Beautiful Power
This came to me this evening, listening to Full of Grace by Sarah McLachlan. A memory of my seventeen years in that most beautiful, natural, powerful of places - Vancouver, the south coast of British Columbia, the Gulf Islands, Vancouver Island. Forever in me because of moments like the one I describe below.
A cool December evening. The sun has already been shining on the other side of the planet for five hours. The temperature has dropped to a few degrees above zero. It is overcast, the clouds are low. The mist, the forming fog still a few hundred metres off the surface. It is dark. The fine drizzle hits my windblown face. It feels even colder, here, standing at the bow of the Spirit of British Columbia. My MEC jacket's hood is tightly wrapped around my cheeks and brow. My glasses are speckled with droplets. For the most part I am alone. A few passengers walk by not wanting to stand in the weather. I have decided to spend my time here....alone.
I close my eyes and take in a deep breath. It is shortened by the wind but it is fresh. Salt, algae, fresh water, salt water. My sight is overwhelmed by dark grey and black. An eerie, cold and uninviting body of water that seems to be sending me a message...an energy...being cut by Spirit. I can only hear the white foam down below at the water's surface. I am in a beautiful trance - sensing and not thinking. Just using my senses to feel, smell, taste, see, hear.
I open my eyes and, in the distance, the lights of the Lower Mainland seem so far away in many ways. Small pixels of 200W energy, blinking and still a forty-five minute sail away. The lights of our roads and buildings. Of our heated living rooms and bedrooms. The conveniences and security of electricity and natural gas. Our families, our friends. Yet, only a few kilometres offshore....
on this dark body of water.....
nature seems to be telling me that it all doesn't really matter.
Breathe me in to your lungs - cool and moist.
Hear my sounds - my harshness.
Smell the saltiness of my undrinkable water
Lick your lips to taste it.
Feel the rumble of my power.
She is telling me that she can toy with us if she wants and in moments take all of our conveniences away. So be careful and take care of her. Nature can overtake you.
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