Three weeks into the month of March
And spring has arrived on the calendar.
As yet another snowfall arrives back home
We are enjoying the warm weather in St. Augustine.
The winter there has been a mythic arctic ordeal
Countless snowstorms and extreme bitter cold
Never a respite thaw until last week
Such good timing for us that we headed south in January.
Such a local anomaly in the overall global warming
While the drought gets worse in California
And a super storm rises up to wreak havoc in the Pacific
And the arctic sea ice melts away more each year.
In another 10 days we’ll be on the road heading back north
Following the birds returning to nest again.
We see their plumage changing to breeding colors.
We see large flocks fly over going up the coast.
Here we are a short walk to the beach
Making a daily visit to see the changing scene
Every time finding something new and different
Next to the vast Atlantic waters looming large and deep.
The beach attracts everyone: young and old and families with
children.
It’s wonderful to be in a public place owned by all of us in
common
Where almost everyone you see is happy being there
Taking in the waves and distant horizon and limitless open
sky.
You can go there and bike for miles into the park at low
tide
To where the beach is empty except for the birds.
You can go where the crowds go and see the youth playing
Watching each other in a kind of mating selection display.
Older couples walk the surf line edge taking familiar steps
together.
Younger couples lie prone by themselves in their intimate
space.
Children run and shriek with delight in the breaking waves.
And we see gannets far from shore diving into the ocean to
feed.
Very often there’s morning fog shrouding the horizon
The humid Florida air condensed by the cool ocean water.
Afternoons the cumulus clouds form inland over thermals
heated by the sun
While at the beach the sky above the ocean remains clear
blue.
We find things around here that aren’t in the tourist guide:
The Fort Mose site where escaped slaves lived in freedom
And fought and defeated the English soldiers in 1740;
The hidden away sign telling of 1964 desegregation wade-ins
on the beach.
The ancient ocean speaks of millions of years of life
evolving
While on land the historical sites that were plantations
Remind us of the more recent sordid history of oppression
for profit
That persists today along with the unfolding climate change
crisis.
My life grows short but I think I have time remaining
To join with others to right these wrongs
To enjoy being with others in the wonderful natural world
To make a better world for all people and all life on earth.
