I am standing under the spray in my outdoor shower washing my sins away and baptizing myself in Holy Water beside the sea. I am mesmerized at the moment. There is a hole in the wood and a brilliant beam of sunlight is shooting through as though it a laser. Molecules of water mix with the light and two of the four elements that make everything are dancing together in front of me.
Moving my hand through it, I capture the sacred mixture closing my eyes as I close my hand bathed in both water and light. Choirs of birds are singing hymns to God … or to me, I don’t know, but they are proud of their songs and sing them loudly. From the shower I see Fran’s thousand shades of green standing in erect attention not daring to move in the divinity of the morning.
I knew it was going to be a special day as I was running this morning. A red sun hung just over the calmest ocean and the breeze was light. Waves were acting up at the last moment, breaking just at the shore, playfully slapping it then rushing back to Mother Ocean. I kind of lumbered along, not really running … jogging, I guess … because it was all so … serene.
Tranquility is not something that I’ve had an abundance of so when it comes I slow down and take it in. There something about breathing deeply the things that you love…making them part of who you are … redefining your being …becoming who you are going to be.
I think these things as I stand in the baptism of the outdoor shower holding the blessed sacraments of light and water in my still closed fist.
I linger not wanting to move.
It is St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah. As I said last year, it is St. Patrick’s Day … the second highest holy day in Savannah after Christmas but before New Year’s and Easter (Easter would rank better were it not for the Baptist who refuse to participate with the other church’s in their sunrise services).
Flying in from Boston the other day into the Hilton Head International Airport located in Savannah, the plane was filled with people wearing green. They were pouring in for the party. A city of perhaps a180,000 will welcome 400,000 guests! It is something to see and before you die life, you need to see it.
When I was flying into Boston I sat beside a soldier returning from Afghanistan to his home. Next to him was a saleswoman from Albany, Georgia who was well traveled. As soon as the soldier sat down he asked if could borrow my phone.
I imagined he carried a gun, or was trained to kill with his bare hands and Delta does this “Hero Worship” military appreciation speech on every flight, so how could I say no? And he called his girlfriend of seven years. They had not seen one another in seven months. And they excitedly talked about … St. Patrick’s Day.
“Thank you sir,” he said handing me my phone.
“Yeah I appreciate you not killing me either. Oh yeah and for ‘everything that you do for us’” quoting the Delta speech.
He grinned and we got to talking. Most soldiers absolutely hate all of this adoration! It leads to bad things like homelessness, addiction, mental illness and such. I know.
Boston has the largest parade in the world but it doesn’t take place until Saturday. He starts off at a breakfast place on the parade route with his entire family. They start drinking early like we do in Savannah though they have to do it in private there. So they dart in and out during the parade so they can drink. After the parade there are parties everywhere, mostly in bars or backyards (though in snowing in Boston when I was there!).
Then I told him about Savannah. The girl from Albany confirmed my description.
“No shit!” he said repeatedly. “I gotta go!”
“Before you die,” I said. “As a matter of fact, skip this war and have some fun.”
“Yes sir,” he said and smartly saluted.
Still lingering in the baptism of the outdoor shower with the choirs of birds singing with a woodpecker now keeping time and Fran’s thousand shades of green perfectly still, I send him a prayer. I hope he’s having fun. He deserves it. We all deserve it.
And I send another to all of the hundreds of thousands in Savannah today. Y’all have fun too!
Life should be mostly fun.
Then I open my hand and the light mixed with the water resumes its dance.
“Happy St. Patrick’s Day,” I say to no one.
