I remember asking my father when I was quite young, "Where do you find your inspiration to do your paintings or your poetry?" He answered, "It's a place, he said. Someday I will take you there." I did not have to wait very long, for in the wee hours of the morning, around 4:00 am he woke me saying "Shh! do not wake anyone, hurry up and get ready time is of the essence, and off we went in the car to a destination unknown, but in my mind at the time - I was bubbling over with anticipation, like following the rainbow in hopes of arriving at the other end and discovering a treasure.
We finally arrived... it was the beach. It is a different world at night it was so surreal, it wasn't filled with people bathing and sunning themselves, children laughing and playing, over head seagulls squawking. . . the only sounds that filled the night air was the waves hitting the shore.
The moon light was bright in the sky and the moon ray's danced across the water bobbing up and down like a surfer riding the waves to shore. It was surprisingly bright out and it was the only light we had except for a flashlight that lit the pathway to the sandy beach as we stumbled over the wet rocks and shrubbery exposed by the receded water, for it was low tide.
We sat down together on a big log at the waters edge, with each silvery moonbeam carried by the waves to shore brought with it rivulets of thoughts cascading into a liquid flow of creative ideas.
My father and I wait patiently for dawn to break while the sky is still dark and we can still see nothing but moonlight and stars --
When magically appeared two dolphins swimming close to shore- jumping back and forth over each other and then disappear in a blink of an eye into the dark shimmery ocean and bounce back up again in a different spot on the horizon -playing for our amusement like actors on stage and we are their captive audience.
The sun slowly makes it way over the horizon, lighting the way with a miraculous power and awe inspiring beauty that is purposefully alive at every moment. The sun seems to play with us as the dolphins - it repeats it's stellar performance for us every morning when we wake up early enough to watch it in all its glory coming up over the horizon as it has been doing for hundreds of thousands of years. In this moment in time I cannot comprehend my own seemingly unimportant existence as the rays of the sun wash over me but I am eternally grateful for being alive.
The sea gulls are awake and active on the beach, a jogger passes us by, the seal's are out on the rocks sunning themselves. My father says, "it is time to go now"
Painting of 'The Beach'
by Joanny
dedicated to and inspired by my father!
photo images found on google
