Beautiful valley views and close to the ocean too

I had my first swim in the ocean this week! It was a gorgeous warm day, no wind and the sea was gently rolling under me as I floated and paddled around. A cafe on the shore tempted me to get a hot chocolate. Maybe next time! We live 25 minutes from the coast, so unfortunately I can't go swimming every day...

Later in the week I took Kidlet and a friend back there for a swim. The weather had changed quite dramatically. It was 19 degrees, but the wind had picked up. It was part of a cold front coming through bringing three days of rain. Lovely for our paddocks! The girls had the best time anyway, jumping the waves and splashing each other.

As I sat watching them I thought of songs I used to write and sing and eventually recorded in a band called Den Fenella. We spent a lot of time on the beauty of words and forming a melody that enhanced them. As I sat on the soft sand at the beach I was reminded of a song I co-wrote with Gary Stowe, called 'Ocean.' So much of what I write is visual and songs are no different. They tell a story and create a picture in the mind. The feelings a reader/listener derives from that are entirely personal, based upon their experiences.

Ocean
music and lyrics by Gary Stowe & Dawn Meredith (c) 1999

I have felt my ship dance on the great rolling sea
As it carried us far from the shore,
And thrilled to the sound as the battering wind
swells in a tumbling roar.
I've seen the sail fly in the eye of the storm,
Watched gales whip the water to foam,
Laughed as the bow splits the oncoming wave,
The ocean is calling me home. The ocean is calling me home.

chorus
The salt that still flows in my veins,
the coral that lives in my bones,
the curve of my back in the deep rolling waves,
the ocean is calling me home. The ocean is calling me home.

I shall lie in the arms of my mother the sea
And find the soft comfort of sand,
Lulled and caressed in my sleep shall I be,
And dream in the palm of her hand.
Hear the sound of the waves in the night
In the sheltering arms of a cove,
Or glide on the wings of a sea eagle's flight,
The ocean is calling me home. The ocean is calling me home.