Mermaid

It is high summer vacation season at Folly Beach, and the little barrier island is overrun with visitors, renting houses up and down the beach and having their week in the sun.

And there has been sun and wind and sea salt in the air aplenty, for this is the time of year when everything comes together with perfection at this treasured spot on the Atlantic, this place they call “The Edge of America.” The water temperature is abut 82 degrees. The days stretch out in languid, leisurely pursuit of endless summer. Surfers pack the Washout. Children frolic joyfully in the surf, looking for dolphins. People jog and walk and ride bikes along the hard sand at low tide. Mothers and their toddlers soak in the warm pools of water left behind as the tide recedes.

And me, I am there as many days as I can be, late, after 7 and sitting in my chair with books and writing gear, waiting for the wind and tides of inspiration to wash over me, and if not, just closing my eyes in the balmy wind and letting the day’s tensions drain from very pore in my body. It’s not hard to achieve a state approaching bliss, if that’s possible in this day and age. That very place where I rest my weary body is eternally there, it seems, and has been for most of my life.

As I walked out to the beach about 8 the other evening, when the lowering rays of the sun were diminishing afternoon’s bright, yellow light to a mellow glow, I saw, as I settled in my chair, a cone of sand. Curious, I walked over and beheld, lying in majestic repose on the other side, a sand-sculpted, lifelike mermaid, staring at me with a veiled smile, sand-dripped hair subdued by her creator’s hand, arms resting by her side, tail fin still. What a startling sight to come upon. Stunning. I was taken aback. It warmed my heart, but saddened me, too. How much longer would she linger there, silently, musing on her fate as the tide crept in? Patient and seemingly oblivious, I thought she might perhaps be thinking she wasn’t real and couldn’t just slip away into the sea.

The next day I returned to the same spot, and she was gone, of course.

What an enchanting find, Oswego. For some, even the creation of a thing of beauty that only last momentarily is a fulfillment for their need to create. That you happended upon her, fixed her in your mind and…

into words through your gifted writing, she has been given a sense of permance that lasted far longer than her solidity until her sandy body was spread by the sea to perhaps be another thing of beauty. Love

Enchanting! Such a magical thing, a mermaid, so mysterious and delightful…:-)

The sands of time.

Bramble

July 10, 2000

How nice that you got to see her before she was no more. Now we have seen her too, through your words.

She did slip back into the sea and now she is free. Very beautiful picture in words.

Ah so very sweet. But being swept away so she can have a new life.

maybe the mermaid came to life & walked away.my brother used to sculpt well endowed mermaids on the beach when we were little.

Somebody made that mermaid so you could have that experience. Touching! –I’m coming to like these southern seashores quite a lot. They just pull the anxiety and stress away . . .

adrift

Perhaps, the mermaid lingered just long enough to catch a glimpse of “you”~ *smile*

I try to make one elaborate sand sculpture every summer. There’s something cleansing about putting all that work into something that I know will be gone in 12 hours.

Such a magical entry. Maybe you were the only one she allowed to see her?

O, your love of the ocean shines through in this one! And in you, one feels the currents & the tides & the immensity of the writing — how envious I am of you, there in your chair at ocean’s side. Akhmatova

Before I start school Tyler and I are going to spend a week at the beach together. I look forward to many of my own discovery moments during the early morning and late afternoon sessions by the water.

this is magical…sometimes i wish i were a mermaid, just swim out to sea and just explore…smiles and hugs…

the bottom 2

July 13, 2000

I have been longing to get near the ocean…looking at flyers and trying to come up with a get-away for the 4 of us…..I miss the waves :o)

Have you ever seen the flash of green at sunset across the ocean?

Why, that happened to me too–five years ago at New Smyrna Beach, near Daytona; every night I’d go out to walk and there would be a new mermaid, expertly outlined in the sand, a sculpture! Now, was that you nearby?

Willy & Wilma

July 14, 2000

have seen lots of sand castles but a mermaid is much more special. Will be on the lookout for sand maids!

Amanda Cayhill

July 21, 2000

This is one of my favorite entries even better the second time. Inspiring and beautifully written, it makes me want to spend just one day on the Atlantic coast building sand castles and drinking tea *smile*

Edelweis

March 29, 2002

Isn’t Willy’s note so cute?! I love this! Your last paragraph is so sweet. I will print this entry and read it again tomorrow at breakfast. You are a very talented writer!! I can imagine so well how nice it is to sit there and let the peace come over you! Take care,

how many days of my life have I wished I was a mermaid….. loved this entry too…. ~seafarer~