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Red Sky Night - Sailors Delight Awaiting the rising sun, she sat there with her coffee in hand and breathed deep the salted air. In the distance, a Blackfish breached, making a huge splash on the calm sea. Shortly there afterwards, he was followed by a couple of smaller blackfish, all three, headed out to the open sea - probably on the tail of migrating Salmon. They were fewer in number these days - the Salmon and the Orca. Overfishing killed off the Salmon populations, the Orca, in turn, starved to death for the crimes of man. How she wished that they would close the runs down just three years, and allow the Salmon people to return to their grace in numbers - but no, man could not live that long without sport - or the inevitable cash that could be made from such a catch. Unfortunately, man could not look far enough into the future to see a day when, having been fished out, the Salmon people would live no more - and along with them, her beloved Orca would be extinct as well. Red Sky Morning, A Sailors Warning. Red Sky Mourning. Painting the Future On Canvas. On the Horizon, a flock of Seagulls came crying. Swooping down and snatching up mackerel. They would rest there for a time, on the water - nipping at one another when they got to close. She loved the Seagulls too. Most people hated them, as they got into garbage cans and made messes wherever they roosted on the mainland. But she loved them. They were, another one of the Creator's Garbage Disposals. Another thing people overlooked. Scavenger was a harsh words for the likes of Gulls, Sharks and Ravens ... she preferred to refer to them as "Hoovers" (Vacuum Cleaners), and the Maids and Butlers of the Universe. Cleaning up after the spoiled little rich kids that were never taught any manners, or even how to pick up after themselves for that matter. But again, man had his way ... and would go about, shooting and slaughtering these fine creatures that kept the world clean. Why? Because, they were in his way. The Gulls cried, and the sounds took her back to a place in time where she stood on the shores of New Castle Island - overlooking Nanaimo and thinking to herself, "Wouldn't it be wonderful to live on an Island like this?" But that was the crux wasn't it? The thing that made it such a wonderful idea was that no one was allowed to live on that Island in the first place. It was a dream, a good dream, and one she could revisit from time to time, in her mind. She could even visit it for real ... all it took was a two hour drive from Victoria and a short ten minute voyage on one of the ferries. The Island itself was a wildlife refuge. Bears, Cougars, Deer. Eagle, Raven, Goose. And on the side facing the open ocean, Harbor Seals and Orca. And that wasn't to mention all the other wildlife that hid themselves well. Once, while walking the paths of this vast Island, she was startled by a Bald Eagle - whom she must have startled to begin with. For he swooped down in front of her, only five feet away, and then back up into the trees. The sound of his powerful wings filled her ears as the draft from them gently fanned her from the day's heat. She had never been so close to such a giant bird. The event had taken her breath away. She felt blessed that Whomever Was In Charge, saw fit to give her this gift. The gift of seeing a Bald Eagle in flight, at such close range. Smelling the age of his feathers on the very breeze created by his wings. How many people will live their whole lives, having never seen a wild animal as magnificent? And here she was, every day of her life, surrounded by such treasures. If only she could share them with the world. The Gull, the Orca, the Seal. The Eagle, The Deer, The Raven. The Bear, The Cougar, The Humpback Whale. The Shark, The Goose, The Salmon. To be so close to them, is to be a part of them. "Red Sky Morning - Sailor's Warning." She thought as she readied her ship for rough seas.
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