I know, Octopus spirit is calling,
I can feel it in my skin
and my heart.
Like, She was just waiting
for my eighth swim:
waiting for me to swim in honor of the eight directions;
in honor of Her;
in honor of all things.

I know, Octopus spirit is calling.
I can feel it in my eyeballs
like a kind of excitement,
when I look at Tree Woman
with Her four roots and two limbs
all reaching, in a whole lot of directions,
and know what is coming next.

I know, Octopus spirit is calling
me, to do her bidding;
like when She had me carry all those rocks
to build her a shrine;
an eight legged medicine wheel
in the desert.
She was making me ready.

I know octopus spirit is calling
because it’s my job:
my work; my life; my love; my passion
And She. And I. Swim.
In the same Sea.

Cathie Jo aka Shar Shk Buk
Sept. 24th. 2015
Suquamish, WA

After yesterday’s freewheeling, unrelenting windstorm; along with a formidable current sweeping unchecked through Agate Passage; today’s calm was a bit of a surprise! The water was serene and crystal clear; all sea weed swept from the area. The water was so clear in fact, the first thing I noticed was a large crab side stepping his way along his submerged portion of the beach. This is one of those Autumn days that may be looked back upon as the last truly inviting day for a swim in the Salish Sea. (but I fervently pray that it is not)

There was a perfect Equinox quarter Moon just hanging out, unpretentiously, in broad daylight, over the northern tip of Bainbridge Island.

In the handful of swims I have taken at Old Man House Beach; today’s was the most lovely and tranquil of all; like the current it’s self was on holiday after the exertion of yesterday. This friendly sea begged my company and enticed me with Her gentleness, to float and lounge like an over sized otter. Alas, I could have become that otter, under that magic changing Moon, and devoured that crab; pulling it limb from limb and taking it’s life directly into my own. Ah to be so free and intimately a part of this Sea and have no need for my “otter skin equalizer”!

Cathie Jo aka Shar Shk Buk
Sept. 21st. 2015

What is the name
for these lights
that sparkle and shimmer so
off the surface of the Sea
when Father Sun blesses Her
in just such a way?

What is the name
of these 100,000 little suns
dancing across the breast of their Mother
so enchantingly?

I watch these 100,000 children
of dancing, sparkling, shimmering light
and become enchanted
forgetting time altogether
and falling,
falling deeply in love
with the Sun and Sea
all over again.

These are the sparkling, shimmering, dancing children of divine light
sent to remind me to forget
so that I can remember all over again
that this planet is constructed of love
and that we all swim, dance and walk in this beauty
and that it is OK
to just stop
and breath it all in.

And weep into the sand
of Old Man House Beach in gratitude
for having been brought all this way
to be right here, in this perfect moment
hauled out and drying off in the Sun
like a contented seal
after an exhilarating and lovely swim
in this Sea; whose 100,000 dancing children of light
have caught my eye
and reeled me in
like a big old fish;
to be splayed open
and feasted upon.

Let my love and passion be as much a feast
for Father Suns 100,000 dancing, sparkling children
as theirs is for me.

But while I sat
suspended in timelessness
something happened!
Because I see
that the tide has not stood still with me
but has again come in,
covered the shells
and pushed Bainbridge Island back into her previous position
way over there, where she rightfully belongs!

And if the 100,000 dancing, sparkling, shimmering, children of light
some how manage to hook me
and splay me open in timelessness once more
the tide will go out, right before my eyes
and I may not notice.
And I could become the enchanted old woman
of Old Man House Beach:
who came one day and remembered to forget
so that she could remember
all over again
that it’s OK
to just stop
and breath it all in.

Cathie Jo aka Shar Shk Buk
Sept. 10th. 2015
Old Man House Beach, Suquamish, WA