An Ocean View Sunrise
There was a time in my life when I intensely disliked being here. I spent 6 years sailing in and out of Naval Station Norfolk as a crewmember on a couple of aircraft carriers. Now looking back I realize that I have spent longer in and around Norfolk than I have any other place. Although in many ways Norfolk is still a mystery to me, it has become home.I will miss this place if I have to go back to California. Which looks likely, at least for a little bit. I will miss the seasons, these cool breezes and clear skies of Autumn. Gradually getting colder as winter approaches, but still warm enough for a few more weeks. Then the cold and damp of the winter winds coming down from the North Atlantic. Seldom bringing snow but the constant hope of a white landscape in the hours before dawn.
I will miss the spring. This year for the first time I have an interest in my garden landscape. First the daffodils with their bright yellows againest the dark mulch of the gardens. Followed soon by the white blossoms of the pear and dogwood. Then come the May flowers, roses, lillies, impatiens, and the multicolored azaleas. All signaling the approach of summer. Long humid, summer. The season of tourists and crowds of people on the beaches. My beaches I think.
Tag, this is beautiful this morning. Even better, I think, than your hike in Hawaii post. I didn't know anything about Virginia. Now I know about your deep bond with your adopted home, but I also know what it looks like and what happens outdoors there in the seasons. I think this is a really solid piece of writing. Emotional AND factual. Thank you for this.
ReplyDeleteSeeing as you grew up, at least part of the time, in California, and now live in Virginia, how different is the Atlantic Ocean from the Pacific, other than that the sun rises on one and sets on the other?
ReplyDeleteOh, Kirk! It's Tag's blog and I can't wait to see his answer, but the oceans are all different from one another.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are different Limes, But Kirk not that different from that cute little lake that Erin loves so much. They have different personalities. I have sailed around the world. The Indian Ocean is my favorite. Different stars, very good for sleeping on deck. Glad you liked it. You both inspire me to be better than I am at this writing thing.
ReplyDeleteI'll repeat what I said the other day about your efforts, Tag. You've got the goods. I'd encourage you to write in the spirit of this post - tell what one would see and tell what you feel. You seem to really nail that. (My opinion. No one assigned me . . . ).
ReplyDeleteIf one were to name wonderful bodies of water, I'd toss in the Sea of Cortez; the Gulf of Mexico off Sanibel Island, FL; the North Sea . . and, and, and . . .
That cute little lake is also the big body of water closest to me, although I visited it only two times this past summer. I gazed out at the surf, and thought about how it would make a great opening credits for a movie. Call me a romantic...
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the Gulf off Sanibel, Limes. I've never had the pleasure of the North Sea or the Sea of Cortez. I'm glad you called it that. I makes me smile. Kirk I love that big cute little lake. I tried going body surfing there once or twice. I believe I was with your father the last time I saw it. He took me and Don fishing. You may have been there, too.
ReplyDeleteIf he he took me I was an infant.
ReplyDelete"he he"--Sounds like I'm laughing.
ReplyDeleteHey ~ you two aren't just 'tend friends!
ReplyDeleteTag, I've spent many happy days on Sanibel. That's not part of my life any more, but I cherish the memory of it. I love walking almost a mile out into the Guld and the water is bathtub warm and no higher than one's knees. "Sea of Cortez" - of course. Anyone with as many nautical miles on themselves as I have, knows the true, essential names of these places. The North sea is very dark, almost black, usually rather angry, bitterly cold, floods out the seaside villages often. I love it, however.
Its amazing the way the water turns color in different parts of the world. off the coast of Venezuela and Bolivia the ocean is such a light green from the outflow of the amazon that its almost yellow. A beautiful color, especially at night in the glow of the phosphorescent wake.
ReplyDeleteAnd in the Sea of Cortez it's truly turquoise with white sand. Blinding. Actually, the Sea of Cortez is similar to the look of some parts of the Caribbean. And almost ttoo light in color to be "ocean". Costa Rican waters filled with marlin and sailfish, the sun, the color . . .
ReplyDeleteLimes is your step father Jimmy Buffet by any chance? just kidding but in his book A pirate look at 50 he describes fishing off the Pacific coast Costa Rica for the big billfish. Kirk do you mind if I tell limes our relationship?
ReplyDeleteTag - hilarious you'd mention Buffett! First of all, I've dropped a dollar or two at his stores on Sanibel. But more importantly, I have taken the boat to tiny Cabbage Key and dined - OK, scarfed down food - in the little fisherman's pub about which he wrote Cheeseburger in Paradise. At a very tender age, my angelic child could belt out, "I like mine with lettuce and tomatoes, Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes . . . "
ReplyDeleteI only made it to his sister's place in Mobile, Alabama.
ReplyDelete....a big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer, good god almighty Which way do I steer...
ReplyDeleteI just cackled thinking of my 6-year-old wrapping her tongue around "Tried to amend my carnivorous habits . . " She did a credible job of it, too! I need to blog about the years on Sanibel and about the little Cabbage Key jaunts. It's a funny, tiny island. No cars. One arrives and leaves by boat and walks on the island. There are no beaches which sounds strange! It's just mangrove forest right to the edges of the water.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm not a parrot-head, but I love Buffett's use of language and imagery. There are a couple of simply beautiful tunes with no rolicking, frolicking fun in them - Come Sunday is one of the loveliest, comfortable-together love songs I can bring to mind. But then again, who can top Margaritaville or " . . . a genuine Ricky Ricardo jacket . . . " or " . . why don't we get drunk and . . . ."?
Tell her the relationship if you must, but any dicussions between me and you about that relationship I rather do through a private email.
ReplyDeleteNo offense, Limes.
...or barefoot children in the rain.. or...maybe the hokey pokey is what it's all about.
ReplyDeleteI was a parrot head for about 9 months, Saw him in concert in Honolulu in December, Drove from Hawaii to Virginia in January with Buffett blasting in the speakers of my Dodge all the way.Then did the Pascagoula Run in August.
Come Monday, it will be all right.
ReplyDeleteCome Monday I'll be holding you tight
I spent 4 lonely days in the brown LA haze
and I just want you back by my side.
I just realized I know all the words to that song. Of course I've been listening to it since 1972.