how simple a thing is

“We write to taste life twice.” — Anais Nin

Eagles gathered with the squabble of seagulls — anticipating and scavenging as the herring run on the Salish Sea began this past week. Sea lions, fat as slugs, stalked and barked, then floated in their rafts after an earnest gorging. Orcas skimmed the shore hopeful for unsuspecting or inattentive seals. All the while, armies of fishermen netted gleans of herring. According to the local newspaper, over 4.4 million pounds of herring were captured in 10 days.

the fat slugs … er, sea lions!

Friends stayed with us for five days this past week so we covered as much local territory as possible in those few days. With all the herring, the resident eagles were fending off all the intruding eagles, though it made for great viewing by our guests. The only thing I didn’t photograph were the eagles: without a serious zoom lens, it is impossible to capture their magnificence in a photo.

fascinated onlookers getting a few snaps

unloading their catch

plum blossoms in our neighbourhood

“I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.” — Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek.

tulips in the guest room

“I love tulips better than any other spring flower; they are the embodiment of alert cheerfulness and tidy grace, and next to a hyacinth look like a wholesome, freshly tubbed young girl beside a stout lady whose every movement weighs down the air with patchouli. Their faint, delicate scent is refinement itself; and is there anything in the world more charming than the sprightly way they hold up their little faces to the sun. I have heard them called bold and flaunting, but to me they seem modest grace itself, only always on the alert to enjoy life as much as they can and not be afraid of looking the sun or anything else above them in the face.” — Elizabeth von Arnim, Elizabeth and Her German Garden

Until next Monday my friends may you gather with friends, submit to happiness and the simple things. Nothing else.