~a memory

This morning I awakened to the warm sight of the giant celestial ball peeking above the expanse of the tranquil blue ocean. In the distance, the horizon was painted with a faint purple hue above the expanding, now fiery glow. Closer to shore, just beyond my window, a meandering flock of seabirds made its way from the beach towards the inlet, in pursuit of teaming schools of menhaden, flashing their silvery sides on the surface of the transparent teal green water of the shallows. These early morning observations never cease to delight the senses. I call this phenomenon the dreamtime -the moments in time before one is completely awake, yet cognizant enough to witness nature’s subtle but lissome ballet. It is the in between time, between darkness and light –that time of transition between deep sleep and conscious awareness.

I remember the first time I experienced this phenomenon. We had packed the car two hours before dawn and towed the boat to Kilkenny for a day of fishing. I slept all the way there and was still groggy as Dad backed the boat down the ramp into the warm summer tide. As I lay on the front of the boat with my chin on the bow, the motor purred in a muffled monotone. The hull slipped through the water cleanly and silently. It was at that very moment I saw it. The sun was just beginning to slip above the horizon. This is the time when the shadows and grays of night are transformed, gradually, until the first perceivable colors penetrate the corneas, reach the retinas and touch the depths of the soul.

I remember many things from my early childhood; but, entering the dreamtime remains one of my most poignant memories and is one of the few things in life I still anticipate with childlike wonder. It is within the dreamtime that we notice the subtleties, usually unseen and unheard during our waking hours: the snapping sound of shrimp as they scurry away to safety, the copper colored reflection of the risen sun upon the surface of the water and the earthy cane syrup aroma of the ubiquitous marsh grass. I hope I never lose this ability to enter that place which exists between dreams and reality. As the years pass and the tides flow on, I will always try to go back to that special place, the place of wonder and peace –the dreamtime.