Logging

 May. Spring. The air is vibrating to a new rhythm. Oh yeah it is. I can feel it in the substance. The quality has shifted. The content is different. It's not any thicker or denser than in past war torn times  but presently, and by that I mean today, it is heavy. That word keeps popping up in my world. Shifted. It's an important word to recognize. Hang on to the wonderment of why.
 I would like to share my experience with logging. Does everyone know what that is? The logging that has nothing to do with trees or computers.  Those of you whom are not on a vibrant intimate shoreline may not be aware of the magnitude such a sanctuary endures or that one even exists.  However, with the events of every present day, nature is letting you in on the secret in a HUGE way. Some of you are being forced to feel it.
To wake up up in the spring is naturally what we humans do. In Springtime awareness is anew. Nature calls  out to us to hear the message. Did you ever wonder what the birds are saying when they tweet? Did you ever wonder why they sing caged or otherwise. Sometimes  it seems as tho the birds, all animals for that matter, are speaking right to us. Guess what...they are! Ohhh...The wonderment of why!
Recently, this spring, I was invited on a boat ride. Not just any boat ride but a boat ride with a beautiful bride. Her name is Rose. She's my "friend". Okay so we never hung outside of class but she is  a really cool lady and if we would have been in the same place together, long enough, we would be hangout friends. She lives on the northeast coast. I live on the southwest. We seem to meet on Maui. She has that nice quality about her. She makes me laugh like only a mother with four kids can do! We both have four kids. She gets me. Anyway...there is a word called serendipity. I love that word. You see it all over the place. I do anyway but that's because I like to look for words. I like to look for really fun words.  Serendipity is a fun word. Does everyone know what it means? Serendipity! Look it up. Serendipity pulled us together. My daughter got married on a boat. A very big boat. Now I know Maui doesn't normally have really big boats like the one Amber was married on so I was excited to experience a wedding from this harbor.  My date & I arrived early and excited. My date is my boyfriend of over 7 years whom was extra excited because the reason we were at this pier on this day was because of his newfound friend! Rod had met Dave at the whale sanctuary.  Rod works at this whale sanctuary and David is a helper there. A volunteer. When Dave invited Rod to his wedding we all found out we were already friends. Cool, I thought. Serendipity at work!  
This whale sanctuary is a really big, and by big I mean a really really  big, wet, wild and wonderful waterway.  Sea creatures of all kinds meet up here. It is especially important to the humpback whale. A lot of people help to care for this precious waterway. And by a lot of people I mean a really really really really really lot of people help the ocean. 
On this particular evening I was hopefully optimistic that we would see  a whale.  It was now early spring and the whales gleefully leave this southern sea right about now and travel the long arduous albeit adventurous path to their other home all the way up to Alaska.  Many dangers lurk along the way. Serious dangers. This certainly was not my first boat ride where the possibility of seeing whales exists, on the contrary. I have seen whales. However, it was now late into the season for viewing these gentle giants and although our primary purpose on this boat was to see Dave and Rosie get married I wanted everyone who wanted to experience what it was like to see this amazing creature up close to have the opportunity to do so.  I was hopeful. We gathered, this optimistic group that pleasantly consisted of  just family and a couple close friends. The green catamaran was unpretentious and sweeet and I imagined all the spots were the bride and groom might marry.  The gracious crew set sail on a particularly calm and serene evening. The setting was just right.
As we headed for open water the energy on board was giddy and alive. I was so genuinly happy for the bride and groom.. Rosie looked fabulous.  She sported  a new do since I had seen her last. A very short style with sprigs of gray.  I rocked that look once. She carried it off way better than I did. She glowed. Dave, whom I was just meeting for the first, put me at ease strait away. His opening remarks warmed my heart. I felt the presence of his faithfully departed wife hovering over him and I wanted to tell him she loved him more that day than ever before...I got it. She wanted him to live. I wanted him to know. So I let his heart feel what mine felt. I hope it did. I never asked. 
 I knew the light about her was guiding her out out of and into something more than just this harbor but I knew not what. I knew that the extra light she gleaned was due from the calmness and the gentleness of the event she co create with the God of her understanding.  The daughters & guests, both hers and his were witness to simple strong vows said in faith. Is that an oxymoran?(look it up)I thought to myself, "Self, is any strong vow ever simple!!!!! "Her extra extra light was for a first grandchild's  love. Her grandson sat on her lap.  Her extra extra extra really extra light about her was for all the loved ones not present for there were many not present. Or were they? Her light and His light together stayed the course and that light was now prepared to merge the two forms in the presence of all of us. What better place to embark on the journey of a lifetime, or whats left of a lifetime, than in a sanctuary of calm and blessed water.  And by blessed I mean really really really really blessed waters. On this rarely windless & warm night no picture my camera  took could capture the full entire scene. A master word  smith would be hard pressed to share an adjetive or verb that fit this night.
 It wasn't just me. Other comments on the peace & calm upon us were expressed.  Hmmm.   Just ahead to the left a pod of whales was sighted.  This was the largest and most competitively aggressive  pod I have been lucky enough to witness thus far. We watched the whales. We listened to the whales sing. We heard their song. Perhaps thats what brought the profound presence of peace upon us. Hmmm. They perused past us in full view.  I happen to know that if you see a large group of humpback whales connected on the surface of the water there are usually just as many if not more connecting under the surface. Now my eyes and stomach and ears understood their power like never before. We were close.  Serendipitously close. Of course the engines had been safely cut by now. All the Hawaiin islands watch over their whale and encourage others to do the same. They where here first. Nature has it's own way of commanding respect and integrity. We floated. Within the intermittent patches of silence and stillness  surrounding this seemingly very small green vessle, we collectively sat in awe of the respect and integrity nature commands.  I personally yielded to the awe of that which is beyond my understanding. As night fell upon us and the vibrancy of the full moon lead us back to shore the winds of change caressed  our back over ever swell. Change was in the air.  Off in the distance the harbor lights beckoned our boat with perfect timing.  I knew our journey was near its end. I was not glad or sad. Just content. And not just content but real content...The kind of content  only felt in nature where two or more species are gathered. When two  different worlds connect. The sky was dark now, the sea darker.  With every swell we glided over I heard our ancestors chant and with each swell we glided over I was reminded that all is well. All is well. All is well... And that's when I spotted it! 
A whale logging. I had never ever seen this before! I'd read about it. I knew that this is how whales sleep. They quiet one side of there brain at a time. Then they float like a log on water to rest. This one glided by in such stealth style it tricked me at first. I wasn't sure what I saw. The profound size is what struck me the most. Side by side we slowly and with purpose passed in the night. My second thought was how lucky we both were for not colliding into each other. A slight panic came over me at the sheer consequence of what could have been...but no worry..this whale knew what it was doing. I don't know if the others heard what that whale said to them but I heard what that whale said to me! "Please, oh please. Make it well. Please help make this ocean be well. Goodnight my friend who's come to visit... Shift well." And with that he graciously passed beyond our site. I vowed to try.  So in my own way...I try. So to my friend out there in the sea..."Goodnight my friend. I'll try to shift well..."