Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Today, we are on our own. Our hosts are off to play in a golf tournament. We spend the morning taking care of a number of important chores…the blog, tidying the car, organizing our belongings which are now beginning to spread throughout the house. The tent rain fly, still wet from our swamp adventure, is unpacked, unrolled, and set out to dry on the patio. We decide that is time to go
out and explore more.
We set off for Grassy Waters, a section of the Everglades that is now part of a park. We enter a trail head...very primitive. After about 1/4 mile, we find the trail flooded. Not having the proper gear and not wanting to be confronted by an alligator, we decide to try our luck at another trail head. This time , we find a weathered boardwalk that leads us to various environments in the park. We do encounter an alligator, but from a safe van
tage point. We also spot a Snail Kite and a large brown unidentified bird.The jungle is quite primeval. Mary quietly photographs the landscape while Caroly sk
etches. The visual aspects of this walk include many shades of green, brown, and ochre; tea colored water, dry palm fronds, sun bleached tree trunks, verdant green undergrowth, tiny bright green needles of the cypress foliage, and the constantly changing reflective color
of the water as the sun moved in and out of the clouds. There were very sharp and pointy leaf shapes, many perpendicular lines of the trunks of trees, grasses ranging from dark brown to light straw color, islands called hammocks, and the Chi Chi shelters, designed using the Seminole Indian architecture. Under one of these shelters we rested in 2 large, hardwood rocking chairs. Looking out, our eyes followed a canoe trail winding through the jungle and disappearing into the foliage. The rustling of heavy palm fronds, a delicate swooshing of pine, and a percussion of tiny animals and birds in hidden alcoves synchronize with the rhythm of our own heartbeats.
It is a primordial experience.
We head back, our friends are already at home. Caroly is enticed by the clubhouse pool and has to swim. Mary rests. At 5:15PM we all scramble to ready ourselves to join friends for dinner. Tonight Barbara and Meredith will introduce us to two new friends, Connie and Ruth. Originally from Brooklyn, they are are now active community members here in West Palm Beach. We soon learn that these two women are iconic, courageous, fearless, passionate women in full bloom. Conversation was not enough to even begin to cover the many shades of human experiences we shared.
Today, we are on our own. Our hosts are off to play in a golf tournament. We spend the morning taking care of a number of important chores…the blog, tidying the car, organizing our belongings which are now beginning to spread throughout the house. The tent rain fly, still wet from our swamp adventure, is unpacked, unrolled, and set out to dry on the patio. We decide that is time to go
out and explore more.
We set off for Grassy Waters, a section of the Everglades that is now part of a park. We enter a trail head...very primitive. After about 1/4 mile, we find the trail flooded. Not having the proper gear and not wanting to be confronted by an alligator, we decide to try our luck at another trail head. This time , we find a weathered boardwalk that leads us to various environments in the park. We do encounter an alligator, but from a safe van
tage point. We also spot a Snail Kite and a large brown unidentified bird.The jungle is quite primeval. Mary quietly photographs the landscape while Caroly sk
etches. The visual aspects of this walk include many shades of green, brown, and ochre; tea colored water, dry palm fronds, sun bleached tree trunks, verdant green undergrowth, tiny bright green needles of the cypress foliage, and the constantly changing reflective color
of the water as the sun moved in and out of the clouds. There were very sharp and pointy leaf shapes, many perpendicular lines of the trunks of trees, grasses ranging from dark brown to light straw color, islands called hammocks, and the Chi Chi shelters, designed using the Seminole Indian architecture. Under one of these shelters we rested in 2 large, hardwood rocking chairs. Looking out, our eyes followed a canoe trail winding through the jungle and disappearing into the foliage. The rustling of heavy palm fronds, a delicate swooshing of pine, and a percussion of tiny animals and birds in hidden alcoves synchronize with the rhythm of our own heartbeats.It is a primordial experience.
We head back, our friends are already at home. Caroly is enticed by the clubhouse pool and has to swim. Mary rests. At 5:15PM we all scramble to ready ourselves to join friends for dinner. Tonight Barbara and Meredith will introduce us to two new friends, Connie and Ruth. Originally from Brooklyn, they are are now active community members here in West Palm Beach. We soon learn that these two women are iconic, courageous, fearless, passionate women in full bloom. Conversation was not enough to even begin to cover the many shades of human experiences we shared.
Mary, Ruth, Connie, Caroly
The eight of us at this dinner table would inspire an artist to paint with vivid colors and bold strokes on a large canvas, many nuances of shade, angularities of shape, minute details a past a present and as we all expressed by the end of the evening, a moment in the future we could look forward to meeting again to deepen our connection.
Stories of friendship, awakenings, the juggling of responsibilities, histories, selfishness, selflessness, families and communities, love and passion, warmth, humor, caring, and political activism filled the evening. Clarity, however, was the guiding force behind each woman's amazing journey and the fuel that inspired a lifetime of commitment to the vision of an equal and just world encouraging individual self expression and choice on all fronts.
Dear Mary & Caroly
ReplyDeleteHave a great return to NC - it was wonderful to have you visit this week - loved the time
Love Diane & Gabrielle