Friday, July 4, 2008

Misty Days and Starry Nights



Did I tell you how how much I love starfish?
Always looking for them.

Sigh..............

I feel as though my shoulders have dropped about a foot and my breathing has become deeper and more mindful. I am now in turtle mode.

My time on the beach was just as I had hoped it would be. Although the sun didn't come out as much as we would have liked, it did burn its way through the clouds enough that it warmed the gentle breeze as well as the sand beneath our toes. Fast paced mists came and went and so did the waves. Although there was never a silent break from the soothing droning roar, I don't think I have ever seen such gentle surf here...it matched my mood so perfectly.

The days were long and full of nothingness. There are no real stories to tell. There was no need to *do* anything or go anywhere beyond the reaches of the beach. I would walk and walk, finding interesting things along the way...

A sand mermaid lay on the beach...so glorious in her beauty. She had a curvy voluptuous tail, and long reddish seaweed tendrils for hair. She even had white sea flowers in her hair and was adorned with shells. Her time on the beach was fleeting as the rolling incoming surf licked at her fins, enticing her to come back to her watery home.

Sand pipers scurried across the sand at a frantic pace. They are the sweetest little birds. Tiny twig-like legs with no knees moving lightning fast as they dug their long pointed beaks into the sand, looking for something to nibble on. Then they would take flight together, all at once, moving in the same direction, turning this way and that so all you could see were quick flashes of silver, then white. How do they all know which way to turn so suddenly like that?

Bald eagles were circling right overhead. They would carry branches over to one of the closer islands as they prepared to nest and raise their young. I saw the same pair last year on the same rocky island. They sit out there for hours and hours...all day and night. Such fiercely dedicated parents they are. As they flew right over my head, I was in awe. Their massive wing span has to be seen to be believed. So beautiful.

The nights were no less wondrous. We started a fire on the beach one night and started drumming. Along came a man who had been wandering the beach... he asked us if he could join us. We welcomed him into our circle, and to our wonderful surprise, he opened his case and pulled out a didjeridu. A magical time was had by all under the stars this one and only clear night.

Although I am back home now, my spirit is still there, soaring with the eagles, running along the sand with the sandpipers, moving to the deep rhythms of the drums, drinking in the waves and the mists.

Until next time....

21 comments:

  1. Ah, you have returned and it is as wonderful as you had hoped (an answer to my questio before I had even asked it!). I miss the connections with the awesome creatures so natural in their NW habitats, especially the whales. I'm sorry that on my journey I won't have time to come up the Coast to meet you. Hopefully, this will be the first trip of many.

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  2. You have absolutely enchanted me with this post...what a wonderful time you had! Starfish...mermaids...two of my favorite things...

    I'm so glad you feel so rejuvenated by your getaway...It's wonderful to carry the spirit of our vacations long after we return home.

    Have a beautiful weekend love.
    xo

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  3. You'll always have your memories to hold. Beautiful post!

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  4. So lovely to see you returned rested and refreshed Jaime :-) Starfish are so wonderful, they remind me of mystical adventures and children treasure hunting between rocks :-)

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  5. welcome back honey. i think you are quite possibly part mermaid yourself. reading about your affinity for the beach and the ocean, i think it's quite possible that you will always carry a piece of that with you.

    i know i do, even so far from home, still carry a part of my ocean with me.

    xx

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  6. oh, this was wonderful. such beautiful impressions...
    glad you had a good time

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  7. this post has brought a great sense of peace and contentment to my day...i thank you for sharing that part of your experience here with me.
    xoxo

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  8. Oh thank you. Seeing it through eyes & hearing it through your words lets me feel it. Mermaids. Starfish. Sandpipers. Creatures from fairy tales. And the eagles just took my breath away to the nest they're building & have used it as part of the structure - if only I could use that breath to spy on them . Just a little. I wouldn't be intrusive. :)

    Debi

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  9. May the stars (fish) get comfortable against your ceiling at night...may the nights be so bright that you can see right through them... may the sound of the waves crashing on the beach fill your heart and soul for the following few weeks.. as you enter your long deserved summer holidays... with nature around you.. and in you... loving every bit of your heart! xx

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  10. I love the beach and your words made me feel like I was right there with you.

    I also just wrote about the beach, but I was sitting at my cottage in the woods miles away from the water.

    But I believe if you love the beach, part of it stays with you forever.

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  11. I just love that picture with the beach chair!

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  12. you know what? i missed you. don't get me wrong. although i was looking forward to your homecoming post i was also happy imagining you walking barefoot on the beach and finding quiet in your heart. that starfish is amazing! you grow them SO big there?!? the sandpipers i see in my mind. we have them on our coast here as well but the ones i remember most were on a beautiful beach in florida. they were a part of a community of birds that went from 4 ft tall, to 6 inches short all with those crazy stick legs and thinking about food all the time. so funny to watch :) gosh i haven't thought about them in a long time.... it was a trip i took with my daughter several years ago all by ourselves. such fun too! anyway, enough rambling. i think i am just chatting away because i enjoy your company so much :) have a great sunday jamie!
    xoxoxoxo

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  13. what a magical time you had and you, as usual, transported us there right along with you. thank you for that. i feel more relaxed just reading it!

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  14. Jaime R, you make my eyes twinkle....you make the waves and the mist talk; You tantalise so beautifully!

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  15. I am longing for this kind of an experience myself....will try to cultivate it more mindfully now.

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  16. this was a long beautiful sigh ... having spent so much time on that beach, i can close my eyes and imagine it all and i smile :) xo

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  17. I thought I would come and tiptoe by... maybe test the waters with just my toes and my heart.

    But after reading your warm and nurturing words, I decided nothing less than your name, etched in the wet sand with a big long stick... (right along side mine), and a sandcastle made of love would do.

    Thank you for taking me along with you... I had a beautiful, beautiful time.

    love and more love

    xoxoxo

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  18. I love this post. I am so glad you had such a refreshing, renewing time. I really like that a stranger would be so welcome to join your circle. Of course, as all welcomed strangers do, he brought his gifts with him.

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  19. your words are utterly wondrous ~
    I feel so peaceful and bright
    with quiet dreams ~ and I adore
    starfish as well:)

    :)

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  20. I've never seen a starfish. I hope I do one day.

    Cxx

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