We anchored in Tekearn, up an arm near a waterfall in the Desolation Sound, BC.
After lighting the BBQ grill on fire (oy!) while cooking salmon marinated in oil, garlic, ginger, and lemon, we had a sumptuous meal of crab and 7-ingredient veggie fried rice, salmon, and delicious crisp white wine. We had caught the crabs in our crab trap; then cleaned, boiled, and painstakingly picked them clean of shells.
After dark (10 pm in this part of the world during summer), we took the dinghy out into the middle of the anchorage, turned off the engine, and drifted silently on the sea. There were billions of stars lighting up the velvet night sky. The moon was nowhere in sight, making the chalky smudge of the Milky Way visible. It seemed like we were in a geodesic dome – or maybe in a sci-fi movie like Battlestar Galactica on a planet with a dome over it – because the stars came all the way down to the water.
Looking over the edge of the dinghy, we noticed millions of flashes of light in the water.
It looked like zillions of fireflies under water, flashing their lights on and off. I put my hand in the cool sea and wiggled my fingers, surprised and mesmerized that lights trailed from my fingertips! We all started swishing our hands in the water and watching the light show. We weren’t tripping the light fantastic! It was really happening! Beneath the light show, big fish soared through the water like white ghosts.
My husband saw two or three shooting stars that none of us saw. Just as I was going to doubt his vision aloud, a light trailed down the sky in a huge check mark, like a cosmic Nike swish.
Looking above and below was incredible.
We then looked at each other, commenting that we wanted to remember this exquisite experience, expressing gratitude for being able to share it with close friends. Taking in the awe, letting it fill us up, and savoring the moment, we blessedly rewired our brains for more happiness and resilience.
I’m adding this memory to my bank of positive mental states, so I can plug it in to change the channel next time I feel awful in my mind and body, and want to go from negative to positive.
Live crabs caught in our crab trap.
Lori with one of the crabs we caught.
The Pacific Northwest has provided me countless snapshots to add to my positive memory bank – for that, I am forever grateful. Now, if I could just make myself consistently write down these gratitudes, I would be taking the simple additional step to assist in my wellbeing!
That cosmic Nike swish was a sign. It was the Universe shouting to me to “Just Do It!”
