Over the course of my life, I have had a number of occasions where Mother Earth gave me a glimpse of her raw, naked power. I know why we attribute a female nature to “Earth.” We do not say “Father Earth.” It is always “Mother Earth.” It must be that ability to go from Peace, Light and Beauty to raging, unbridled explosion of the energized screaming heebee jeebees in virtual nanoseconds, and then, return to Peace, Light and Beauty as if there had been no change since the previous calm. Perhaps I need to have Billy Joel add a verse to “She’s Only a Woman to me.” Well, I digress.
Today’s memories will be three vignettes of Mother Nature’s wildness as demonstrated by the Ocean.
I made two trips to the Sulu Sea. In my first trip during the very early 1960’s, we left Mindanao on an inter-island freighter. Even with the expanded memories of my young eyes–10-11 years old at the time, I do not recall this freighter being very large. Perhaps a hundred feet long. I do not recall a lot of steel like the freighters that plied between the US and the Philippines which I clearly recall from my trips back and forth across the Pacific. In my mind’s eye, I recall a wooden boat. It had a main cargo bay in which most of the people also sat. The primary cargo was copra. Copra is the fruit of a mature coconut after the coconut is halved and the meat is popped out. The meat is dried, bagged in large burlap bags and transported to processing centers where any number of products are made. Much of it is squeezed dry and the oil saved for use in soaps, lotions and cosmetics. In its unprocessed state, it has a very strong odor. Not unpleasant, in normal circumstances. These inter-island boats are powered by large diesel engines which, in this case seem to leave a lot of the fumes in the hold.
As we started our journey from Southern Mindanao and hopped from island to island loading and unloading goods and people on a journey that would almost reach Indonesia’s outer islands, the ocean was smooth, loving, nururing and pleasant. Several hours into the trip that changed. I do not recall the transition, although there must have been one. I just remember vividly as the waves grew, the violence of the freighter’s shaking motion grew. The waves were over the top of the boat and at least 30 to 35 feet high. The babies were crying, the mothers were vomiting. The copra was emitting its fragrance in seemingly more potent quantities. The diesel engines pumped more fumes into this cacophony of smell and sound. It became unbearable to me and I felt myself becoming ill. I was regretting the fine supper I had experienced before boarding. Finally, I went up to the top of the freighter. Although seeing the violence of the ocean was frightening, the wind did clear my head which magically calmed my stomach. I remained up top for the rest of the trip. I do not know if Jonah was on board and the crew heaved him over the side or if there was another reason, but, within a few hours, the wind died to nothing, the sea was glassy and smooth with the rest of our voyage moving forward without incident.
On another day in the late 1980’s, I went fishing off the rocks about a half mile beyond the end of the road in Makaha, Waianae Coast, Oahu, Hawaii. These rocks, while old, are not so old as to have been ground down by the forces of the winds and tides. On the contrary, they are razor edged from almost any angle you touch them. They are not smooth but full of ridges, crags, valleys, cuts and breaks. When walking you need to pay attention. You better not try them barefoot. But, if you can get out to the edge, you can catch some very nice fish. All that makes these rocks hard to walk on makes them great habitat for fish. On the day I went fishing there, the ocean was calm, the sky was blue and it was just beautiful out. Now, waves come in sets, typically, about 7 in a group. You start with a small wave and the waves grow in size until the seventh which is the largest, then, it starts over again. You must watch the waves when near the edge. I do not think most of us out on those rocks that day were paying much attention. Suddenly, one wave came roaring up from the depths. It dwarfed all the large waves of the preceding hour. It was as if Neptune had been forking a bit out of each wave that came by to stockpile for a single big onslaught against the interlopers on the rocks. The wave came boiling out of the depths, crashing over the rocks in places almost three to four feet deep. Fortunately for me, I was on a rock a bit above the fray. Unfortunately for one young lady, she was in a bit of a low spot. The wave grabbed her, threw her down on the rocks and drug her about 50 or 60 feet back in towards the path. Then, with a barely a whimper, the water all dribbled away. However, the witness remained. This lady was wearing a bathing suit. Her right leg had been dragged over the lava rock the entire distance and was sliced, diced and lacerated from her thigh to her calf. It was an ugly site indeed. Someone called an ambulance to come to minister to her.
Finally, on another day, probably in late 1985, I was outside of our Makaha condominium playing on the beach with my daughter and son. My daughter was up a ways playing in the dry sand. My two year old was a bit lower and I was even closer to the water fishing. Suddenly, this same Neptune thrown abnormal wave came roiling out of the depths. Before I knew it, Willie was rolling towards the Ocean. Had I been three feet further away, I doubt I could have caught him. But, thank God, I was able to grab him before he became victim of the Ocean’s insatiable hunger.
Thus, over my life I have learned, the power of Nature is awesome. Do not take either the calm or the storm for granted. Our lives are nothing against it. I thank God for protecting me and mine in those cases were the line between life and death, health and ill can be so thin.
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