Slice of Loving Nature

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         I just returned from two weeks on Captiva Island, in a house by the ocean with my family. Aside from glorying in the ocean, swimming and playing every day, saying goodnight to the sun, I do what I seem to do everywhere, watch the animal life. I couldn't take pictures of the live sand dollars I found, but we brought them out briefly in order to wonder at their small waving tentacles. I couldn't take a pic of the black snake with yellow under the head I saw wriggling through the sand, but I'll remember where I think it lives, in an awesome tree outside the house that must be home for a wealth of small creatures. My regret is that I don't have the time to observe for months. I think I would see changes that would surprise, just as I do in my own home. I'm hoping that the grandchildren will continue to notice, love and respect their own natural worlds as they grow up.

That special tree where the snake disappeared.

Here are the animals I managed to capture, among so many others we saw. 

Live shell found, observed, and returned to the sea.

Poetry Friday - "Nothing-to-Do"

Katie hosts today at her blog, The Logonauts! Thanks, Katie! 

         I've been at the ocean's edge for nearly two weeks now. The last part of my family has left to go home, and I have one more day to savor. Today I've walked it, driven past it, watched others dive in, and swum myself, looking for signs of the dolphins, manatees and manta rays that we've seen before. I did see the wonderfully different bunnies again, and crabs were out in the evening. 

         I've watched my grandchildren and children play and laugh and be, here in the magic of nothing-to-do but follow John Masefield's Sea Fever: "I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky." 

The grandchildren say goodbye to their own final sunsets.

   Nothing To Do

My dreams tangle

with the reality.

The ocean flashes, splashes,

dashes in to smooth the sand,  

backing out to allow a shell shock

of quick gathering.

The body arrives,

knots untied

from the joy of immersion.

Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved

Poetry Friday - Once More The Sea

It's Poetry Friday, and Michelle Heidenrich Barnes has the roundup at Today's Little Ditty! 

First, I'm thrilled to be a Round Two Judge for the 2015 Cybils' Awards with Jone MacCulloch, Rosemary Marotta, Diane Mayr, Heidi Mordhorst, and Laura Shovan. It's the tenth year of these awards, and that is something to celebrate, too. If you'd like to see lists of all the previous winners, go here!


         You may or not know that I spent two weeks on Captiva Island in August. Yes, it was hot, but we were right by the ocean, and it was a marvelous time. I wrote several poems, took many pictures, and bring back more in my mind than I can show. I love our Rocky Mountains, but wish an ocean were just a little closer.

Holding

I look and look,

I contemplate,

then choose to keep

with me

a cerulean shell,

a memory,

packaged on the island

perfectly,

of first the sky

and then the sea.

Linda Baie © All Rights Reserved

Day Three - Memory Haiku - Shells and a book

Poem

cone shells

ocean-washed collection

Mexican spring

 Linda Baie © All Rights Reserved

          Last month, I read a blog post where the writer highly recommended  

an older book titled I Am The Ocean, by Susanna Marshak and illustrated by James Endicott. It is a lovely example of a mask or persona poem, where the subject of the poem is the speaker. The entire book tells the story of the ocean, in its words, and in the illustrations alive and gorgeously colored, fish and sand and sky and birds, all the ocean. 

Slices On My Mind

       The Tuesday Slice of Life is hosted by Stacey and Ruth at Two Writing Teachers.       Here is where many link their posts to share what's going on in their lives, personal and educational. Come visit everyone's posts to read their summer slices!                   
                               Tweet at #slice2013!

         My slice this week has much to do with support.  Many of you know that I’ve had some tough times these past few years, but I am so grateful for the support I receive from everyone.  Just the way people show they care with a smile and a ‘How are you?’ is like a big hug.  Here are three things that happened this past week that are the things I keep in the grateful scrapbook of my mind.