Great Island at Night

I have spoken to you of Great Island.

Samuel Smith, he has good flip; the greeting on the sign of the entrance of Great Island, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

I arrived near dusk, I think to this place. Walking the trail. Over the dunes. The sea before me. This place is on the interior of the cape. So it is not really the ocean but the bay. The tide is quite. Buffered I supposed. The ocean side of the cape has the huge rolling waves and white caps and surf fishing. Tourists all around. Few come to Great Island. It is a private place. Seemingly unknown to all except seekers and those with friends who share. Stephen White took us to this place the first time.

I am here alone this evening. No shoes. Light jacket. Pants rolled up. Wandering through the trees in the forest of this Island. The smell of the hummus from stepping where no one goes. No trail to follow in these trees. The salt air. Drawn to the beach. Wander down the shoreline. The sun is setting. Not remarkable I think. I do not remember the setting sun.

I climb the dune behind me. A natural indention there. I lay back and settle in. The warmth of the sand. I can feel the coming chill of night on my face and arms and my back is warmed by the sand releasing the absorbed heat of the day.

The sea is calm. Undulating. The sun is gone and the sky is taking on the color of night. Darker and deeper blue the sky turns black. A solid color against the darkness of the water. The water whose color is broken by silver reflections in the waves.

The water began to change color. The sky dark. Already. The ocean blue and black. There was a line a distinct line separating the color of the blue and the color of the black. Like a strange strait distinction of the yin and yang. A deep rich blue and black. Really indescribable this scene. I do not remember stars or the moon. Just that color. The black of the sky on the horizon melding with the black side of the water and offsetting the blue on the left.