Tag: children

High Tide, Good Vibes

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The ocean greeted me this morning right when I walked on the beach. It was almost high tide and still rolling in.

I had a neighbor for many years that hung a retro flag in front of her house every summer that said high tide, good vibes. My son and I began saying high tide, good vibes all the time together once we had noticed the flag. It became our club.

I began to love summer and the beach again with him. We would check the tide chart or notice out the car window if the water was high. We would look at each other and say high tide, good vibes! (Which meant let’s go!)

We brought a towel and some water and the clothes we were wearing. With so little beach there was little space for our belongings. It felt so free to travel light; like I had as a teenager.

My son and I stepped on the beach, and reached the water in less than three steps. We played and swam. The ease of the afternoon made everything right in my body, in my life, and that it would continue to be right again and again. Because the ocean held me, my son, and my life in its embrace.

We eventually walked home still in the magic of the day. We shared smiles and laughter along the way, and when we said high tide, good vibes again it meant you and me, this right here, will always be.

Today

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Today my daughter joined me on my morning walk. I often go alone to have time in nature by myself to start the day, but I also love when my children or a friend walk with me. It amplifies the joy I feel in nature to share it and be together. My daughter is three. She really wanted to come. She put on footie pajamas, rain boots and a coat for the excursion. We live a 10 minute drive from this beach and she chatted happily about her friend Lucy and what they like to play. I helped her out of the car and she immediately wanted to go home. She was scared. She said “the beach is too loud and scary.” We talked about what she saw and heard and I told her that I still wanted to walk as planned. The wind was coming directly at us off the ocean. It was cold and loud. I carried her for a short time to protect her a bit from the wind. Eventually we stopped and got very low crouching in the sand with our backs to the wind. The sound faded some and it was warmer in this position. We looked at each other and began to run around until we were laughing. When we started to walk back to the car she walked on her own looking for treasure as we went and choosing her own stride and movement and pace. Her hair whipped in her face over and over but it did not hide her somehow. I could see her clearly. This strong, joyful, adventurous soul who needs both support and protection and freedom to move as she wants. The ocean and wind were loud and powerful today. My daughter reminds me of the beach where nature gets to change and express itself freely day to day. Its beauty never dimmed and its life sustaining force always present.

Softness

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Spring, misting rain, white crocuses
And a thick carpet of green grass
A rabbit with grey hair and a white cottontail
Crouching not far from me across the grass
I was sure if I touched the rabbit’s fur
It would feel as soft as my beautiful boy’s hair
In the rare moments he lets me linger there
Inhaling the moment wistfully wondering
What if we can just stay there
This time, standing, I stopped and starred
Caught in the same thought
What if we can just stay here
Just stay here and stare

I wanted to share this poem and I would love to hear feedback if you want to share with me. I don’t have much experience with poetry, but I keep trying to learn and write poetry because I love how it allows me to express my experiences, values, and emotions, and feel connected to myself and others. That universal human experience kind of connection. The feeling of being whole, grounded, and timeless in the universe. I would love to hear what you love about poetry or what it means in your life too. 

For a little background, I wrote this poem when my son was two. In some ways my life isn’t too much different now than it was then. My son is a little older and I have a second child now, but I think it was a moment in time that I was experiencing a shift in myself and my inner world. 

We were taking a walk, like we did most days in our neighborhood that spring. That day we were clad in rain boots and rain jackets watching the storm drains with rushing waterfalls, finding small rocks to throw in and hear the kerplunck each time the rock hit the water (thank you DPW workers for cleaning those out from time to time), exploring the small “rivers” that formed in the dirt road from rain over night, and splashing in puddles we found. We had stopped in the neighbors yard next door to admire some of the flowers, green grass, and bunnies there. I wrote this poem in a little notebook that was in my pocket, while my son was engrossed in watching a bunny eating grass a few feet away.

I’m not sure if this poem is done or not. I am not sure if I want to make it into a certain form of poem. I keep coming back to it and trying new things, but this is its original form. I will let you know if I find a way to recreate this poem that feels finished to me in the future!