One moonless night after driving for hours we tossed our tent on the shore of a pebbly cove in the San Juan Islands, WA. Around 3am we woke startled to loud breathing/scraping/splashing at our door. Fear! Was it a bear? Someone coming ashore? By flashlight we could see the entire bodies of the orcas gleefully rubbing themselves on the pebbles a car length away. Felt like you could touch them. Perfect little pocket of awe.
Utterly gorgeous. I loved the bemused raven too. Thank you for expressing what is so easy to forget in our modern urban existence… the wild has no clean lines.
Thrilling Rebecca! And what a superb contrast, to feel how these great dorsal fins cut through your earlier, wordless malaise. “This is the power of the wild. It nourishes the children within us. It reminds us of the ecstasy of being alive.”
Amazing, Rebecca. I am so thrilled for you to have had this experience. And I see the relationship of this piece to the other one about lines - and empathy. Thank you for sharing this with all of us.
The raven, being connected to Nature, as all birds are, has seen this all of his life. There are no lines of demarcation between his Corvid self and other species in the way we humans separate ourselves from each other and from Nature.
We are in awe of the whales, not only for their display of power, but equally important, for their whaleness, their complete lack of insincerity. We humans long for the same thing. We are tired, really tired, of poor substitutes.
'This is the power of the wild. It nourishes the children within us. It reminds us of the ecstasy of being alive' ⚡
Yes I loved that quote too. So beautiful.
What an amazing experience so beautifully described. Wonderful writing 🤎
Thank you so much both 🩵
One moonless night after driving for hours we tossed our tent on the shore of a pebbly cove in the San Juan Islands, WA. Around 3am we woke startled to loud breathing/scraping/splashing at our door. Fear! Was it a bear? Someone coming ashore? By flashlight we could see the entire bodies of the orcas gleefully rubbing themselves on the pebbles a car length away. Felt like you could touch them. Perfect little pocket of awe.
Oh my gosh!! It gave me goosebumps reading this. What a magical morsel of wonder that must have been 💚
Utterly gorgeous. I loved the bemused raven too. Thank you for expressing what is so easy to forget in our modern urban existence… the wild has no clean lines.
Thank you so much Saraswati! I'm so glad you enjoyed it 🤍
Goodness, I was with you in the excitement of seeing the amazing Orcas.
🩵 this is wonderful to hear!
The urgency you all felt is so apparent. I read this so quickly I felt like if I kept up, I could see the whales too. Just beautiful.
Thank you Yardena, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Thrilling Rebecca! And what a superb contrast, to feel how these great dorsal fins cut through your earlier, wordless malaise. “This is the power of the wild. It nourishes the children within us. It reminds us of the ecstasy of being alive.”
…and in turn, you nourish us. Thank you.
Ah yes the words tumbled out after this encounter! Sometimes a shock of wonder is all we need 😊 I'm so glad you enjoyed it Kimberly x
"the line of humans stood on the hilltop gets a little longer"
Pods watching pods.
Indeed!!
How wonderful to witness that, Rebecca.
"The wild has no clean lines." Indeed. Beautifully described.
Thank you Wendy! It was incredible.
Wonderfully evocative - a welcome but all too brief escape from suburbia. 'The wild has no clean lines' - yes!
Thank you Richard! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
I loved my time on Orkney - one of my favourite places.
It is a gorgeous part of the world!
Amazing, Rebecca. I am so thrilled for you to have had this experience. And I see the relationship of this piece to the other one about lines - and empathy. Thank you for sharing this with all of us.
Thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed reading about it! 🤍
I will be reading this fifty times, and each time find something new to fill my heart.
🤍🤍 this makes me so happy, thank you Raine!
Absolutely stunning writing, rebecca! You perfectly capture the full experience of being human as you watched the killer whales hunt.
Thank you Sarah!!
Exquisite writing. Restacked 💙
Thank you so much Caroline!
The raven, being connected to Nature, as all birds are, has seen this all of his life. There are no lines of demarcation between his Corvid self and other species in the way we humans separate ourselves from each other and from Nature.
We are in awe of the whales, not only for their display of power, but equally important, for their whaleness, their complete lack of insincerity. We humans long for the same thing. We are tired, really tired, of poor substitutes.
Thanks for sharing your experience and your fine artwork!
Thank you so much for reading Rafael! I'm glad you enjoyed it.