the empty harbor ...

regular readers are sure to know how much the ocean plays into our lives here in my little seaside town.  we have a harbor well-known by sailors around the world and in the summer it fills up from shore to shore with boats of all shapes and sizes ... 

this is my little ladybug on the left in her sailboat, taking lessons in the 'shallow end' of the harbor a couple of years ago ... you can see what is literally like a parking lot of boats all attached to their moorings throughout the harbor behind her ...

it's an astounding number of boats packed into the harbor, isn't it?!

but by the time the frigid new england winter rolls around, all the boats are gone - pulled out, shrink-wrapped, and stored away on land ... only about five boats remain in the harbor at this time of year - rugged working boats used by fishermen and lobstermen ...

so imagine our surprise this afternoon when we looked across the empty harbor to see this beautiful and most unexpected surprise ...

grainy phone camera shots, but shots nonetheless ... shots of a gorgeous swan quietly busying herself - all alone - in the very same shallow end of the harbor where beginner sail lessons take place in the busy bustling summers ... all the white dots you see out in the harbor are the empty moorings where boats tie up all summer long ...

it was so quiet, so serene, so peaceful ... the little ladybug and i pulled over and spent a good 15 minutes on the shore, just silently watching her as she reached underwater with that long neck and came back up without a sound, gliding along the surface so smoothly she left no wake behind her ...

what a wonderful moment with my ladybug ...

~

the swan in the pool is singing

and up and down doth he steer

and singing gently ever

dips under the water clear

~heinrich heine~