Poem for Friday

Wind on the Island
By Pablo Neruda

The wind is a horse:
hear how he runs
through the sea, through the sky.

He wants to take me: listen
how he roves the world
to take me far away.

Hide me in your arms
just for this night,
while the rain breaks
against sea and earth
its innumerable mouth.

Listen how the wind
calls to me galloping
to take me far away.

With your brow on my brow,
with your mouth on my mouth,
our bodies tied
to the love that consumes us,
let the wind pass
and not take me away.

Let the wind rush
crowned with foam,
let it call to me and seek me
galloping in the shadow,
while I, sunk
beneath your big eyes,
just for this night
shall rest, my love.

--------

I'm sure I've posted that one before but being on the beach puts me in a Neruda mood, and "the wind is a horse" is a very Assateague sentiment.

Thursday our original plan was to go to Cape May via the ferry from Lewes, but everyone was feeling sort of lazy and uncertain about the weather, so an all-day trip was ruled out and we had a beach vacation morning. My father took my older son fishing again, and they claim they caught a reaaaaaallly big fish that they threw back in (of course no one was there with a camera, and the bait mysteriously fell overboard). Then everyone went to the beach where the air was cooler but the water was warmer than previous days and the breakers were quite swimmable despite reports of impending wind and rain.

Neither of those ever arrived: there were a few minutes of drizzle, but after a morning at the beach and then the pool, we started for Rehoboth, figuring we'd go see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, only to discover that the 4 p.m. movie was sold out and the sun had come out. So we went to the Rehoboth boardwalk, where we played in the arcade for awhile (boys won stuffed parrots with their tickets) and wandered into the tourist trap shops, then went to Nicola Pizza on the early side since the wait for Nic-o-bolis tends to get exponentially longer the later it gets. We had bought Davy Jones' Curse pirate cards and although I got a very cool sea monster and Davy Jones himself, I agreed to trade the pack to younger son in exchange for some French ships because he desperately wanted them.

After dinner (Me: chicken Nic-o-boli, : spinach Nic-a-boli, Dad: beef Nic-o-boli, Mom: spinach pizza, older son: pepperoni pizza, younger son: Red Devil pizza with hot sauce instead of tomato sauce), we went back to the condo to drop off frozen Nic-a-bolis to take home, then took a ride to get more crab house nuts -- a drive during which we saw many bunnies eating grass at the side of the road. After that we went to the Bethany boardwalk, which is much smaller than those in Rehoboth and Ocean City. The ocean was quite rough and there were surfers in the waves. We got ice cream and wandered around a bit before coming back to the condo for Scrabble and baseball on TV.


One of the observation towers left over from World War II to scan the ocean for signs of enemy invasion.


Slots and noise vs. sun and heat are the choices looking out the doorway to Rehoboth's boardwalk arcade.


A father and son play a giant chess game outside the game store.


Scenes from an Italian Restaurant: the train going around the ceiling, the Tiffany lamps, the memorabilia and testimonials on the walls of Nicola Pizza.


Rehoboth's boardwalk has the perpetual sight of gulls on the dunes and sunbathers on the sand.


Bethany Beach rules: do not feed the gulls!


Yet off the Bethany boardwalk, gulls and a surfer.


Sunset behind the Bethany Surf Shop.

I only saw the news from the Middle East in fits and starts, which is probably just as well as I can't do a damn thing about it from here, and we missed Meerkat Manor so I don't even know what's going on there. It's going to be a long catching-up when we get home. Friday we may go to Lewes or go miniature golfing or go to the movies or all of the above, depending on the weather. Happy Bastille Day!