Turning on a Breeze

The glare of morning sun racing from horizon to shore had lessened as the sun rose ever higher into the royal blue sky. The crisp contrails of jet engines thinned into wispy curtains that others would take for clouds. Heat started to rise from previously damp sand and those strolling the water's edge risked an occasional detour into the swirling eddies.

The stiff breeze coming from the west brought only the inland heat. Umbrellas popped open. T-shirts and cover-ups came off. Skin glistened with newly applied sunblock. The volume of conversations lowered as folk succumbed to heat induced naps.

And then a tang salt was carried by a breath of cool; a cool quickly chased by a gust of heat. For long minutes they played back and forth - these breaths and gusts - until with the surety of the slow but steady turtle the breaths one out.

Umbrellas tool on extreme tilts - now blocking breezes rather than sun. Shirts and cover-ups reappeared along with beach towels thrown across legs and feet.

Just like that the breeze had turned the day.

Missing the Landmark

Everyone has local vacation destinations they look forward to every year. The familiar drive is peppered with landmarks that serve to raise the excitement level. The twenty foot tall cow, the twelve foot high rocking chair, the ice cream store with a name like Molly's or Steve's - all of these serve to announce the special vacation spot is that much closer.

For me, the well weathered pilot's boat perched on a raised mound of earth as advertisement for a marine supply store was what told me the drive from Pennsylvania to Rehoboth Beach was nearly at an end.

Even though I now live in the local area, every sighting of that boat was a reminder of family and suitcases packed into a car.

The day I approached that well known bend in the road to discover the tilting pilot's boat had been replaced by a high-tech LED sign was a sad one.  While the sign no doubt is an advertising enhancement it is just one of many such signs that continue to pop up. A landmark it is not.

Breach

A dragon's flame
A heart's desire

A winter day
Without a fire.

Fingers stretch
A hopeful reach

A fist is found
There's no beseech

She turns away
One tear is shed
He watches her
Already dead.

Inexplicable Groundhog

Apparently the groundhog caught a glimpse of his shadow while climbing out of his tanning bed this morning. Given the prevailing weather conditions, that's the only explanation for the inexplicable prediction.

Which means I will continue to stare longingly into the full spectrum light by desk. A last ditch attempt to keep the winter blahs at bay.

Perhaps a mid-winter field trip is in order. That's the ticket!  I'll buy a ticket! A ticket to the southern climes. I'll bask in true sunlight while sipping one of those umbrella drinks, and dangling my feet in the pool

I'm feeling better already.

Gift From A Child

There is nothing so humbling as having a 3 year old show you a better way to do something you have struggled with for years...

...And nothing so precious as being reminded to see the world as a place where anything is possible

Of Love & Acrobats

She had always thought it was only in books that a person's life could change. Until sorrow unleashed behind a dreary bowling alley by the return of a letterman's sweater became an opportunity to set out across a dark, lustrous sea with a charming individual chock full of strange obsessions. Obessions such as dancing a flamenco every time a clock chimed ten, or guffawing at the tripping of an awkward person as though the moment were a cosmic joke. Despite his inexplicable behavior the stranger became her new love and the couple disappeared into the future like a pair of dancing acrobats.

Reoccuring Past

He found himself looking into another time. Gentlemen were wearing riding britches, shirts the weight of sail cloth, and jackets with sharply cut tails. Women wore gowns that pooled in abundance on woven carpets and decorated their forearms with gloves that ran from fingertip to elbow. Candles in mirrored sconces provided the light in the room. Refreshments included room temperature wines and salt cured meats.

The unsettling part was this all seemed familiar to him. He was certain the narrow doorway on the far side of the ballroom led to a smoking lounge. He was starting in that direction when he noticed a woman approaching. That face - her face - he knew it in his current life as well.