Golden Clams

   I often speak of the "golden glow" of the water during some sunrises.  The entire Bay and Bayou appear to be afire with the reflection of the horizon.  It is mesmerizing.  In fact, I am rarely missing from the pier at daybreak simply because the kaleidoscopic colors send the brain into a frenzy of happiness.  This morning, however, that did not happen.  I was there, the sun rose but the water was missing.  The north wind had pushed the water far out from the shoreline so there was no glorious color being cast.  Mud does not do as well.  Not that I was too disappointed as...the sun did rise and I was alive to see it.  It is just a case of finding other magical moments to entertain the mind.  I did.  As I turned to head back up the hillside, a glimmer of "gold" was found!  Embedded in that slippery mud was a hefty clamshell.  While the mud does not reflect the sunrays, that clamshell sure did.  In fact, it practically gleamed!  There...there was the magical moment!

  It does not take much to make the wheels in my brain to start whirring with excitement.  All sorts of thoughts reeled about in a frenetic pace but the most prevalent was "How have I never seen the incredible beauty in a common clamshell?"  The mud, itself, even became more lovely simply due to how it held the shell.  As I pondered the shell and mud, the sun slid a bit further above the horizon behind me and caused a deep, dark shadow to form behind the clam.  This!  This was the perfect way to spend the morning...on the pier staring at a clamshell...by myself...completely engulfed in tranquility.  Bayou magic!  Nice!