Thursday, December 30, 2010

Late December on the beach


A late December walk on the beach, feet exposed to sand and snow and sea, fixes just about anything.

I found a live pipefish on the edge of the sea today. I tossed the writhing critter back into the surf, saw its silhouette in a wave just before it broke, swimming along the surface, then saw it no more.

Every walk on the beach is different, every walk reveals something new, every walk renews the human animal that houses my mind, that is my mind.

There is nothing abstract about a tiny fish tossed at your feet on a December beach. No truths to be revealed, no alliances to build, no money spent.

Just a fish on the wet sand, now cupped in my hands, now swimming in the crystal green crest of a wave highlighted by a late December sun, then nothing.

I have never seen a bored child by the ocean's edge.

How do I bring that back to class?







Both pictures ours, taken today, the shell on the Atlantic, the setting sun on the Delaware Bay.

2 comments:

Mary Ann Reilly said...

I have always thought the art of teaching is not touring back but rather to inspire others to go in search. It is you work that inspires. happy new year to you and your family.

doyle said...

Dear Mary Ann,

Happy New Year to you and yours as well.

You are right, of course, and it's something I forget regularly.

I will make it my 2011 resolution to remember this. Maybe that's why the pipefish mattered to me so.