Crabbing

Splish-Splash 

The salt will wash off and the sand will brush off … but the memories last forever. - Anonymous

There’s nothing better for kids than a pail, a cup, and a net at the beach. Specially when they're off crabbing.

Today, we were headed to the Makapu'u tide pools to do just that.

It was off the beaten track, nestled in a cove-like bay with mounds of sand that cascade down to more than 1,000 yards of sandy shoreline.

Beyond were the tidepools.

Crabbing. First Grandchildren, six and four years old.
Photos: V.E.V., Makapu'u, 2016

Giddy with excitement, the kids had scampered toward the small pools of water that got trapped on the lava. 

They were on the hunt for sea stars, various crustaceans, and fish. 

How they squealed in delight to see crabs darting out from the rocks. Funny! When it seemed like they were coming, they were going. And just when the waves came, they dug and hid inside the sand. 

The search had continued on to the edge of the water. The tide was low, pausing every now and then to kiss their feet. 

Although everywhere else, the water twisted past, disappeared and then surprised us around another corner, here the waters had lost its angry roll and came to shore with better manners, not exploding on the rocks but merely curling foam around them and receding in an almost soothing rhythm.

So how do you catch a crab?

A cup and a net would do.

If there is a crab, slowly lower the net into the water behind the crab. 

Scoop the crab out, but be quick because crabs are fast - and, Voila! You have caught a crab. 

Put it in a bucket and be sure to cover lest it climb up and out on its own.

I felt a joyful surge inside as I watched the kids looking at the world that could be found, bending down and looking at skittering crabs.

I knew that I would long remember the many images of their face, beaming with wonder and enthusiasm, overlapping each other, crawling over one another.

Like wet crabs in a bucket.

 

Azul Called On Me Today: Strung Haikus

Haiku: a type of short Japanese poetry with 17 syllables in a 5, 7, 5 pattern

It's no coincidence that both birds and angels have wings. - Anonymous

as has been my wont,

today I fed the sparrows

and cheery robins.

when by the ivy, 

on the deck seat I noticed  

a tiny feather

sparkling in the sun.

Azul had come to visit! 

and he let me know.

his song had ended

he lived, he somersaulted, 

cheeped and flew away;

but he still lends me

wings that lighten my heart, 

and brighten the day.

Catch A Wave

Splish-Splash

If there’s a will, there’s a wave. - Anonymous

A hard plastic drawer from a Sterilite organizer and a red bucket. 

Underestimated.

Second Granddaughter, almost two years old.
Photo: V.E.V., Columbus: 2014

Seriously, at first glance, I think Second Granddaughter might have thought, Meh...

But when we filled the container with water, it really proved to be So.Much.More.

An easy, convenient, cheap, and innovative splash tub for a two-year old girl.

We let her dump, fill, and splatter to her heart's content. So what if she wound up soaked? She was washable.

She so loved the water.

We watched our giggling water baby, a budding scientist pouring water from bucket to bin to bucket... to deck floor. 

She was learning about cause and effect. Thinking about the wetness of the water. Experimenting with its fascinatingly fluid properties and being introduced to basic physics. And who knew? Perhaps, calming herself after a hard day of being small in a big world. 

It was a sensory extravaganza as she heard the splashing, maybe even tasted a few droplets.

Growing up, Second Granddaughter has continued her love for water.

Photo: I.T.V., Hawaii: June 2018 | Pouty Model.

Six years old. Photo: A.T.V., Columbus: 

August 2018

Whether cavorting with First Cousin in Kawaii.

Celebrating a water play date with friends.

Alum Creek Beach: June 2020

Making a silly pose with Florida friends.

Relaxing by a cool summer pool in Ocean City. 

Getting right into the water at the Hilton in Columbus.

Enjoying the white soft sand, mild surf, and miles of sun fun in Maryland.

Or skidding... 

... and parasailing, touching down the waters of Gulf Shores in Alabama. (Be still, my fluttering heart.)

