There are not words to describe what we saw and experienced today!  Truly, I am speechless – and even words from the keyboard fail.

We went out this afternoon on a whale watching boat out of Provincetown, at the very end tip of Cape Cod.  Not really expecting to see anything much, but just wanting to enjoy the beauty of the day, we bought our tickets and set out.

Almost before we were out of the harbor, someone spotted a whale.  Suffice it to say, we had no shortage of whales to watch.  We saw Northern Right whales – a rare sighting as there are so few left in the world.  We saw several Humpbacks, a Minke, a Fin Whale, and one other that I can’t remember now.  I should brush up on my whale species!

I was marveling at the incredible display of nature as these mammoth mammals played and sprayed and slapped their tails – all seemingly for our enjoyment – as I snapped away with my camera.

And then the most amazing thing happened.  Three humpbacks that had been playing and feeding at a distance came closer to the boat and rose together to feed almost beneath our feet.  And immediately after taking a mouth full of dinner they rolled and played even closer to the boat.  I was looking right down on three incredible creatures that I had never seen before and my SD card in my camera flashed FULL.  I could do nothing.  Mesmerized by the beauty before me I just watched and reflected how this is a lesson for me to remember to be “in the moment.”  A camera can’t capture everything.  I had to just take it all in and capture the beauty and the moment in my memory.

While I did get several hundred other shots of the day, the one that survives in my mind with brilliant focus is the one that I was only able to capture with my eyes.  Extraordinary beauty!  And, a feeling of deep humility to be sharing this water planet with these amazing creatures.

Grace beyond grace found today in the waters just beyond Cape Cod.