Musing

I too have that special spot...the one I run to when life is out of control. It's Fanny Bay on Vancouver Island and it has the soothing magic of the ocean, the bark of seals, the cry of birds in the wild life sanctuary. My best friend is there and she makes me analyze my wants, my hurts, and helps me celebrate my successes. She too has a rambling big dog, Neelix, who accompanies me/us on those necessary, thought provoking excursions to the beach or the wildlife sanctuary. It bringslife into perspective by it's simplicity and groundedness … the tides, the breezes, sunrise, sunset, SL, Calgary

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Hey Mark - Hi from Kihei - Sorry I've been outa touch lately, lotsa things happening ... So you're here, and at MY beach, give me a buzz sometime... I have to go back and see what you're up to, haven't read thru the musings lately but will try to catch up asap. Obviously something if you are HERE, that's good news in itself... took the leap, great... let's talk... Aloha, NB, Kihei, HI

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Sunset was different tonight. There was a band of gauzy cloud obscuring the sun so it wasn't so much sunset as pink glowfall. When it was done, there was a coral shadow behind the mountains. My watching beach felt different too. Instead of the usual quiet broken only by dog barks and dog calls, there was a family who dragged a picnic table onto the sand, set up a propane BBQ, ate burgers, and played their country music radio station (!) for all the sunset watchers to appreciate (or not). I guess it could have been worse--they might have been partial to rap music......... Like you, I deal with aloneness when I'm there. Most are in couples, mostly youngish. I loved your description of lines and creases being pulled into smiles or twisted toward difficulty. I too like to people watch and speculate on what strangers' lives are really about.... Looking forward to some face-to-face time with you. EA, Vancouver

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Mark, I have always found nature wherever I am to have a beautify of breath taking proportions if you look for it. I spent two years At Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific. The widest part of the Atoll was less than a mile across. The lagoon that was 20 by 8 miles was an azure blue. The coral reefs and the Pacific ocean was a place to explore. Occasionally high tides covered the entire atoll, but it was a symphony of beauty. Almost daily rain showers and towering cumulus clouds brought shinning lights and a cleaning freshness to the air. The isolated beauty was a beauty, FW, Stafford, VA

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Ahh! The sun shines, the breeze tickles the nose, the surf rises and later falls, the footfalls are examined and followed, a mystery is solved. The blue moon appears in the night sky. Once again all is serene in the land of the living. “T", WT, Calgary

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Your quests for this trip were certainly ambitious - lost love and the secret of happiness. Going back in time is interesting to contemplate but is it realistic or even possible? Time causes our memories to smooth the rough edges of issues and shine the happy moments to a warm glow. When we seek to reconnect to something from our past, can we distinguish the unpolished reality of what it was from the version we hold in our memories and which one are we actually attempting to recreate? Experiences, connections with others, world events, aging, learning, growing all have an impact on who we are now. Would any of us give up who we have become to go back and be who we were? But if we don't, can we expect to be able to reconnect with another person at the same level as we did back then? Regardless, it was an interesting experiment and hopefully you are left with some useful information about yourselves and what you are looking for, some good memories and little or no regrets. There is great danger in finding happiness embodied in a place. While I can see that different people feel a greater or lesser connection to different environments, such that they might enjoy living one place over another, an unhappy person takes their unhappiness with them. For the people who make their home in Maui, real life is just as real as it is for those who live in the frozen north or anywhere else on earth. Vacations are an idealized slice of life. The sun sets everywhere. My ex used to rave about sunsets on a beach near his family's cottage in Southern Ontario. They had made a ritual of walking down to the the beach every evening as a family to watch it together. I have seen photographs and experienced them in person and can honestly say that I have seen much better colours more often in Calgary. The difference lies not in the location of the sunset or its comparative beauty but in our receptivenes to actually taking the time to experience the moment. In Calgary I used to drive quite frequently along a ridge late in the day, often at sunset. The same strolling people; couples, families and singles can be seen there absorbing the last rays of the sun. They are to be congratulated for incorporating this moment of peace and serenity into a normal day instead of waiting for their vacation, BB, Calgary

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