i met a bodhisattva today, actually, i met three
one in the bathroom, one on a boat,
one who held a register key
i walked the streets of tarpon
for the moment, blissful, free
smiling to see them as i did
as well for how they smiled to me
today was a curious and very interesting day. i packed up and headed out to the sponge docks. i was supposed to go a couple of weeks back with friends, but that didn’t seem to be happening… and the urge to go today was oddly strong.
so i went.
on the way, i stopped at a denny’s. had a bite to eat and took a moment to catch up with a friend in new york by phone. we’d been out of touch for almost… oh… eight years, i suppose. i smile as i remember the conversation. it was as if we’d only said farewell yesterday.
good friends, faithful friends, they are like an oasis. fresh, inviting, free, and comforting.
he told me that he had tried to locate me about 2002-2003 and had become concerned when it seemed that i had fallen off the face of the earth. i decided not to share the gorey details. simply said things had been a bit rocky and now that they were straightening out, i wanted to let him know i’d not forgotten about him.
that call and the meal complete, a woman was being seated ahead and across from me. the waitress asked her with a smile, ‘just one today?’ and her face shuttered like a gulf house before a hurricane, ‘i SAID i was alone, didn’t i?’
this may sound odd, but suddenly i had a flash… almost like a dream, maybe a movie. it was weird. i saw her sitting at her kitchen table. crying. she lived alone. she was so unhappy. and she had decided to take herself to denny’s for a treat… to feel better.
the waitress apologized, and asked her if she was ready to order. the woman’s expression shifted a few times… then relaxed into a smile, ‘yes, i’ll have a banana split, please.’ she looked so happy to contemplate it. a treat. just for her.
as i walked to the register, i felt like … well… it’s hard to describe. bleh. not going to try. i’ll tell you instead what i did.
i explained to the girl there that i wished to pay for the woman’s ticket. she started to point, i stopped her, ‘no.’ i said, ‘i don’t want you to point her out to me or me out to her. just please, bring me her ticket and add it to mine.’
so she did. i paid and then asked for a piece of paper. wrote a note and folded it, told the girl at the register to deliver it when i had left. she looked curious, i smiled, ‘you can read it if you want to…’
i wrote to the woman, ‘you are never as alone as you fear. enjoy the banana split. love, a stranger.’
it may sound silly, but it needed to be done.
grinning and feeling lighter, i continued down the highway to the docks. by the time i got there, i realized my error. it is something of a tourist destination. hence, parking is… scarce. well, free parking anyway. i finally found a spot and pulled in to see a sign asking that people go into the store to pay for their parking.
ok. i figured i’d just put it on the debit card. i get to the register and present the card and the woman there says to me, ‘sorry, $10 minimum for credit card or debit purchases.’
i smile, ‘ok. i suppose i’ll be buying something then… give me a few minutes to pick something out.’ take my card and begin to look around.
about three minutes of looking go by, and there is a tap on my shoulder, ‘ma’am, you do not have to buy anything here. come, i will take the card for your parking.’ her thick, greek accent was pleasant. she looked calm, not at all flustered. i nodded and smiled, we returned to the register and got it taken care of… placing the card in my dash, i began to explore the area.
beautiful things, but many touristy distractions. the place is, apparently, the world capital of sponge diving. goodness, i’ve not seen so many sponges in my life. all sizes. great, beautiful ones… ones shaped like bowls… ones shaped like most anything you could imagine, and all sorts of types. for a moment i was sad, sponges are alive in the water.
i did not buy any sponges.
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continuing on, there were a number of amazing restaurants, and musicians scattered here and there, playing everything from guitars to dulcimers. i entered a courtyard/plaza and looked about… nature was calling. heh. finding the sign, i followed and came to a rather long line. casting a pensive glance at the empty men’s room, i waited.
it turned out to be well worth it. when i got inside, i found this wizened old woman tending the place. a small plastic canister upon which was written ‘tips’. how dedicated she was… every customer out of the stall, she would signal the next to wait, while she inspected to insure all waste was actually flushed and gone… no offense to give to the next visitor.
her little rolling cart was stocked with paper towels, a broom, a dustpan, and garbage bags. a few other odds and ends. the various women in the place never as much as acknowledged her, except to somewhat awkwardly take the paper towels as they washed their hands… each of them glancing to the empty paper towel dispenser with something akin to longing.
it made my heart hurt. for all of them. for myself, too.
my turn came, into the stall. and then, out… by now, the rest were gone. just me and the woman tending the place. i washed my hands, took the paper towel she extended with a smile, meeting her eyes and grinning, ‘i bet you see just about everything there is to see in this place, eh?’ she shrugged, but her eyes smiled.
i asked her, ‘would you mind if i took your picture?’ she looked at me a moment quietly, then said, in her thick, greek accent, ‘you do not want to take my picture. i am… ‘ her voice fell to a whisper, ‘…ugly.’
my heart broke wide open. her face was a criss cross of scars. ridges ran along her cheekbones. but her eyes… oh the things in her eyes. i shook my head and smiled, as i reached for the camera, ‘no, you are not ugly. you have a beautiful spirit, and you have beautiful eyes.’
she smiled, shyly, and we hugged. i stepped back and took her picture. her beautiful picture.
