Departing Sunrise

The sea is acquisitive, taking back
Seaweed, shells, driftwood,
Accepting those humans who care to jump
From Orizabas.

Life is presumed to have come from it
But it also wears this aspect of death;
And I am fearful for a man who loves
The sea too much.

Lately I have felt this in myself,
And I must come to terms with it.
I have been too much alone,
Walking on beaches.

This is perhaps what the Greeks meant
When they warned against the Sirens;
But oh, Ulysses lied - nothing keeps out
It’s fantastic singing.


The Sea is Acquisitive, by Cecil Hemley


Now that we are back home, I have uploaded higher quality photos from the past week and added a few extras.

One aspect of our week at the Point which I have left unmentioned until now was the persistent backdrop of small airplanes flying along the coast and sometimes passing back and forth almost directly over the cabin. We have experienced such disruption from scenic flights catering to tourists before, but this was a bit much. When a military helicopter flew by so close I could clearly see the men inside and even get a halfway decent photo with my phone, it seemed clear there really was something unusual happening. Sure enough, after checking in with the local news (which I had been avoiding) it turned out a young fisherman, only 18 years old, had gone missing, his boat coming ashore empty. This happened not far across the way, making the shoreline along the peninsula a reasonable place to look for signs of his remains. Normally we would have noticed the Coast Guard conducting these patrols, but it had initially been so foggy only a limited search had been possible. By the time we realized what was happening the official rescue operation had already ended. For us this news had an extra sense of discomfort, because shortly after arriving a dead seal washed up in the cove, attracting much attention from crows and eagles as it gradually rotted away on the rocks. For all the wondrous things we discover when exploring the coast, this more sobering side is always present as well.