Showing posts with label Oboe (2005-2020). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oboe (2005-2020). Show all posts

Friday, March 11, 2022

Remembering fearless Oboe / Overcoming stage fright from the beginning / Last night's dream




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Last night's dream:

Once again I was surprised and overjoyed to find myself at the ocean, walking across a broad sandy beach to have a closer view of the waves.  Suddenly, without any warning, the ocean was far below me.  The sand and ocean in front of me had dropped hundreds of feet.  Turning in mid-air, I found a tenuous handhold and was able to hang on to the sheer cliff of hard packed sand.  Looking down, I saw that the tide had nearly reached the bottom of the cliff of sand, although there was still some beach left.  Briefly I considered letting go, confident that I would be able to sustain the fall.  Thinking again, it was clear that even though I would survive the fall, the tide was coming in and I would be in danger of drowning or at least spending a long time in the cold ocean water because there was no way to climb up the sheer cliff and no exit either way, north or south, from the beach.  I turned my attention back to the sandy beach I had just walked across with such joy.  I didn't have the strength to pull myself up onto the beach again, but I had the strength to keep holding on.   A young woman appeared out of nowhere.  I told her I needed help getting back on the beach.  She anchored herself as best she could and reached out her hands for mine.  She wasn't convinced that I could be helped and was concerned for me, but I told her not to worry.  With her help, I was able to scramble back up to the beach.  

That's when I woke up.

It's occurring to me that the ocean in my dream was to the east.  Most of my experiences of the ocean have been that it is to the west.  

Tears have been welling up with unexpected frequency in the past month.  Sacred tears.  Just in time.

Saturday, June 27, 2020

To Point Whitehorn and home again
















 

Several friends had told me that Point Whitehorn is a magical place that can now be visited fairly easily.  In recent days, I have longed to be by salt water again and so I arranged to meet a friend at the trailhead yesterday.  There is a 3/4 mile trail through a lush forest of mixed evergreens and deciduous trees, filled with summer birdsong.  As the winding trail meets with the bluffs, there are spectacular lookouts and finally a set of wooden stairs down to the narrow beach with its glacial erratics,  cobblestones,  massive driftwood and an abundance of shelters created out of smaller pieces of driftwood.  The morning was windy and cool but not uncomfortably so.  Only a few people had come to walk on the beach and look out at the expanse of salt water with islands in the distance.  My friend and I talked through our masks  This is only the third time I have arranged to get together with a friend since March, although I have talked at a safe social distance with friends and neighbors when I go out walking in my neighborhood.  Point Whitehorn is a 30-minute drive from my home.  My friend lives close to Point Whitehorn.

Looking north














Looking south














Looking up to see one of the many Bald Eagles














Returning home to where I continue to shelter in place, missing the presence of Oboe after having her lovely company for the past 15 years




































I know I'll be returning to Point Whitehorn again and again.  Beginning with my childhood in California, I have found shelter in the beauty of our mother earth.



Be safe.  Be well.  Be loved.

By going and coming, a bird weaves its nest.
-- African (Ashanti)

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Oboe (2005-2020)



Beautiful sweet talkative Oboe died peacefully.  Our animal friends are dear to us.