Tidal Life
When is the last time you awakened in the middle of the night to the sound of shrimp boats working? For me, it had been a long time.
My mom lives on Mobile Bay, actually Bon Secour Bay (a smaller area of Mobile Bay). I awakened sometime in the dark, inky blackness to the drone of shrimp boats and thought, How different from last summer when boom lay along the shoreline as a defense against the black menace in the water. A local neighbor caught 700 pounds of shrimp Saturday night in his bay boat. Today I counted eleven bay boats as I paddled out on my SUP board. And that’s in this small corner of Mobile Bay.
As I paddled offshore toward Weeks Bay, the boats were finishing their night’s work. A few were making their way into Weeks Bay, where they anchor, sleep, and then head back out to work. As I paddled past a buoy just inside the smaller bay, I noticed the current was ripping and I was moving against it. There was a moment of awe that this body and board could move against the tide and move well. The slightest of breezes also pushed against me, but on I paddled toward the mouth of Magnolia River, satisfied that I was progressing on an outgoing tide.
After 45 minutes, I reached the mouth of Magnolia River and made my turn, my tidal turn. Even though it wasn’t immediately obvious, a moment or two of drifting while I drank water demonstrated that the outgoing tide was moving me along and now the breeze was pushing me. The water and wind–the elements–were with me.
The music of brackish water slapping against my board, gulls and terns calling overhead and fish splashing alongside brought me into such balance that I knew, once again, I was in sync with life, the tidal life that makes this part of the Gulf Coast the closest thing to heaven I know. I felt the salt in my blood answer the salt in the water and air. The pungent odor of the water and marsh was perfume to my soul.
Move me ever onward, tides of life, and may my life be one with this place that I will always call home.
What brings you into balance? What place in nature resonates with your core, your bones? I’d love to hear your story.
One Reply to “Tidal Life”
After reading your latest blog again (have read it twice before) something new seems to jump out at me that I missed before……the photos are so clear and they all resonate peacefulness, serenity and abundance…..the shrimpers are catching so many ….multiplied by how many boats all over our fishing outlets??? So many things we can be thankful for and pray for renewed abundance for ALL!!!
The following quote of yours was so inspirational, it’s now copied to my favorites:
“Move me ever onward tides of life and may my life be one with the place I will always call home.”
Thank you, thank you!
😀 eed