A Lagoon at Castaway Cay

Peaceful

Snorkelers and swimmers enjoy a peaceful lagoon at Castaway Cay, the Bahamas island of the Disney Cruise Line, as seen during 2018 Christmas Disney Cruise.

On our visit to Castaway Cay during our cruise, it was getting to be late in the day. But because it was also December, it was just starting to get a little warm. In fact, it had finally gotten warm enough that Laura and Katie decided to swim out to the Pelican Plunge water slide for a few slides into the water. Earlier in the day, it had been just a little too cold for that.

I didn’t care to go down the slide on this particular day, but that area near the water slide is always a good one for photos. So I grabbed my camera and went along with them. And I was glad that I did.

As you can see, it was just about a perfect day, even with the slight coolness of the weather. We have not had a day like that on our last several visits to Castaway Cay, so we were quite thankful.

Beautiful Days

I was going to end the previous paragraph with the sentence, “Never take a beautiful day for granted.” But who is to say what makes a day beautiful?

If you think about it, every day is a beautiful day. It may not be the type of weather that we would consider “perfect,” but every day is beautiful in its own way.

When I was a teenager, one of the church Bible class teachers would greet people by saying, “Isn’t it a beautiful day?” No matter the weather, the temperature, or whatever else, that is what he would say. When someone would question him on one of those seemingly less than perfect days, he would say, “Well, you woke up sucking it in and blowing it out, didn’t you? That makes it a beautiful day!”

That has stuck with me all of these years. Every day can be a beautiful day. We just have to choose to make it that way. If we treat each day as beautiful, perhaps those around us will start to see the world in a better way, too.

Part of that beauty comes from the fact that we are blessed by our God each and every day. Each day is a day that he has created, and that in itself should make it a beautiful day. Because each day is a day when God can do amazing and beautiful things. Who are we to argue with that?

Bible Verse

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:17

About the Photo

I absolutely love this photo. To me, the colors here are just magnificent. From the blue sky to the blue green water and the yellow sand, everything works together here. The lighting here is also almost perfect. The shadows were getting a little long because it was late in the afternoon. And because the winter solstice was just a day or two away, the sun was coming from the far south, making those shadows even longer than usual. That is much different from when we have been there in the summer, when the sun was much more directly overhead.

I am thankful that we were able to stay out on the beach as long as we did, because the lighting, and the rest of the day, just kept getting better.

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Luminar. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS Lens
Date: December 18, 2018
Location: Castaway Cay, Bahamas