The Waves are Calling

Mimi on the Beach - Jane Siberry

I never thought I would be able to stand it. It has been 6 days without the sound of music ringing in my ears almost 24/7. But something else has replaced the soothing tunes of the bands I love; the constant sound of the waves methodically slapping against the rocky shore and the occasional low-pitched rumble of the hummingbirds coming to the cottage window to feed. It is all very soothing and rhythmic cadence has the ability to lull one into a place of nirvana that puts me in mind of a particularly successful yoga or meditation session. The inner peace that comes with doing something that causes your heart to spill over with overwhelming sense of joy and love: like holding your brand new baby for the very first time. The wonder in their eyes is the wonder that I feel when I watch that movement of the open water. It takes me away to a place where nothing else matters. Of course the spectacular sunsets can easily take the place of the mundane fair on the television, the changing cloud patterns and pictures they make are like a never-ending movie. Even the spinning propeller on the airplane whirl-i-gig can capture my attention for hours on end and I watch it spin while my imagination runs rampant with the adventures that the plane embarks on, the people who have journeyed. I know it isn’t true for only the inhabitants of Lilliput…for they would have to be very tiny to fit into the hull of this particular 12” wooden aircraft. Where are the little people going? Where have they come from? The hummingbirds whizzing past could be pterodactyls in a size comparison. Or fighter jets dive bombing the intruder. Even the yellow caterpillars (no bigger than a grain of rice) that float through the air on the breeze are imagined as paratroopers on a mission. It's a wonderful life when there is nothing but the beauty of nature to clutter your thoughts.

Sunset with a plane ready to land :)

And this is how I have been spending my time for the past week. Well that and soaking up the sun during the day, reading, visiting, building inukshuks. You see a rocky beach - I see art!

a small sampling of the visitors that arrived

It is a beautiful place and the owner who extended the invitation to have me come out and share in the blissfulness calls it heaven on earth. I now for myself see why she does. I’ve never been a cottager but I can see myself fitting in this scenario quite well. Truth be told, I think I knew before I arrived that my heart belonged on the water and that my soul is at peace when it is regulated by the rhythmic sound of the lapping waves. Unconsciously it has always been the go-to place; as a youth in turmoil I always made my way to the look-off in my hometown of Thunder Bay and would sit for hours just thinking or sometimes letting my mind drift like the buoys alerting the watercraft of danger. I was too far away to hear the waters of Lake Superior crashing onto the shore, but I had an incomparable view of the Sleeping Giant and the freighters that navigate the waters of the Great Lakes. The ships came empty and filled up with the grains from the prairies that came to our city via trains. It was a bustling place back then in its heyday. At the time I wasn’t concerned about the  economics, but rather the majesty of those hulking ships. So big and massive yet they could float like a feather on the water. I wanted to be the Sleeping Giant. Laying out there at the mouth of the harbour - he is majestic and so at peace. He was as alone as I felt but he carried a heavy burden. The story of Nanabijou as the Ojibway called him was a legend about the riches of the silver mines over which he lays.  He was condemned to a life of stone to forever be the protector of the bounty in the mines under the waters of Lake Gitche Gumee. To this day you can see partly submerged silver mine shafts but efforts to pump out the water have repeatedly failed. The Great Spirit of the Deep Sea Water ensures that it remains flooded.  It was a great place to grow up but it became infused with too much tragedy for me to stay. I think I have been searching for my Nirvana ever since. 

Sunset with one of the 30 inukshuks I built

Sometimes you can make your piece of heaven wherever you are dependent on the people you are with. I’ve loved every place I have lived with my children, but I was so busy marveling at their beauty as they grew that I never realized how much I was missing the tranquility of the waters. Only in the past few years of dealing with my own personal struggles have I felt a compelling need to escape and return to the water. Maybe I was a mermaid in a previous life…lol! I wonder if Sagittarius is a water sign? Is it just me that is drawn to the waters like a magnet? I doubt that one but I do know it is true for me. Interestingly, while I enjoy boats - I am not drawn to being on the water so much as being near it. That is life experiences I suspect. While I enjoyed swimming, I didn't revel in competitive swimming especially when the coach would throw styrofoam floaties to get your attention. These days you will still find me in the water, but with or on a floatie (so it can't be thrown) and seeking out the perfect wave or rollers to take me away. Like a baby in a cradle I am cocooned in the warmth of the water, being rocked by Mother Nature herself. I've been in a number of boats in my younger years where I wasn't comfortable with the competency level of the "captain". Sailboats may be more my speed - I would like to know what it is like to be gliding over the calm waters with the fluttering of the sail guiding your course. Maybe someday I will. For now the bigger dream is a ocean going vessel to take me across the Atlantic, or on a Mediterranean or Norwegian cruise. I should check those lottery tickets...I could be climbing aboard now :) 

Sunset with a piece of driftwood 

It was with great trepidation that I left this land of peace and love. It is with the knowledge that someday soon I will return. Perhaps the next time will be a more permanent journey. Closer to the people and land and sea that I love. And the host will never know just how much I appreciated their kindness, for they allowed me to clear my mind and cleanse my soul to find a goal that with some conviction and sacrifice I can someday achieve. And not look back.  

From the water we are born.  

The water sustains us. Food we can live without. 

Water enables all life forms.  

Our strongest emotions are shown by the appearance of water.  

All I really know is it is on the shores that I belong and will one day return to. 

It is not to dust that I wish to return - but to the water.