Her venue choice for a family birthday celebration four days before her birthday?

Zoombezi Bay.

Are you surprised?

The iconic wave pool was just across from our rented cabana. I could hear the roar of the waves as they rolled in. 

From where I was seated, they looked like a herd of stampeding wild horses, crashing, going from zero entry to four feet.

Then they slipped backward, only to collect their strength to reshape and roll shoreward again in an endlessly hypnotic rhythm.

And where was the birthday girl?

She was in the midst of it all, her hands stretched up high for the crashing waves, enjoying a soak after a stressful day of playing hard.

Sometimes you will never know the value of an event until it becomes a memory, so on this especial day, I'm preserving the moment and sending birthday wishes  of high tides and good vibes to Second Granddaughter.

Whisper your dreams to the wind

Write your secrets in the water

Give your heart to the waves!

Wave Pool. Almost nine. Photo: V.E.V., Zoombezi Bay, 2021

Let's Go Swimmin'

Splish-Splash 

Happiness is a day at the pool. - Anonymous

I was reading over Hubby's shoulders a card he had received from Eldest Daughter. She was maybe only six? The writing was loopy. She dotted her i's in circles, not black holes, making the words look like they had misplaced eyeballs.

I regret that I hadn't saved it for a proper quote, but here is a reconstruction of what it said.

Dear Pa, you are in my favorites list. I like you because you say yes when Mom says no. You are nice to me and my friends.

I thought, Ha! Kids know that the best way to get their point across is with a pencil or crayon and paper.

The sentiment was sweet. 

The note continued.

You are the best Pa ever.

Aww...

Looking over where the two girls were playing, I couldn't help thinking how they were like tiny rays of sunshine who light up the darkest of days. The first one was our 'light;' the younger one, our 'rainbow.' They were the reason I laughed and wanted to get up every morning.

I read on.

P.S. Can we go swimming this afternoon?

I don't like it when I'm trying to be serious, but then I accidentally smile. I was chuckling. Need I say more?

That afternoon, we headed to the public pool.

Snuggled within a colorful floatie, the girls, with a big white glob of sunscreen on their forehead and nose, were splashing, dog-paddling, and laughing.

And we laughed as well. It didn't matter what they were laughing about. It was contagious.

Our small excursion, I came to realize, was going to be part of their legacy of happy memories. As they grow, they may forget what we had said, but they wouldn't forget how we made them feel.

And at that moment, I just affirmed in my heart a vow of how we would stretch our love for them countless times around the world, and when the entire world was covered, we would stretch our love even through the galaxy...

... in search of a public pool.

Dikya!!!

Splish-Splash

Smell the sea, and feel the sky, let your soul and spirits fly. - Van Morrison

Dikya!!!

OK, I did it. Triple exclamation point.

We learned in school that this punctuation mark is used to express strong emotion or add emphasis to a statement. And yes, I remember in Freshman English, we were told that when using this, less is more. 

However, can I get an opinion?

Can you imagine a world without this excitable diacritical notation in triple?  

What would you do if, just bobbing up and down the salty waters in a Las Piñas beach just south of Manila, you suddenly see a pulsating umbrella-shaped bell with a tassel of trailing tentacles moving with the tides?

What if, just playing splash with your brothers and cousins, you spot a free-swimming marine animal laying in wait behind a brown sargassum seaweed?

For sure, you'd be excited. Really excited.

Being chased by a jellyfish, dikya in the vernacular, was one of our simple childhood pleasures.

It was beautiful, spineless, and wobbly. 

Looking at it, we could imagine its own little world, there among terraces of coral and red galunggong mackerel and climbing martiniko perch. Anchored to the seabed in an untouched oasis beneath the waves where bisugo fish weave through huge sea sponges while whale and tiger sharks glided overhead. 

We were kids.

Our minds were crazy with horrid possibilities.

We delighted in the fact that one, or a 'smack' of them could pursue us with impunity. (I now know the term is suggestive of what it feels like when you suddenly get caught in a group of jellyfish).

