The gannets were out in full force this morning. So close! to shore ~ for gannets, anyway. So sleek and white, so pristine and powerful as they soared high above the swells of water beyond the breakers, pulled up, and dived straight down with utter precision.I racked up a few more birds today. A snowy egret dancing in the surf. A kestrel nearly blown off a telephone wire. A pair of loons in a quiet inlet. A stork far overhead.
We talked to the Lovely Daughter in Prague. They've been to Dublin and she promises pictures soon. Next stop: Budapest. Apparently, having been in classes for all of about three weeks, they are due for spring break.
There are three students from Tulane in her program. Longtime readers may rememeber that the Lovely Daughter was Katrina'd out of freshman orientation at Tulane, spent her first college semester at Willamette, returned to Tulane, and ended up transferrring to Willamette. My advice to her had been to go (or stay) where she felt caring toward and cared for by others. Today she expressed regret that she had not met her new Tulane friends when she was there -- things might have turned out differently had she found a group there with whom the bonds of friendship she has had at Willamette had developed. You just never know. I suppose I should just be grateful for my own trips to both NOLA and Oregon as a consequence of her experiences.
I have not -- surprise, surprise -- accomplished anything like the work I had planned to this week. The sky has been too blue and the air too languid. My basic plan: don't ruin it wth regret. There will be plenty of time for work under the damp gray skies to which I am destined to return.
This has been a much needed week of recovery and re-balancing. Florida is the place in which my best memories of my mother are grounded; Florida is the place in which I connected with my grandparents every spring for decades; Florida is the place in which our own family renewed itself every spring for 20 years. It feels warm and bright and expansive and safe here.
Photo here: http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/birds/tropical_bird_collection/s_florida/wood_stork_flight.jpg
6 comments:
I saw my first red-winged blackbird today. Crocus are blooming and I saw a wonderful dwarf iris. Thus, Spring is here. Your trip sounds well worth that drive.
I think if I went back to the northwoods of Wisconsin, I would probably feel what you do in Florida. Kind of a long way from here, though. In more ways than one...
It sounds like the perfect vacation, GG. And LD's experience with the Tulanians reinforces that there's no one right place but rather many. It's the experiences and interactions that make the connection. As you know, I'm sorry those connections didn't come at Tulane but that's water over the levees now! Still holding out hope that my dd will like it when we're there in a few weeks.
your vacation sounds as though it was exactly as it ought to have been. praise jesus!
You may not have accomplished your plans, but it sounds like God's plans were accomplished in giveing you what you needed. Good for you!
"the sky too blue and too languid." I love that! You are great with words.
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