Where The Good Stuff Swims

Photograph by guest photographer Dennis Bayer

Writing on The Dock of The Bay

This morning seals and sea lions swim just off our float and  pelicans soar through the air. The herring are running and the eating is good. One seal looks our way before it submerges. Sometimes they simply drop below the surface; sometimes they do a serpentine dive, slick bodies glinting in the light, as they go below to where the good stuff swims. It's the same with writing. The good stuff is always below the surface. And when the writing's going well,  we plunge in and lose all track of time . . . and later wonder where the time went and where did the story we just wrote come from. . . I learn from my marine friends, though I've never attempted a serpentine submersion on my laptop! I learn from this time on the water, too, where houseboats reflect on the channel's glassy surface while I reflect on the smooth screen of this Mac. I count seven seals this morning. I sip my coffee. I learn that it's a good day not to be a herring.