Rose and I took a ferry to visit dad last weekend. We arrived on Saturday, both of us so tired we almost slept the day away but were so pleased when finally saddled up with Lew for our short journey north and west. We arrived shortly after lunch and as Rose had never been to his new home before, she and dad decided to hike into the forest to see the waterfall. I have finally succumbed to 11 children coughing directly into my face so I stayed behind with a cup of tea liberally doctored with lemon and honey, my pockets secreting now fuzzy throat lozenges, an enormous box of tissues, heavy socks and my book. I wrapped myself up to the ears in a comforter, gathered my anti-illness arsenal and stuffed my blanketed puffiness through the door out onto the deck which overlooks the inlet, heaved myself into an armchair and promptly abandoned any wish to read. The day was cool, lightly rolling showers, what Native Americans might call a 'female rain', breezes freshened in shimmers that fanned towards me across the inlet in patterns that reminded me of how frost forms flowers on your morning windshield. Those 'cat paws' of wrinkles, like the lines when you crumple aluminum foil then open it, millions of them, soft exhalations of air, whispers really, disrupting the fallen leaves sailing now on the water's surface trying to mark the progress of the tide. I gave thanks for my cold giving me cause to linger and for the blackness of the sky and the sea, both hinting at weather ahead and contrasting beautifully against the white glow of the marina in the distance. Then I saw the seal, a pale beauty facing my direction though unaware of me in my be-Kleenexed aerie as she repeatedly slipped her perch and glided past under the darkened waters, searching the partially submerged snags below my unexpected and unintended hide. Her face reminded me strongly of the fossilized ivory depictions of Native American transformation spirits in Denise Wallace's jewelry. If you are not familiar with her work you might find it quite remarkable. I do.

Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon, we spent over an hour together, seal and I, and I am far the richer for it. I am liking inlets more than I realized I would. The ocean has always been my beau but these small inlets host such a community of life, each species sharing their particular glissade. And I am so grateful to them.