Quiet Cove

It is like someone or something is daring us to see who will make the first sound this morning. I am lying in bed and straining to hear anything. What will it be: a faint craw of a distant crow, the current gently streaming pass the hull, a gull or a tern or more dramatically the splash of a hunting osprey? 

 Of course, those are natural sounds. It could be an engine starting, or an anchor clanging. It could be a dinghy motoring by or the swish of oars. Finally, I cannot stand it anymore and even though it is before seven, I get up. The cove is still. The ten or eleven boats are reflected in the mirror-like water. There is not even the hint of wind. 

 

The bow points away from the rising sun and is cool and covered with dew. The stern has two suns. The one in the sky and the other reflected off the still water. I take my flannel shirt off and sit down to enjoy the warmth. It is getting towards the end of August and the summer heat is over. Against my better judgement Charlotte has put the down comforter back on the bed. I can’t say it was a mistake.

 

As I warm up like a lizard, is when I hear it: the Stonington fog horn. I could be mistaken, the throughfare between North Haven and Vinalhaven may have a horn but I am not sure. I will consult the chart later in the day, that is if I remember to.

 

Now I sense some rumbling amongst the boats and decide to join in on the cacophony. It is time to boil water and make tea. At this Charlotte stirs and the day begins. For some reason I elect to polish the stainless steel railings and Charlotte joins in cleaning but her task is the mat in the bathroom. 

 

Boats begin to leave and as I polish the anchor windless I overhear one boater talk to the another about favorite free mooring sites. These are coveted details that I try as hard to hear as I did the first sounds of the morning. But alas I fail, and make another decision to be first in line to buy the new inexpensive hearing aids. 

Seal Bay, Vinalhaven Island, Maine