Thursday, March 18, 2010

L is for . . .



The sun shone yesterday, and the air was sweet, 
so we traveled the old road
of salt marshes and blueberry patches 
to my childhood beach;
the beach where we played in the surf 
until, even in August, our skin was red 
from the ice-cold, pounding waves;
the beach where my father dove in,
fully clothed, to save me from the undertow
when I was five (for years after he held on
to the salt-stained leather belt
that he'd worn that day); 

the beach where we built sandcastles and forts,
where we scrambled over granite rocks,
fed french fries to greedy sea gulls,
and drank grape Shasta from cans.
This is love, revisiting a place
that shaped you
in the best ways, a place
where danger and comfort
are intertwined, 
where ever scrub pine
whispers the past,

where when your love takes your hand,
you hold fast--
not from fear--
but from the sense 
that in the space between your palms
lie the answers
to all the questions
you could ever ask.


Todd's Point, Reid State Park, Georgetown, Maine

29 comments:

  1. Dear Gigi, What a beautifully romantic posting made particularly special for me as I love the sea in all of its very different moods. The images you show are wonderfully atmospheric.

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  2. Gigi, GORGEOUS photos! BEAUTIFUL prose! You are such a masterful story-teller. And you've really figured out how to use that camera. Enjoying eating up every last word and frame...

    and my oh my, you are making me SO excited to get up to Maine this summer...do you know Little Cranberry? Islesford? We'll be there in August...

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  3. I came here via Relyn and oh, what a lovely blog...I shall return!

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  4. Dear Gigi,

    "L" for Love - this is the perfect descriptor for you and your blog. Time and again I return here to find such beauty, comfort, shared thoughts and experiences, and yes - love.

    Holding you in my heart,

    Marjorie

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  5. what a gorgeous place - love the driftwood 'teepees' and the memories you have of this place. it reminds me of many feelings i have about my uncle's lake cabin.

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  6. Oh, I love the pictures.:-) Stina

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  7. The last image is almost like an oil painting Gigi! L= me name too!! haha...
    xo

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  8. You see! Love is always in the spaces... I have such affectionate memories of beaches from my childhood that I am pulled to return. Oh to be able to wander along them. How wonderful for you Gigi that you can... Love xxx and Joy!

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  9. Thanks, everyone! L is for Lovely friends like you. Oh, and yes, Lenore, L is for you!!!

    Welcome, new friends, and thanks for coming back, old friends.

    Ange, I thought of you as I wrote about that space between. Someday, when the new book is done and someone (writing gods willing) takes it, you will be one of the first people I send a copy!!

    x G

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  10. you've brought tears to my eyes today. .... thank you!

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  11. my beach memories are colpoys bay, wiarton ontario, gateway to the bruce peninsula. it was a rocky beach and the water was always SO cold our lips turned blue. haha thanks for the reminder
    ~laura

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  12. Oh Gigi this gave me goosebumps, the images and your words. The road is never too long to return to a childhood memory. ~Lili

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  13. What a fabulous post....I love your stories, they always make me remember things from my childhood and those are precious memories to me...thank you for inspiring love, my friend..!! xxoo :)

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  14. Gigi...

    This "that in the space between your palms
    lie the answers
    to all the questions
    you could ever ask." will stay with me forever.
    Thank you.
    ~Melissa

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  15. Dear Gigi,
    What beautiful words you write of childhood memories, both wistful and joyous.
    I was with my sister yesterday, going through all of my Dad's old photoraphs, many of which were us all at the beach. We spent the most happy times at the beach, even in the coldest of weathers.Our Dad used to build us sand cars to sit in and we would all build HUGE sandcastles, and my sister and I laughed so much yesterday at the awful swimming costumes that we wore !!!!
    Your photographs are stunning and atmospheric alongside your beautiful text.
    Enjoy a memorable weekend, Gigi. XXXX

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  16. Deliciously beautiful, gorgeous post, Gigi...*sigh*... My hubby & I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this week--so love had been in the air! Lots of reminiscing and walking down memory lane...and lots of hand-holding! :o) Where there is real love, this no fear, I believe. If there is fear or doubt or turning away it can't be love. In love we see the other rest in grace together for a greater good. Just love those last lines, Gigi...*swoon*... Thank you for sharing this. :o) Happy Weekend, my friend ((HUGS))

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  17. gigi, you made me cry... beautiful tears.
    i wonder if you have that belt now.
    xoxo

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  18. So beautiful, Gigi. I feel like its a bit of serendipity that I stumbled across your blog when you have such a glorious post on Reid, beach of my childhood, as well. love to you. p

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  19. Beautifully romantic post indeed! There is so much nostalgia in an off-season beach. I love the story about your dad and the undertow, and the salt-stained belt. Nothing like a father who loves and protects you.

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  20. Gigi, your dad sounds so much like mine. How lovely it is to have such unconditional love. Lovely poem, lovely photos. Wishing you a fabulous weekend!

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  21. Goosebumpy thanks...yes, wow!!! Love that Gigi. You are making me all welly. xoxo

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  22. Your sea surely rivals ours with its white-edged beauty and sense of coming to rest. Lovely photos, and a vast bulwark of a mind's beach.

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  23. Beautiful.

    I am a beach baby at heart too. At the moment I am my family's beach house, cozy by the fire & your words really hit home, thank you.

    e

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  24. LOVE, love, love!!!
    beautiful Gigi

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  25. Gigi, how have I not found your blog until now? This post is amazing - I have a beach as special as this to me too. Your prose and images are so beautiful - thanks! Amanda

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  26. A wonderful collection of life's moments - I love the poetry of your words,

    where when your love takes your hand,
    you hold fast--
    not from fear--
    but from the sense
    that in the space between your palms
    lie the answers
    to all the questions
    you could ever ask.

    Utterly perfect! I might have to quote it from now on :) So comforting and moving too.

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  27. Oh, I couldn't help but drift off and reminisce about my own childhood as I read your post..certain words triggered memories. Blissful memories. How I wish I could revist my childhood...just for one carefree day on the beach.

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