Friday, December 26, 2008

Fifth day

I walked down to the shack with Miss Commentbox late this afternoon, and this is what we saw:

Our beautiful, peaceful beach infiltrated by hordes of noisy holiday makers. We stopped and pondered the possibilities. We came to the conclusion that we would have to make the most of this horrifying situation.....find a spot for the shack, build it as quickly as possible, and disappear into its cool shady glory.

Mission accomplished.

The beer drinkers to our right, the smokers to our left, the lobster-red f-word-using sunbakers behind us, and yet the shack still offered the comfort of privacy and a view of the blue water. The bluebottle warnings were up, but so many people were in the water that we figured we'd be safe, so we bobbed about a bit in the cool saltiness and then raced back (slalom-style, dodging bare-breasted British lasses and tattooed Irish lads) to the joyful privacy of our perfect shack.

Aaahhh....

Miss Commentbox had a little nap and I read my book, I have almost finished "The Believers" and I HIGHLY recommend it. I also looked out at the ocean, thinking how earlier that morning Sydney Harbour had hosted the beginning of the "Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race" which is held every Boxing Day (day after Christmas). I would have liked to watch the colourful yachts sail off, but I had other things to do earlier in the day.

As I looked out at the horizon, thinking of those yachts, I noticed two white sailboats in the far distance. As I watched the two sailboats, one sailing south and the other north, I also started thinking about a couple of blogs Suse had introduced me to a few of days ago. Molly of MommyCoddle had asked her blogfriend Emily from Shining Egg to write a bit more about the celebration of Hanukkah, and I highly recommend you visit both of these blogs as they are simply wonderful!!

Anyway......back to me sitting in the shack by the ocean.....yes....umm....right....I started thinking about Molly and Emily and then I remembered reading in Emily's blog about her Wordplay project. Emily had mentioned that the last two words had been GOSSAMER and GATHER, and I simply adore the way the three different artists created such different and inspiring artworks from just one little word. I grabbed my pen and notepad and started writing a little poem entitled:

GATHERING GOSSAMER FROM THE HORIZON

Two tiny sailboats
White of shape,
Cornered colour
Forward fate.

One heads north,
The other south,
Yet each one equally
Fast-geared proud.

One up the coast,
The other down,
And only I sit here,
Wondering now.

Watch them closely
Flickering eye,
Who is on deck?
And who steers? How?

Who's to say
That one is wrong?
Or one is lost?
When both are gone.

Each has faith
In oceans strong,
Depths of waters,
Sinkings long.

And they know not
That on my shore,
I sit and watch
And both adore.

4 comments:

Sömsmånen said...

You amaze me. Thanks sweet Eleanor, never really on vacation, are you?
P.S. It's not nail polish though the season colour is quite right, it's an oil that you burn in water with a candle beneath. It's called "julmys" which translates into "christmascosyness". Smells a bit artificial when it competes with tree and hyacinths...

Sömsmånen said...

It's me again. Today I think maybe you should have kept me company instead - not many lobster-red hords at all in the forest we took a walk in today. Au contraire, lovely solitude and a chance to burn some calories!

Anonymous said...

Hello dearest E--I've been sneaking through your beachy posts the last few days, admiring the beauty of the Aussie coast.

I'm enjoying these vicarious visits to the ocean and our dips in the cool blue waters.

Beware the blue bottles!

For a while I thought you were deathly afraid of flies...but now I've done a little research, and I've learned they're actually portuguese man o'wars--YIKES!!! Stay away!!

I'm excited about our month of beach combing. Will you build a sand castle for me? And decorate it with shells? And write hello in the sand?

I would very much enjoy seeing a sand castle. The high here in Germany tomorrow will be 30 degrees. I only see beaches in my dreams...and on your blog.

Can't wait to read more sea side posts. This is fun!

That One said...

I am loving the beach posts! Look at all those people enjoying the sun. My fair-skinned self is screaming "for the love of all that is Holy, DON'T FORGET YOUR SUNSCREEN!" at my monitor.

Lovely poem. This bit:
"And they know not
That on my shore,
I sit and watch
And both adore."

struck a chord with me. I adore watching the yachts come in when S is racing. And I'm so very grateful that I'm on shore, watching.