Here I am in Sonoma, visiting my dad. I arrived Saturday after spending a week with Cynthia in MI and the boat sits safely in NC, awaiting my return in about four weeks. The grafts on the oranges are doing well and are bent down with green oranges and the near-record rain storm has put an end to the fire season, thank goodness!
In this last week, I sat down to look at the things that make my ears perk up and my tail wag. There are loads of things that are essential to me: friends, hugs, sunrises and sunsets, minimalism, problem solving, foraging, sailing.... and I've known for some time (nearly six decades) that I'm attracted to water, especially salt water.... but these are not enough.
I recalled that I fell in love with the US Virgins only after I began hunting lionfish, thus giving me a reason to swim and explore as well as helping the reefs and making the world a bit better. This summer I encountered invasive green crabs swarming the Stage Harbor beaches at night and decimating the littoral life there and wondered if , as with lionfish, one could make a difference by going out and hunting them several nights each summer. Finally, I recently read about purple sea urchins entirely covering huge regions of the northern CA nearshore area, eliminating all kelp and wiping out other species. And I thought, with a bit of excitement, perhaps one could pick a small area and eliminate the urchins, creating and maintaining a refuge for the kelp etc.
I wrote all these down, then sat back with a gasp at the realization that (no kidding!) these all have clear commonalities. Forget sailing as a life plan: while that IS a delight and moves me deeply, it does not bring meaning to my life. What DOES is making the world a bit better by doing what I can for a little piece of ocean: protecting a quarter mile of Cape Cod beach from green crabs, a mile or two of reef from lionfish, or maybe even a thousand square feet of Mendocino kelp bed from urchins...although they have professional divers working on that idea. And, who knows, there may be others interested in joining in: I know Cynthia enjoys these things.
And, of course, there is the delight of getting into the water and seeing wonderful things!
Now, I realize that everyone else probably could have told me this about myself and that I'm a bit slow to have taken nearly six decades to get there, but I'm just delighted to have finally noticed!
