Jul 28 2009
Saturday…
I laid in bed Friday night and heard the soft rumble of a diesel engine coming down the creek, I raised up and looked out the hatch. By the light placement of the nav lights, she looked like a nice one. She went by slow, and it looked like S/V Po Chang. I watched as the boat circled and dropped anchor, it was Po Chang, a 32’ West Sail Double Ender. The French Canadian has returned to Urbanna early.
I have been having trouble seeing the beauty in things lately. A friend said use that in my writing, but I didn’t feel it. What I was feeling was confusion. What I was feeling, was not much like writing. Another friend said “you’re a writer, so write asshole.”
I was going to set out Saturday , but laying in bed staring out the hatch all night at the stars until the sun started to rise before I fell asleep, made it a little difficult. When I woke to a phone call, I stuck my head out the hatch and looked around. It was a nice day, sun was out, winds from the south about 10-15 knots. I wouldn’t have been able to sail down the river anyway with the winds on my nose. So I got in the kayak and went to shore. I stopped and talked to The French Canadian to see if all was okay, and all was fine, he just had to be somewhere he could get internet and a phone signal for work Monday, so he came back up to a spot he knew he could get both, Mayberry on the water. I went for coffee and met up with a friend, and we went for a ride out to Bailey Point and a walk on the beach with our feet in the water and toes in the sand.
Temps close to 95, good breeze, as we walked and talked, watching for jellyfish and crabs as we ventured in the knee high water and went around a clay mound protruding out into the water. Talking to some of the people out on the river today, watching the waves, and kids laughing and splashing. People young and old, enjoying the day, enjoying each other, enjoying the beauty around us. Sun flashing on the water, shining off the boats…
I looked at the people and wondered what they see beauty in. Do they see the beauty in the water or was it just the relaxation being on it and in it brings. The beauty is always around us, its just can you see it when you look? One sailor I talked to said he saw the beauty in the quiet out here. The quiet in the sounds around us everyday. The quiet of the waves on the shore, the quiet of the birds wings as they fly overhead. The quiet in the noise of the wind through the sea grass of the salt marshes of the Bay.
As we walked down the beach and talked, I thought maybe drifting isn’t subjective, maybe its beauty that’s subjective…
