Sunday, August 15, 2010

Can a heart reside in two places?


I think most people wish the rules of simultaneity were different. Maybe rule is the wrong word. It is just that the spirit can indeed be in many places-- more than two--at once, but the physical body rebels against that absurd idea. The intellect rejects it.

But then, we have the photographs and our memory. That is almost enough. So, here is my dilemma: I love Rehoboth Beach, Delaware but am back in Ellicott City Historic District, which receives a similar measure of my ardor. This morning, a red cardinal was at the bird feeder. Camilla was shadowing me. I gentle rain fell, and I have a plan for the day.


Perfect, but...then, when I look at the photographs from the recent beach trip, my heart is suddenly back at "the other place" and, you know, wanting...




So why should one bread-seeking gull capture my attention anyway? I don't know, but it did. I think because I was seeing things through my own eyes, but also those of my two-year old grand daughter. In the brief 3-day trip, she conquered her initial fear of the ocean--with a great deal of support from her loving "Daddy"--dabbled in the warm water with her toes, filled and dumped buckets of sand, and congratulated herself with arms raised and a little scream of joy...before getting some ice cream on the boardwalk. Then, it was off to Fun Land, and a series of rides in cars, on boats, in little hanging backets, and on the carousel.












Afterward, this line-up of birds on a roof at sunset just thrilled me for some reason. The chaos--cacaphony--of competing parents, aunts and uncles and grandparents trying to get the best view of their special darling, all with cameras, was very intense. I was right in there with them, of course! When we left Fun Land and walked toward the hotel, it was getting dark and the birds were settling down down for the night. Then, we did...now, back to this place I call home. Carpe Diem.



Kay Weeks content/photos
August 15, 2010
Ellicott City, MD






























5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because the birds follow the Fibonacci principle:
0+1=1, 1+2=3, 2+3=5

So your eye is seeing the symmetry of nature, helped by the clouds, which follow the artistic 1/3 and 2/3 principle, which acts like a vase or arc towards the birds...

http://awalkintothepast.blogspot.com said...

I love this analysis! Kay

Kaye said...

Good one, Kay. I love the nostalgia. "Nostalgia," a new New Latin word,from the Greek "nostos" which means "return home."

The heart is not limited to two.

Anonymous said...

"Home is home and it can be in more than one place!"

Sally Bright,
Cambridge & Ellicott City, MD

Wildman said...

Of course it can. Although I have not lived in Ellicott City since 1980, my heart will always be there. My experiences there that shaped me into what I am, and so wherever I am, I am still there also. That is why I write so much about it.
http://www.ellicottmills.com