MORNING SIGHTS AND SOUNDS (March 29 - April 21, 2023)

Sunrise Voyage

 The last three weeks have been a time of solitude here on Edisto Island, South Carolina.  We've had no guests and have pretty much just enjoyed the quiet, peaceful surroundings that continue to draw us back to this place.  I began to wonder if I really had anything to comment on for this blog.  I felt like we hadn't really done anything worthy of mention.  Then I remembered that every day is a day to be enjoyed, to be cherished.  Just the sights and sounds of the world around us can bring us happiness and memories.

REFLECTIONS

Sunrise Coffee

With that in mind, let me REFLECT on the sights and sounds of this typical morning on "our" favorite island!

I sit on our deck and watch the sun crest the horizon above the towering palm trees.

I listen to the waking world of the marsh just outside our door.  

The squawking of the gulls as they welcome the new day and the sound of a boat as it motors out to that perfect fishing spot let me know that it's going to be another good day. 

 Soon the sounds increase as the distant shriek of an Eagle echoes over the verdant marsh.  

The crows and songbirds begin an aerial war with dissident mutters as one seeks to find the other's nest and the other seeks to protect its territory. With the crows vanquished, the songbirds rejoice with gentile melodious trills that seem to bring everything around them into harmony.

My vision now shifts to the blue waters of the Sound and the expansive low land salt marsh, with its slivers of water, that shelter and feed so many residents.

I see a flock of a dozen snow white Egrets as they wing their way toward the feeding grounds looking for minnows and small crabs. 

An eagle-eyed Osprey hovers in the air as it seeks to spot its breakfast in the waters below.

I listen to the sound of quivering palm fronds as they are kissed by the moist ocean breeze.

A line of pelicans skim the surface of the bay while the ever-present dolphins put on their show in the mouth of the inlet.

And lest you think all is perfect, someone's two-year-old just pitched a fit on their deck.

All of this before 10 a.m.!

THE POINT IS that I was able to enjoy the above.  There are many who cannot and others who will not.  

Some are hindered by blindness and deafness.  Others simply refuse to take the time to enjoy the sights and sounds that are all around them.  

Others are "shut in" and thus "shut out" of sights and sounds that most of us take for granted.

For those of us who have a choice, let us choose to enjoy each day with its own sights and sounds.  Let us never take for granted the blessings of seeing and hearing.

Even the screams of a child can remind us of when we had children of our own.  Children who may have been noisy from time to time, but children who now enjoy this island as much as we do.

Here's a few photos to enhance the words above.