But my real emotions, they were to raw. And then I physically saw the waters I think of as home.... well, it really hit home. And it hit hard. As I photographed the images, I shot through tears that streamed down my face. If you know me personally, or have ever dropped by Tales from Bloggeritaville, you know and can see the coastal influences. It in part makes me...well.....ME.
Below is my small and frail attempt to put into words my thoughts. I think the photos that I took this past week capture and can convey the situation more. But I feel in some way tthat I would be dishonest to myself to not share in part my thoughts.
I've always prided myself as a pirate of today. You see, I was born into this world with salt water in my veins. The sea calls to me, no matter how far away I am. From as early as I can remember, I can recall vividly family vacations to the beach (we live just a few hours from the shore).
Fishing from the gulf waters, watching hurricane's come ashore, collecting shells as tiny treasures from the sea....a reminder of it's beauty.
Then one day, my dream came true. I moved to the beach. I lived only a few blocks away. The salt was heavy in the air, sand between my toes, the coastal breezes..... It was home.
I got a job that only deepened my love and passion for the coast, in sea animal rehabilitation at Mote Marine Laboratory. There I literally held formerly beached porpoise above water so they wouldn't drown. I assisted in feeding and administering medications to sustain it's life and finally-release back into the waters in which it came.
We marked sea turtle nest on the shoreline, so that people would be cautious and we put chicken wire over them so that raccoons wouldn't tamper with them. A love of the sea and it's inhabitants-all of them-it deepened.
Today, while my husbands career took me further inland, I live close enough to come down at least every 3-4 months. It's my second home. I spend much time here. I do alot of writing here. Books and music that I am working on. It's my perscription for comfort in my soul. My remedy. It is here that I feel God's presence like no other. It's the perfect place to find inspiration.
I find it in the surrounds: the ocean's song, the mounds of the sea oats protecting the waters, the gulls laughter, the pelican's smile, the busyness of the sand crabs as they shuffle across the shoreline.
But I also find my inspiration in the people of the coast. Sure they live the ideal life, but they are also some of the hardest workers. They work for their living and they are dependant of those city folks who give in to the lure of the ocean and pay to spend their hard earned money long the Gulf of Mexico.
They are those that haul the best seating for the best views in the form of lounge chairs to sunbathers, the fisherman and shrimpers who provide the night's fresh catch, the rentals who share their homes and condo's to those who want to adopt that life for a week, there are so many who contribute the coast that much more appealing.
This entire oil fiasco.....is just that. I am angered, I am sad, I am frustrated at the amount of greed and the lack of measures that were taken, even though there were numerous signs prior to the spill that there was a problem. Those signs were ignored, because of greed. Our nations gem (it has the whitest beaches than anywhere in the world) is now literally tarnished.
It's inhabitants are being killed.
There are the concerns of dead zones where no sea life will ever be able to survive. All this, at what cost?
This is my backyard. I want my children and my children's children to see, know, experience and appreciate what I have all my life. I want them to know it's beauty.
I want them to understand how plentiful it is in all it gives, but I also want them to understand how fragile it is. We have to care for it. We have to treat it with love. LOVE.
Now it's time for each of us who have ever put our toes in it's sand to do SOMETHING. There are numerous ways: donate time in clean up, visit the restaurants and stay in the condos. Or donate money to the cause. And pray. We need much prayer. I do not think people quite understand the severity of the situation. It's bad.
It's up to us. Each of us. To give back to the place so many of us long to be.
Our Ocean. Save it.
Please pray with me.
Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call,
Wanted to sail upon your waters
since I was three feet tall.
You've seen it all, you've seen it all.
Watch the men who rode you,
Switch from sails to steam.
And in your belly you hold the treasure
that few have ever seen, most of them dreams,
Most of them dreams.
~Jimmy Buffett, "A Pirate Looks at Forty"
Amended to say: so many of you also had your special stories to share. If you would like to link them up, please do. Lulu Buffett had adopted the phrase: One Love, One Ocean....and I have to say, it connects us all.
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