Deep in Alabama
Deep in Alabama, where the Spring arrives early and the Summer lingers and the Fall quietly sneaks in amidst a varied day of warmth and coolness, the waters and tide flow with a promise to always return, or, to never leave.
This magnetism between one's soul and these places so deep in Alabama is like the sub consciousness of a sleep walker who walks and moves in pattern of need, desire and routine. So similarly, a coastal lover also moves and to return so driven by a need, desire and seasonal routine, and once again, sees their reflection at water's edge.
So it is with me, upon each visit's beginning and each visit's departure, the water's edge calls to me. I say hello, I say good bye, good morning, and good night. My mind has an order of communication with this place so deep in Alabama.
Standing at the brackish river's edge, staring out across the silver ripples and across the flowing, outgoing tide, I pause and listen to and breathe in the sounds and smells of this coastal connection. I observe the river grasses blow and bow themselves in a gentle breeze. I watch the pine needles behind my shadow away and whisper in the breeze. I catch reflections of the day's dawn, or it's dusk as it paints itself on the water's surface. I look for a movement below the dark, green river, and I scan between the drifting clouds for a winged flight of a seagull. It's peaceful. It's quiet, and it's a spot, a place of solitude. Hello to the season, or good bye to the season, both begin and end at this place by the river, so deep in Alabama. The conversation becomes a pausing routine of inner soul showing its need for this piece of tranquility, so deep in Alabama. The tranquility becomes an appreciation of its ways, its tides, its slow rocking motion of day to day, year to year, and age to age. The river's edge becomes a calendar of days beginning and ending on its banks, and of a measure of life's bits and pieces of experiences, growth, and the ripples of wisdom.