I know that I have been going on and on here about Cape Hedge Beach. For me it has become a place of center and centering, all through these cold winter months with the roar of surf and crashing waves. There is an omnipresent mist, reminiscent to me of the mythic mists of Avalon, a gateway between spiritual worlds. And there is one other magical point which I have not experienced anywhere else. If you look out over the water the waves seem above you yet you feel protected by an invisible force. Optical illusion?

Figure 1 – Cape Hedge Beach, Rockport, MA (c) DE Wolf 2022

Waves represent mortality. Waves represent immortality. Waves represent the constant. Waves represent the ephemeral. There is ever the pounding beat of an insistent heart.

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crowned,
Crooked eclipses ‘gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature’s truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

William Shakespeare Sonnet # 60