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she asked me, ‘you come here to…’ she stopped, shook her head and grinned, ‘…no… you come here for something else, yes?’ i listened, quietly. she asked again, ‘you are here for…?’
i shrugged, ‘to explore…. to see what is here… to see beautiful things and people.’ i held up the camera, ‘to take pictures, and to feel free. you know, live.’
she grinned and nodded. i leaned over and dropped the only cash i had in the tip jar. she thanked me. i looked at her and winked as i left, ‘no… really… thank you.’
from there, along the streets, both sides, exploring shops, investigating the people who ran them, seeing who else was about, listening and grinning at the snatches of conversation along the way… people just being and doing and sharing.
i found a shop where home-made soaps and olive based oils were sold. hah. two bars of lilac goat’s milk soap later, i’m at the register. the woman there grins to me, ‘it is good soap, yes?’ stars, i love the greek accent.
‘yes, definitely.’ i nod as i hand her the card. she tells me they are online. i grin. she grins. she says as she hands me the soaps, ‘i love your eyes. they are good eyes. the color, too.’ i laugh and thank her and head out. she stops me at the door, ‘oh, you should make sure to take the boat tour. the stores are mostly for the tourists. but the boat is special.’
curious now, i follow where she is pointing… a blue wood shack marked ‘greek wine, cigars, and sponge museum.’
so ok. i’m am being directed. dutifully, i go over. the barkers are yelping about the ‘last cruise of the day’. i stop and inquire. an hour and a half out into the gulf. dolphins, they say. manatees, too.
they had me at water, really. i’ve always had an affinity with it. i buy a ticket and they direct me to the dock. turns out i have about 45 minutes to wait. so i take a seat at a convenient picnic table on the metal dock and watch the gulls.
they have an interesting hunting habit. they hover over the water and watch for the shoals of fish to come close to the surface… then, flapping wings wildly, they delicately pluck them out of the water with their feet. apparently they have some aversion to getting water up their bills. heh.
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i had one come to visit me. he marched over to where the boat would be and looked at me like, ‘waiting long?’ i laughed and told him, ‘i’ve got 45 minutes yet.’ he shook out his feathers from head to tail and then, took off. made me laugh, the timing of it. it almost seemed like he was pitying me. perhaps he was.
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when the boat finally arrived, the dock was packed with people. we shuffled slowly on board the boat and were soon off to the channel leading out to the gulf.
a good many pictures later, lots of wind, spray, and jubilant shouts/cheers and waves to every passing boat (they were doing the same!) we arrived in the gulf. the captain tells us that there are a pod of dolphins who live in the area, and that they rarely range more than five miles in any direction in their life. he teased us with the hope that perhaps we’d see them.
i was tucked into the port corner, alone in the crowd, but enjoying it. most of the passengers were spanish or portuguese and english was not being spoken. i didn’t mind. it sounded like music. i let it be so. the wind, the waves, their music, and my own sense of peace was more than perfect.
eventually, the captain said they were going to gun the engines and lay down the tail of the boat, creating a big wake. apparently, this was something of a ritual gift from them to the dolphins, who would come to play in the wake.
and sure enough, within about a minute of them gunning it up and laying out a foamy, frothy wake yards wide, the pod of dolphins showed up to play alone the port side… conveniently, i could lean over and look back along the boat and see them clearly, just under the water, coursing with us… keeping pace.
now and then, they would leap, as much to breathe as to enjoy the feeling, it seemed.
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i felt a tug on my right sleeve. looking down, a young boy of about 10 was smiling up to me. ‘you like the dolphins, yes?’ very broken english, but i understood. i nodded, ‘yes, very much!’ i suppose my delight was pretty apparent, the other people on the boat were laughing, tugging on their friend’s sleeves and jerking their heads my way… but smiling. i hadn’t realized i was a spectacle. i was quiet. just smiling.
the mother of the boy leaned over, ‘you must really be enjoying yourself.’ she spoke more clearly. but i was puzzled, ‘why do you say that?’ she grinned, ‘because you’re glowing.’
er. ok. i looked around, finally realizing they were a family outing. they were all nodding at me, grinning ear to ear. it was very weird. the little boy at my elbow tugged on my sleeve again… i looked down, ‘do you want some gum?’ he asked. i laughed, ‘sure!’
doublemint. timely. i had run out of water.
turning back to the waves, i snapped a few more shots as the boat began its trip back to the docks.
i was the last off the boat. slow walk to my truck, then the drive home. an enjoyable day. a very enjoyable day.