1960, South-East Africa - A salty old Tallship Captain once said to my Grandfather, as I sat on the steps of his varandah - he said that if he had a choice he would "live my life all over again". Later, long after ole' Captain Garth boarded his proverbial sailing vessel in the the sky, Grandfather Gamp spoke of knowing him ... quietly and with great reverence. He remembered those cool African nights far from the ocean; those nights that would whisper of faraway memories in a time gone by. Garth spoke of life on the high seas and anchoring among Islands; of traders and travellers upon the high seas; of seasons and monsoons and hurricanes and typhoons; exotic spice-drenched places and beautiful sea people; of life as nature designed it. I think about those times more and more these days ... not too familiar anymore with the content - more of the spirit to which my young mind became exposed ... I have spent many a late night, often under tropical moon soothed by an Island breeze, wondering what that true old (101 years) sailor would say now, if he could see the state that his beloved environment was in. Captain Garth was a waterman and had tasted and drank the intoxicating waters of life in tune with our Ocean Mother . Out on the Ocean Sea he had come to know her moods, feel her caress and live thru' her thunderous tantrums and understand the needs of all who lived within her reign. This was not fickle living, but survival in a sustainable sense that demanded respect for the environment that all of nature depended on for balance. Nature's Way.
I struggle with present-day thoughts - that our hu-mankind has gone so completely mad with the natural order of things - and I fear for the future when I look at our Oceans. I am ashamed that now we have come to be known by all oceanbeings as the 'dominant ones'. It is shocking to know what greed has wrought upon Garth's oceanworld and the world of the dreams of Gamp, and now my world and the challenge that I undertake to discover that nature that was there a mere 1oo years ago. Abuse and rampant destruction of our birth mother courses down every river, thru' every estuary and into the very heart of the generator that drives our life system here on this Blue Planet. Hu-man operates with callous disregard for the Ocean - without thought for the consequences that will lead to the end of our time. Look upstream my friends ... sooner or later everything ends up in the Ocean - realize just how bad things really are all the way up there in the land of the hu-man!
My blu' 'mon blog is comment, I think , from the perspective of a Waterman. There are many definitions of 'waterman' - surfers, fishermen, sailors etc., all have come to know that the Ocean is a major part of their lives. My plan is to share my world and hopefully inspire calculated thought, dedicated activism and change in the interests of our Environment.
I will talk story on these pages and look forward to comments from anyone who may be on the same page...
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