A sign nailed to the lifeguard station explains the meaning of the flags. The yellow stands for "moderate surf conditions"; "exercise caution." Moderate is somewhere between calm and rough. The purple flag means: "dangerous marine life." Here the danger is mostly in the sting of the Portuguese man of war. The flags do not need much interpretation, except perhaps to reflect on "moderate," as you wade into the surf and feel the waves slap and the tide pull.
There are other objects that I elevate to "signs," a mess of keys in the sink, for instance.
Asparagus fern--fresh green against pink.
And this green doorway with its single plant.
If I hadn't seen the wedding party I might have taken these bouquets for offerings to the ocean.
Keys, green plants placed at entrances, bouquets trailing ribbons & gauzy fabric, a cargo ship coming in. How do I read these things? I read them in a hopeful mood.
Feels like 'things to hold on to'. Hope providing indeed.
ReplyDeletePlease have a good Wednesday.
daily athens
p.s.: clicking upon my former site, realised that it has been 'highjacked' by someone ! This is not me; even though pictures remain, am not in control of the site, as i thought i had deleted all. a bit fearful. please update your blogroll. thank you.
Hi Mim
ReplyDeleteI haven't been around for a while. There's so much to see here in your bright and colourful and seemingly very warm and optimistic world. It's refreshing.
oh, hopeful mood....that's wonderful...
ReplyDeleteSpring springs new hope.
ReplyDeleteWell, you see, er ('scuse me, but I thought I heard someone call my name) - the thing is to read those images as though they were cards pulled from a (lets say) pack of tarot cards. And then I suppose how they speak might depend on the question you bring to them - and where they appear in the throw.
ReplyDeleteI like all these - but keep coming back to the keys in the sink, yes. That is the image that wants my attention right now.
They are everywhere when we look for them, aren't they Mim? Signs, I mean. That in itself is encouraging, warming, hopeful. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDelete(Our beaches are so different from each other, aren't they? And so much the same.). Love to you in SoBe, Claire x
PS. I meant to say 'what a handsome tap handle, Mim' - and also to say how much I enjoyed seeing the figure 8 on the ground opposite the asparagus fern (a hairdo in a hanging basket?). L, C
ReplyDeleteYou see, I look for signs, as you all do. Fellow travelers, I'm reading you!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth: This world is warm, in flashes, sometimes.
Signs: I don't usually ask a question. Often lost and empty I walk and sometimes find.
Claire: 'Cold' water from this tap is tepid, nothing like cold in New England--stinging, shocking cold.
It's spring here. The flowering trees are doing what they're meant to do. What in the world are we humans meant to do?
The last one made me cry. Surely a sign. Hello beautiful Mim whose name makes me think of champagne.
ReplyDeletelove,
Rebecca
Surely, dear Rebecca. Champagne is wonderful to drink, surges into the blood stream, lyrical. Bouquets to you!
ReplyDelete