Encore

The beach is tranquil.
The gentle lapping of the waves curling up along the
shoreline, the sea birds chasing the shiny minnows,
elevates me to a calm place in my thoughts.

The soft breezes float salty sea air while I walk
on the damp sand. Shells tumble and swirl onto the shore,
gathering up into mounds, waiting for seeking fingers.
Criss-crossed footprints run along the path I'm taking.
Some are large, others are tiny.
How many of those are first time visitors to this beach...
how many will be coming back?
I don't see some of the older regulars any more...

The sea is ever changing as the day lengthens
into early evening.
The glistening blue water of the Gulf deepens
with fringes of violet and gold, reflecting
the setting sun, today's finale.
As I leave the beach I know new treasures
await tomorrow's encore.

Small Gifts...

I love the beach as a place to walk, swim, read, and scavenge for shells.
After a storm, there are numerous tidal pools, each filled with mounds of shells.
Each shell is as distinctively different in shape and size.

Coquina shells have open, small butterfly-wing shapes, in purple, rose and golden hues.
Olives are beautifully designed, smooth as silk.
'Paul Newman's Eyes', what we call the small, round,
eye-shaped orb with a bluish spot in the center.
Spider conchs have flared, spider-leg extensions along the shell's length.

The first summer of living in Naples, my daughter and I had 'sheller's' back, the term used to describe all the hunched-over shell collectors.
Between us, we may have collected 500 shells, many of them now assorted and containerized.
I like using them as models for watercolor painting.

I never tire of the beach: watching the gentle waves tumble new shells along the water's edge, or catching an evening sunset with billowing clouds.
The deep footprints left from people strolling the beach are soon washed away by lapping waves.
Another day will come and a new day of discovery awaits.