waking to water

The sprinklers were my alarm clock today, leaving the palm fronds dripping like paintbrushes. The mist that hangs in the already too saturated air lets the flowers thrive: plumbago, oleander, impatiens, begonias –Their names like a foreign language rolling off my tongue, without even adding the meanings gardeners of the old world would give them.

The sun is not quite up yet, though I can tell that it has cleared the horizon somewhere beyond my line of sight. The glowing is just-after-dawn light, no romantic rose tones or violet clouds to soften it. Mid-summer, past solstice, I prepare to do what all Houstonians who can do…escape. West, first, to find the mystique again of the islands, see if it will charm me from this slump in mind and spirit. Then north, add to the list of discovery a place I've never been, and try to see through the eyes of a twelve year old (and a dog) again. Then back to my beloved Lake Michigan. Back home.

The strange thing is there isn't that call to go this year. The existence of people makes the difference… the ones I knew are more distant, the ones I know now becoming closer. I suppose I could relate that to the sunrise, too, seeing things clearly. I've certainly done my share of complaining. Reality is this; there is beauty no matter where I look. I just need to accept it for what it is. So the ocean here is not blue with waves to surf and sugar sand beaches to walk on. It is still the sea. The seaweed that clutters the shore may look like detritus to the casual observer, but I know it is Sargasso grass, washed in from a meadow on the ocean. Full of life. I've seen the sea turtles come home here; I've seen the dolphins dance. I've seen the pelicans dive with graceful precision, smashing the image of awkward bird into a thousand tiny droplets shining on their wings. How can I not be home wherever there is the sea?

In two days, though, it will be the Pacific. My first ocean, and yes, my favorite. There are some fish friends waiting for me there, out in a crater below the surface. I'll tell them hello for you.