Let me.
Walk upon the sands.
Near the shores of Shelley Beach.
Let me gaze into pools. With jewels just out of reach. ~Ally.

Walking along the shores of a beach. Do you ever find yourself pondering the infinite Universe?

There's something about gazing out to the horizon and having a sense of the vastness of never-ending space: Above and below. I can feel the infinitesimal scale of my body in relationship to the planet and the entire cosmos.

And yet standing on the moist sand: I am grounded. And I gain an even stronger sense of my connection with nature and all creation.

I've always searched for the most perfect of perfect shells. However they were nowhere to be found between Shellharbour and Bass Point Marine Reserve. Initially I felt just a little downhearted, but then something quite unexpected happened.

Almost without me realizing it, a 'bonding' had started to take place as I looked at and then held some of these old and worn, bleached and blemished shells.

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Thousands, maybe millions, possibly more like trillions of fragmented shells lined the rockpools and covered the ground at Bass Point Marine Reserve.

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As I collected just a few larger shells to make this simple arrangement, I sensed that the energy of this area was VERY special. But until I returned home, I didn't know of its history: The indigenous people of this land occupied the Bass Point Reserve area for some 20,000 years prior to the arrival of European settlers and it was and continues to be a significant traditional meeting place. Source: NSW Office of Environment and Heritage: Bass Point Reserve.

There is potential that the individual shell midden sites on the northern shoreline could represent one single continuous midden site. It is also highly probable that there may be unrecorded Aboriginal artefact scatters and burial sites on the reserve: Either individually or in association with midden sites. ~Dr Sandra Bowdler.

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Tiny crevices and tidal pools were populated with not only the remnants of ancient seashells, but alive with sea creatures: A most enchanting micro world.

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And ultimately these pieces of ancient worn shells, become what we call SAND:
Unimaginable numbers of tiny grains of sand.
And I ponder. But can never grasp.
Infinity in the palm.
Of my hand.
IF:

The total number of stars in the Universe is larger than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the planet Earth. ~Carl Sagan.

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AND that it's been estimated that the Earth has roughly seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains of sand.

AND seven quintillion, five quadrillion is 700,500,000,000,000,000,000.

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AND now for a few photographs of the most ordinary sand patterns you may have ever seen for @kus-knee's The Mundane as Art: Sand Patterns.

Mundane? Can you see the mountains in the ripples?

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The unfathomable trillions of grains of sand, broken and weathered down from shells and corals, rocks and minerals. Mundane?

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Thanks so much @kus-knee for initiating the The Mundane as Art: Sand Patterns.

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Other photographs: Shellharbour to Bass Point Marine Reserve.

1. Shellharbour and Bass Point Marine Reserve.
2. Magical Moments on the Reef at Shellharbour: Sydney South Coast.
3. Ten Days of Reflection: Day 2. Bass Point Marine Reserve

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About Shellharbour
About Bass Point Reserve

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In my next article for the Ten Days of Reflection Challenge I'll be sharing some of the Jewels of the Sea photographed at Bass Point Marine Reserve.

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I'll also be recapturing the magic of Bass Point Reserve as I made this ephemeral art piece.

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Art and Photography: ©Alison Lee Cousland.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 Mark II.
Processing: Lightroom.

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