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PRECIOUS MOMENT GULPS
Sunday Nov. 23, 2014
At home, it’s cold, but it’s home.
This place isn’t, yet for me, more treasured in so many ways like no home of mine has ever been.
There is no safety.
Only perception, lost, seas of numbers, odds shorebirds will pick off some other careless crab who wasn’t quick enough, safe enough, distant enough …
Danger?
Always.
We live joy. And fear, we won’t get to do what we’ve been waiting for, wondering if everything hasn’t shifted beneath us, like soft sand …
Expecting snail-slow pace, afternoon heat …
Shore birds frenetically seeking opportunity, ready to snatch tasty meals when they show up. Secret is to beach-sit where crabs hang out.
Sand crabs, balancing survival and death, between hunkering in safe burrows or chasing daily sustenance in sunshine.
Actions chase goals, as surely for me as will any sand crab’s.
Will achievement bring happiness?
Or guarantee survival?
Shorebirds don’t care about other shorebirds – they take care of themselves.
Snails, sand crabs too, live in communities, pretend to hang out together, but as solitary beings, each personalized survival game, taking life in bites – precious moment gulps and scary moment gasps.
Shorebird and sand crabs. Speed. Awesome to watch – each played their strategy, each in their survival game. Crabs scurrying, feeding, burrowing, going for a swim, evading predators and scary human intruders.
One bird caught one sand crab – for his late lunch.
Life carried on as if nobody noticed.
But those sand crabs paid close attention.
They kept their distance, hid awhile, then came out again when the coast appeared clear.
Seems apropos – to learn something from that. To question goals, actions and results.
Mark Kolke
column written/ published from the Maui Kamaole, Kihei, Maui, HI
morning walk: 20C/68F, clear, light breeze – just me and my waves, my sand, my sand crabs, hanging on the beach, no shore birds in sight
Reader feedback / comments always welcome:
Halfway thru …. Hi there – hard to tell from your columns whether you’re truly enjoying yourself or not? Your posts are very introspective so it seems like you’ve had a lot of time to think. Have you managed to golf? Spent much time at Grandma’s in Kula? I think of you every time we rehearse “Mele Kalikimaka” for the Christmas concert – we’re doing choreo with hula type moves. Just thinking about you and hoping you’re having a restful, enjoyable time, CM, Calgary, AB
Writing a letter would appear to open a door. So easy for the recipient to shut the door without any effort though. What I have observed is often times people get offended simply because their feelings aren't validated. Often times simply having one's feelings listened to is the validation they need. It is hard for most to express feelings they believe will offend the listener. Love takes no offense to a wrong done to it. If love exists anywhere in the heart of the individual, then love will conquer all. Validating another's feelings truly is as simple as simply listening; offering no opinion or reason/excuse for your part in the creation of those feelings. Good listeners are a rare commodity. GW, Bon Wier, Tx.
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