... mike took me across the bay to see the seals at the sachuest wildlife refuge ... we stopped for a nice lunch in middletown, then headed over to the refuge ... i asked him to stop when i saw the surfers off sachuest beach ...
... it was a bittersweet experience ... i've wonderful memories of the drives i used to take ma on after her dialysis, of which one of her favorites was to go watch the surfers at point judith ...
... i admire rhode island surfers ... they'll go out in almost any weather, and when i'm down in rhode island for christmas i often go over to point judith to watch them ride the waves when the ocean temperature is in the low 40°s and the air is even colder ...
... all the while the lifeguard, dennis, maintained his vigil ... i told him how i had done the same work when i was his age, and that i thought these conditions were pretty much "lifeguarding hell" ... he laughed, and we shared a conversation about the profession ... i was greatly pleased to notice that as we spoke his eyes remained on the water ...
... i watched as this young lady finished for the day ... what can i say, call me old-fashioned but i still find a girl in a rubber suit to be a most pleasant sight, indeed ...
... a thick fog and heavy mist blanketed the coast, so we toured the visitor center but skipped the hike out to sachest point ... a few miles inland the air was clear, and at sandy point i managed to capture a more typical michael expression ...
... we stopped to walk around the grounds of st. columba's chapel ... i found that the door was open and went inside, where i came across a memorial to edwin booth, the actor whose brother was the infamous john wilkes booth ... it turns out that edwin's daughter, edwina, lived in this area of rhode island ...
... there were many interesting memorials on the walls ...
... mike joined me, and we both admired the beautiful stonework and stained glass windows ... these pictures have what some of you might think a "stylized" look, the result of there being so little illumination inside the chapel that i had to use the photomatix program to expand the dynamic range of the images ...
... st. columba, i had assumed, a "christian soldier ... marching on to war," but it seems this is the archangel michael ...
... as did i, another michael found the chapel a place of quiet warmth ...
... edwina booth, daughter of edwin and mary booth, gave this window in memory of her mother ... the figure holding the dove is supposed to be st. columba, but with its feminine features many think it is actually a likeness of mary booth ...
... i like how it says, of mary's death, that she "fell asleep" ...
"Alone with none but Thee, my God, I journey on my way;
what need I fear when Thou art near, Oh King of night and day?
More safe am I within Thy hand than if a host did round me stand."
SAINT COLUMBA:521-597