And how fun to swim away!

If you didn't? Their tentacles were armed with stinging cells which could injure a 'predator' which you were at the moment.

At one time or another, some of us had been stung. But there we were, proudly showing off red pelts as a badge of courage to our friends.

In my adult years, I've come to recognize every time I stand before a body of water that there is another world underneath. One that is bigger, more real. Occupied by marine plants and critters, usually underrated, but which are everything that’s right in this world.

Such as the jellyfish.

If you watch it long enough, it begins to look like a heart beating. It's the pulse, the way it contracts swiftly, than releases. 

Like a ghost heart - a heart you can see right through, right into some other world where everything you ever lost has gone to hide. A near-transparent moon jelly with its flashing red light chasing you.

Don't you think that deserves an exclamation point?

Or two.

Or three.

Let exclamation points run rampant and wild and free.

Say it with me. 

Dikya!!!

Balinese Bird House

Abodes 

A bird is safe in its nest - but that is not what its wings are made for.

- Amit Ray

Second Daughter said once of my pet lovebird Azul, Who knew a bird could have personal effects? 

He had a pink gem from Second Granddaughter, a cross stitched sign that bore his name, a lock and weight on the door to keep the jailbird in, and his looking glass. 

Looking at his stash, I sometimes find myself shutting my eyes and trying to concentrate, then give it up. But in the moment of giving up, find the memory of that captured moment swirling around me.

Perhaps, that is why I picked up this Balinese bird house and feeder with chimes even when Azul had long been gone.

So I could remember.

It would have been perfect for holding his favorite sunflower seeds. 

Built almost entirely of organic materials, its natural materials consist of small branches for roofing. The main piece is built from a hollowed bamboo that is painted blue and ornamented with twigs and various woods. 

If the wind should pick up, thin glassy shards strung on beaded nylon cords and hanging at the bottom would give fair warning of the coming long rain. 

The bird house would have been ideal for sheltering from the storm.

On any common summer day, I can imagine Azul, no longer a domestic captive, just randomly making a stop.

He will first fly lazy circles in the air before swiftly making a swoop and hopping on the warped wood of the perch. Undaunted, he would sit trilling his melody bravely and cock a bright eye, tilting his head mischievously before pecking on a seed or two.

He might do one of his trademark somersaults but shortly, he'd turn his chest to the sun. He'd hurry to fly off with a flapping of wings, his gaze to the sky.

Just like that.

Perhaps leaving behind but a tiny, ruffled feather teetering on the perch of his Balinese house.

Blue Bird and Feathers. Framed foto

Spirit House

Abodes

So this happened. 

In a market, for sure. Maybe in Chiang Mai or Bangkok.

I just remember walking on a crowded street alongside beautiful buildings and interesting architecture, unique souvenirs, handmade products, clothing, and a variety of stick food and desserts. 

It was all SO enchanting.

But just between us?

The only thing that was better than all these was seeing IT.

You know... IT.

The thing that you find... that you never knew that you wanted... that you had absolutely, positively no idea that you ever even needed...

... until you find it and wonder how you have existed until this moment without having it in your life.

It was a Spirit House.

Mounted on a pillar or a dais, it is a small, roofed shrine commonly seen outside most houses and businesses in Thailand. It is a dedicated structure to honor the guardians of the land and to protect the living from wayward spirits.

I thought it was glorious.

Depending on size and intricacy of its carving and ornamentation, it costs between 1563.51- 6220.8 (THB) Thai Baht or approximately $50-$200.

I looked away.

Then I looked again.

The one I wanted was as big as a dog house.

Do I really need one? Do I need a place where friendly spirits could congregate and enjoy my peace offerings of food and drink and rice, bananas, coconuts, and desserts?

Do I need it to keep bad spirits at bay?

At that price and the inconvenience of lugging it along approximately 8,623miles (on a straight line)?

Nah. Not this time.

Maybe Goodwill will have it someday, and nobody would know what it is. And both shall meet...

... My Spirit House and I.