When I went to the water this afternoon, it wasn't a feeding time like the morning. There weren't seals nursing or tides of loons racing each other into flight or clouds of pelicans raining down, their beaks like dashes. There was no fog, no wind to speak of, the water was speckled with an indeterminent current. It was just an afternoon.
A strange outta place lanky guy in sweatpants from the general store walking a little funnier than I'd like. Maybe he soiled himself six miles back and is now going to expose himself. I hope not. I'll just go aaaarrrooooooooound.
I dipped in, glad to have sunglasses, and start towards the ocean. The lagoon is really wide, and often shallow, but regardless, there is still a shred of fear in me that I'll get sucked out into the ocean once and for all. But as it goes, I usually just get lost in the birds or whoever is making noises, flying, swimming, peeking out. I've developed a bit of a song to them all. Chanting as I paddle like counting breaths. Then enchantment.
Today, there wasn't too much to sing to- middle of the day though the sun was low. It felt good, the sun out on my skin, I heard a distant club. The seagull club is going up on a Tuesday, I spose. Early happy hour- just 3:30. So much squabbling. Everyone was drunk already- it's been tough out there with the neurotoxins in the crabs and stuff. And the fires and the smoke. We've lost a bunch of seals this year- even my neighbor witnessed one in transition. Fucking global warming. We are such idiots.
All the distraction, and then suddenly, silence. Where there were at least 100 birds babbling about, suddenly, there was not a sound. Barely any wind, I noticed as well. I looked up, and they were all circling. Silently circling their fairgrounds. I leaned up and through what the sun wasn't burning up in my cornea, I could see their silhouettes all around. A rain of light and shadow.
Then one splash, and like a roar of babies in a nursery, so much chatting, hawking, squawking, and general talking. Noise on the ground. Silence in flight.