Monday, February 6, 2012

Dogs and sea glass

We had a nice weekend out on the boat.  The weather was warm but breezy.  It's unusual to have temperatures in the mid to upper 60's in February.  Even the plants are befuddled because the azaleas and the tulip magnolias are already blooming.  The hyacinths and tulips are coming up and budding.  Crazy El Nino weather this winter.

This weekend we took our newest boat dog, Amelia, out with us.  She is the daughter of our old girl that recently died.  Amelia is an English Labrador who seems to enjoy getting in the dinghy and going to shore.  Getting back in the dinghy for the return trip was not her favorite thing, generally resulting in my having to coax her to get close enough so that I could lift her into the boat.  She weighs about 80 pounds and would go limp when it was time to transfer her from the dinghy to the boat.  And that lifting was upward!  Whew, what a workout.   It may take several more trips before she gets the hang of it.  I am posting this photo next to her sleeping berth so that she will get the idea of what some dogs do.  Maybe this handsome Newfoundland will be her hero!

It was surely good to have some time to ourselves.  Having cheese and crackers for a snack, fixing pancakes on Sunday morning, flounder and Spanish rice for dinner on Friday evening--reminders of having good food after walking the beach for much of the day.  We found several nice shark's teeth to add to the collection and a beautiful piece of aqua sea glass.  I would like to have the sea glass made into a necklace for my wife.  Here is what I think would be creative and attractive:

Maybe it is something that I can create myself from the wave-worn glass that we find on the beach.  She is much more of an aquamarine spirit, than that depicted by a shark's tooth wrapped in silver.  The color of the sea becomes her, wrapped with thin strands of silver.  

Our weekend, however brief, brings to mind a poem by the sad but brilliant Sylvia Plath. 

Two Lovers and a Beachcomber by the Real Sea


Cold and final, the imagination
Shuts down its fabled summer house;
Blue views are boarded up; our sweet vacation
Dwindles in the hour-glass.


Thoughts that found a maze of mermaid hair
Tangling in the tide's green fall
Now fold their wings like bats and disappear
Into the attic of the skull.


We are not what we might be; what we are
Outlaws all extrapolation
Beyond the interval of now and here:
White whales are gone with the white ocean.


A lone beachcomber squats among the wrack
Of kaleidoscope shells
Probing fractured Venus with a stick
Under a tent of taunting gulls.


No sea-change decks the sunken shank of bone
That chucks in backtrack of the wave;
Though the mind like an oyster labors on and on,
A grain of sand is all we have.


Water will run by; the actual sun
Will scrupulously rise and set;
No little man lives in the exacting moon
And that is that, is that, is that.

And that for tonight is that.

18 comments:

  1. I enjoy Sylvia Plath what a tragic life she led....
    Tonight I am grateful that I am feeling serene one of the gifts of the program.

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  2. I thought I knew all of Sylvia Plath's poetry but this is new to me. Thanks Syd. Our Great Dane pup loves to ride in the car but hates climbing into the vehicle and that is a battle. That sea glass is such a lovely subtle colour.

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  3. The world would be a better place if we were all incurable romantics..

    PS thanks for inspiring me with the photos. I'm having fun with my camera

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  4. Sounds like a lovely time. Your dog will get her sea legs soon.

    And the sea gladd necklace is a lovely idea!!

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  5. glad you had a good weekend man...that necklace has a simple beauty to it so definitely...

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  6. Syd - depending on the tides and winds we find different types of treasures on the beach. For awhile we were finding lots of decorated Native American pottery shards. When the Native Americans were done with the pottery, perhaps when moving to a new camp, the would break the pottery to return it to the earth. As the beach shifts the treasures were uncovered. My wife has a nice collection. Simple focuses like beachcombing lead me to serenity and away from the invitation to dive into chaos, You should also think about a Havanese next time. They love the water and are much easier to transport from boat to boat.

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  7. I've not found beach glass or shark teeth yet on my beach jaunts.

    I've found lots of wonderful shells and one day even ever so many starfish washed up. Slightly sun bleached sand dollars that make me feel richer than kings too.

    Sylvia was quite gifted it's sad that she didn't have a heart knowing of the gift and felt the need to take her own life.

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  8. Good morning, Syd. I am thinking of you today and trying to remember "one day at a time" and beautiful things like sea glass as my life whirls and unfurls around me and I struggle to keep up.
    Thanks for always being here.

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  9. I love sea glass. So beautiful. I'm glad your weekend was good. Thanks for the dog story. Dogs are the best. :)

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  10. The sea glass necklace is BEAUTIFUL! And so are the words about your wife, definitely try and have one made for her. I grew up at the beach so have a collection of goodies too, shells, teeth, and SEA GLASS.

    Glad you had a nice weekend.

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  11. I've always loved the title of that poem, especially the use of the word "real"—the REAL sea. I think you live by the real sea, Syd, with your lover. /G

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  12. It looks like every grain of sand is a miniature work of art. I found this article yesterday and it seems to fit with your post.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2011471/Pictures-sand-Close-photographs-reveal-incredible-beauty.html

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  13. sounds like a perfect weekend. I like the dog picture. We had a black lab that didn't like water.

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  14. I love sea glass.

    I gather bits of rocks and lots of fluff-a-duff to nest my patio with. That is, when I have a patio. =)

    I told Alex this morning I wanted to go to the beach on our first vacation.

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  15. Wow. What a beautiful, thoughtful post and poem.

    Sorrow and kindness live side by side sometimes in our lives. Bitter, and sweet. It strikes me as miraculous that the human experience has so many layers of meaning.

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  16. Hey Syd....I love the idea of the sea glass in a necklace for your wife. I love sea glass myself.

    Ellie, over at the blog, One Crafty Mother, makes beautiful jewelry and writes a recovery blog about recovering from alcoholism. I have several of her pieces and she does beautiful work. You may have somebody already in mind...just a thought.

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  17. love that sea glass... love the poetry... love the tale of your weekend on the boat...
    life is good!

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  18. That will be a beautiful necklace! What a great poem, thank you for sharing.

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