Star Covered Vases and Horses on the Beach

I came home this morning after spending Easter Sunday among friends: Murad and Abby, Kevin and Roderick. It was a remarkable dinner and wonderful conversation laced with many laughs at life's little absurdities. Shortly after arriving home, I laid down on the couch to rest. I soon fell asleep while being watched over by this cobalt blue vase covered with stars. The light that fell through the window made, in that moment, a fine companion.

It was the perfect Easter weekend. I have always loved the notion of  "rolling the stone away." It says to me that anything is possible. The hardest times, the most difficult circumstances can be met, even transcended.

While reading a fellow writers account of life on his Texas ranch (Jack Matthews at http://swamericana.wordpress.com)
I remarked how interesting life is when we are able to see the way it mirrors our experiences back to us; that even my experience here at the ocean, and his there with his wife Brenda on their ranch, is a mirror of sorts, a mirror showing all the good life has to offer, all the beauty. I so enjoyed reading his descriptions of their horses; the individual personalities and how they came to be with them. I spent a good deal of my youth riding horses. I have always loved the feel of their necks, their flanks, their soft velvety goodness.

This was on Good Friday. Saturday morning I walked out on the beach just in time to see this:

I quietly watched them with awe and wonder as they made their way down the beach.

A few young families were at play with sand pails and kites.

A father and son walked by with a bucket, perhaps to dig for the clams the low tide would help reveal.

A lone surfer was practicing for the bigger waves; accepting, and even inviting, the bigger challenges yet to come.

The tide had ebbed and I found life was, once again, making an imperceptible turn. The horses were a gift to help me make that turn. I didn't know it at the time. I didn't know until this moment, as I wrote it down.