I used to live in a tiny.. 95 year old.. two bedroom.. beach cottage.. on the west coast of Florida.. Anna Maria Island.. at high tide.. the Gulf of Mexico was maybe 50 feet or so from my back porch… a fabulous place… such a life… and in fact.. it was too close to the water… closer than other homes on the island… that small.. weak appearing structure.. had survived storm after storm after storm… throughout its life… it knew how to bend and flex with the wind… with life… just like the native palm trees that surrounded it…
me… the cottage… the palms… all together… all waiting… all ready… all prepared… for what was about to come…
On the horizon… something fierce… you didn’t need eyes to see it… you could feel it… it knew you… the breath of it.. once distant… now closer than ever…
It was a storm… and in it… a warning… leave the island… I’ve always been fascinated with bad weather… when people seek shelter… I go to my spot by a window… so I can see fully… eyes fixed… fear far off… I open the door… I feel like Im flyin`…
A few years earlier… I survived something… something that had me surrounded… everything outside… deepest black… but inside… where things matter… and count… a faint flicker burst… and riding the wind… beautiful in the night… were the Armies of Heaven… they came for me…
When I realized it was all over… that I was safe… I was met by a promise from high up… that I was to be kept… safe and sound… for all of my days…
I knew then… I was untouchable… that my storms… will fear and obey me… in them will I fly… in them will I reign… my finger in the eye of it… my foot… on its neck… the storm learned fear… not i…
The island was deserted… I found this out.. as I drove around it.. it was full of ghosts… people saw serious in the warning… and they were gone… I sat on my back porch… I was getting to see things that everyone else was missing… the sea was alive and wild… the turbulence… the waves… unreal… so came the wind… the rain… driven hard… angled… I decided to go inside and make some coffee… with an added shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey…☘️ haha…
I made the most of what was going on outside… and outside me… I played my guitar… I sang my songs… I lit smell good candles… I sipped smooth… strong drink… and I waited… never once afraid…
As time passed… the water rose… pushed by the wind… it surrounded me… I kept a close eye… prepared… just in case I needed to swim… find the shore… wherever it was… Im a good swimmer 😉… I looked out every window… all I could see was the sea… my home felt like a ship… never once worried for my life… the house stood in the wind… like it had done so many times before… this was the worst of it… the water just a few feet from the foundation… on all sides… never breaching… there was a force at work… that would only allow things to get so bad…
Knowing this…
I decided to take a nap…
and dream…
about things that really scare me…
like love…
…¹4³….→I→BELONG→n→SERVICE→OF→†→the..KING→…..not.→≠→IN→BETWEEN→……→↑→~|~→RAIN→~|~→↑’king… `.°~\|( -¡-~-¡°
Inspired by a story from aparnachillycupcakes… whose words sparked this reflection…
Also… while I was writing this piece.. I listened to the album “August and everything after” by Counting Crows…
Fragments of Loia 