Sea Stories, Autumnal 07

To every thing, there is a season. In the northern temperate zone, the falling leaves of autumn remind us that the natural world is a place of beauty, joy, and wonder … but also of loss, pain, and mourning.

If we open ourselves to the buffeting waves of the world—as in our first offering—what we have lost may be returned to us. But often, there is pain and doubt along the way, as we encounter the messiness and death that are part of the natural world itself. And though we may seek the solace of nature in the face of human tragedy, nature can also be the cause of such tragedy, sometimes on a monumental scale. Even in our own private spheres, nature can bring us face to face with the frailties of human lives, the tenuousness of bodies, of families, of dreams.

Still, the beauty and wonder remain—in the grand and subtle flourish of shorebirds, in the light of the moon and stars, in the luxuries of languor and of love. Our task is always to find the strength within the uncertainty, the acceptance within the grief, the resolve within the injustice, the hope within and beyond the pain.

SPH

Autumnal 2007

	Welcome	Issue Contents
	To every thing, there is a season. In the northern temperate zone, the falling leaves of autumn remind us that the natural world is a place of beauty, joy, and wonder … but also of loss, pain, and mourning. If we open ourselves to the buffeting waves of the world—as in our first offering—what we have lost may be returned to us. But often, there is pain and doubt along the way, as we encounter the messiness and death that are part of the natural world itself. And though we may seek the solace of nature in the face of human tragedy, nature can also be the cause of such tragedy, sometimes on a monumental scale. Even in our own private spheres, nature can bring us face to face with the frailties of human lives, the tenuousness of bodies, of families, of dreams. Still, the beauty and wonder remain—in the grand and subtle flourish of shorebirds, in the light of the moon and stars, in the luxuries of languor and of love. Our task is always to find the strength within the uncertainty, the acceptance within the grief, the resolve within the injustice, the hope within and beyond the pain. SPH

	This issue of Sea Stories comes to you through the work of: Steven Pavlos Holmes, Editor/Coordinator/Creative Consultant Karla Linn Merrifield, Poetry Editor Paul McGeiver, Site Design The staff of Blue Ocean Institute With this issue we welcome our new editorial assistant, Hannah Hindley, a junior at Harvard concentrating in English. Earlier this year, Hannah participated in the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program, and also worked as a shipyard employee at the Mystic Seaport—where, among other things, she learned sea songs under the guidance of a Chantey Master. A California native, she has also interned as a naturalist and counselor at Point Reyes National Seashore. Welcome, Hannah!