Whales and dolphins and shimmer ... oh my!

CHERRIL DOTY

“On These Days, dots of light and color create warm patterns on the

landscape ... Humans become artists on These Days. Today, I am an

artist.”

-- Susan Wade

The wonderful warm days of late January and early February brought

forth this quote from my friend, Susan. I thought I knew just what

she meant. For me, the shimmer of light and color seemed to light up

each day and each night.

Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans. I

cannot recall now who said these words, but I find they are true now.

My plans for this week’s column shifted and changed as I found myself

chasing after the shimmer that seemed to be everywhere. I was chasing

my muse.

As each day dawned, filled with so much to titillate the senses --

so much color and light and sound and smell and taste -- I just kept

being drawn into the life that was just simply there. This was not

what I planned. It fit no prescribed goals. And yet everything about

these moments in time felt meant to be.

Awakening well before dawn in shimmering moonlight, I dragged

myself up and out into the wondrous night. When I arrived at the edge

of the sea, light from the moon had created a path across the dark

water. At the edge of the sand, shimmering lights were performing a

magical dance across breaking ocean waves of white foam. Mesmerized,

I could not even feel the cold. It mattered not that I was not

getting precious sleep. This moment was energizing enough.

In the shimmer of late afternoon sunlight one day last week, I

spotted a whale spout in the cove at El Morro Trailer Park. Again

this morning, along the shore from Crescent Point to Main Beach, more

whales spouting, the cresting fin of a dolphin, hummingbirds swooping

in the brilliant shimmer of morning.

Mango-colored sunsets heightened the deep blue shimmer of the

water as each night I was drawn down to the shoreline to bear

witness. I was definitely not alone either, as there were people of

all sizes and ages there. Groups and couples and singles. Some sat in

cars. Some walked the pathways. Some leaned on railings while others

scampered across low-tide-exposed rocks. Most were silent as they

watched the fading light of the sun pass through its myriad colors. I

was struck by the variety and by the fact that for just that moment

each of us shared this experience, each in our own way.

At the end of each day’s light, the stark contrast of dark, naked

trees cast against a sky filled with tangerine glow bleeding up into

a rich deep blue beyond as evening marks the turn into the long

stretch of winter night.

The shimmer over “These Days” is sometimes golden and sometimes

there is a silvery opalescence about it. It sparks the fires of my

imagination. It lights up the patterns on the landscape in some way

that inspires me to create. Filled with so much plenty for the

senses, something is stirred up within. Fallow winter becomes the

time for adventure, a time for creation. Shimmer seems to allow

artistic inspiration to flourish.

So if this is not the column I meant to write, I am OK with this.

It is important to capture these moments. Someone once asked, “How

many sunsets are there in a life?” We cannot know. We also cannot

know how many moments of shimmering light or how many of These Days

there are for us. When These Days appear I am reminded of then

Governor Jerry Brown’s words when he said, “Life just is. You have to

flow with it. Give yourself to the moment. Let it happen.”

That is my intention as I create each day now. For this one, the

chase leads me to L.A. for the shimmer of light in my new grandson’s

eyes and the beam on his parents’ happy faces. For today, while I may

still be an artist, I am a grandmother too. Is that a shimmer of

smiling light in my eyes as well?

* Cherril Doty is a creative life coach and artist in love with

exploring the mysteries of life. You can reach her by e-mail at

cherril@cherrildoty.com or by calling 949-251-3883.