Breakwater Thoughts, by Bella Souza

Breakwater Thoughts, published in the Burlington Free Press March 6, 2015

 
A penetrating gust of an ice cold gale hits my face. Snow crystals glow in the early morning light, as if to say follow us. The light breeze buffets me and as I stumble, the snow crackling under my feet, the snow seems to create miniatures crevasses running across the sheets of snow that cover the breakwater I’m walking on top of.
 
As I walk, I take in my surroundings, with thoughts tumbling around in my head. Soon I will be at the edge of the lake where the foot of the lighthouse touches the frozen waters of lake champlain. But the closer I get to end of my walk, thoughts about flowers from my surroundings. Thoughts about life, and how there is a common truth that we all have to face. The truth of how all things has to end whether you like it or not.

I have always disliked endings. The last day of summer, the end of a book, the finish of a morning stroll, parting ways with a friend. All though an ending is always just on the horizon. Leaves fall, you will close your book, you will take your final step, you say good bye.

And as I walk along the snow covered top of the breakwater, I wonder why things are the way we are. I by that don’t mean just the way things are perceived by one singular person, but perception itself, and the way we see things like power, joy, malevolence, beauty, acceptance, freedom, knowledge, mystery, goals and expressing your self. But why does everyone see everything so differently?

In the time I have been thinking, I have reached the last rock of the embankment. With the clear Vermont morning sky ahead of my eyes, and the green hills of grand isles. I slowly sink down onto the rock, and sit there for a while.

Thinking.

Gazing.

Thinking.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CVQG Show 2007 - Seasons

Image
Vermont Seasons with Sunbonnet Sue This quilt was entered as a challenge quilt for the Champlain Valley Quilt Guild. This quilt was an original design resulting from an absolute brainstorm. Originally, it was going to be a quick, simple traditional Sue block with Sue holding an item for each season (eg, a fall leaf for fall). However, I took a class on Accidental Landscapes with Karen Eckmeier this summer. The next thing I knew, Sue had Camel's Hump, a well-known Vermont landscape element, behind her. I also took a class with Nancy Eha on embellishing quilts with beads. Wouldn't you know...my quilt suddenly started sprouting beads everywhere. I had a lot of fun with this quilt!! Great practice for new techniques. Here are some pictures:
Read more

Christmas Table Top 2005 - My First Quilt

Image
This tabletopper is the very first quilt I made and the very first time I ever used a sewing machine. It was a Ladies Night Out project at a new (in 2005) quilt shop in Williston, VT. We paid $5 and were given a pattern for a block, the fabric to make it, and the use of the store's machines. Within one week I owned my first sewing machine (a mechanical Pfaff). The last week of the series, we each designed our own layout for the blocks we made. The store's owner, June Bugbee, encouraged me to try free-motion quilting on one of the fancier Pfaff's in the store. Since I had only been sewing for about a month at that point, I didn't realize this was often considered difficult. She made it look fun and easy and made me borrow the nicer machine to quilt my finished quilt top. Needless to say, I traded in my mechanical machine for the nicer one with IDT and more stitches 2 weeks later. This is the beginning of what will be my lifelong addiction. I have been really making up ...
Read more