Many routes lead to water from where I live. Just standing here and looking out is entertaining. Gulls wheel across the horizon in winter. Loons and other diving ducks begin their courting within view of the breaking waves in spring before heading north. Buffleheads and oldsquaw populate the sheltered waters of the bay. Great blue herons stake out a protected pond despite the ice.
The cast of characters is predictable, the scenery unchanged in the sequence of seasons. The osprey and the plovers, the wading birds and the terns. Arriving, courting, nesting, and then departing once again. The buckeyes and monarchs filter through the dunes heading south with the summer sun. I’m left with the winter gulls wheeling in the ocean breeze; waiting for the next act.
I love the hills and the trees — but have been longing to get out to the water –
To hear the sound of the waves and feel sand under my feet.
Perhaps when the warblers begin to arrive I may head down to Cape May.
A trip to Cape May is lovely in the spring. Sandy Hook is good also, and is about 2 hours closer!