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, originally uploaded by Davidlind.

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. ~From a headstone in Ireland

Peace to each manly soul that sleepeth;
Rest to each faithful eye that weepeth…
~Thomas Moore

Better than honor and glory, and History’s iron pen,
Was the thought of duty done and the love of his fellow-men.
~Richard Watson Gilder

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! ~Maya Angelou

, originally uploaded by Davidlind.

Only Americans can hurt America. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower, speech, American Society of Newspaper Editors, 16 April 1953

The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Here in America we are descended in spirit from revolutionists and rebels – men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower, address, Columbia University, 31 May 1954

Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Captain Bruce told me the this was “Dolphin Beach” but after checking a map it seems clear to me that it is Salt Kettle Beach.  Bruce is like a little kid sometimes and he loves to tell stories.  You have to watch him closely when he opens his mouth.  But when he is guiding the sailboat at night you can sleep soundly .

I was exploring the beach and deciding that I really was not interested in following a path into the interior. There is a cool cave a mile or so from the water but it is further down the coast. Several hundred years ago a group of settlers lived in that cave for two years while trying to figure out how to establish a colony.

It is so hot today. I can’t imagine how they did it. And as I walk down this deserted beach to the water’s edge I look up and for a second think that there are sharks in the water. There is not a sound as a large fin glides  near my feet. And the darkness around it seems odd in this brief moment. Is this a dream? Am I seeing a strange sea creature?
For a second I am aware that life is a dream and I experience this in my gut. And then my rational mind jumps into the fray and tells me “It’s a pod of dolphins and you can almost touch them”.

My camera is on a rock as the tide comes in and I take a few steps while frantically pulling it out of its protective bag. And then while forgetting any notion of planning a shot I start taking three photos per second trusting that some of them will actually capture a dolphin as it rises in a smooth and soundless arc out of the depths.
If I had been anywhere else on the beach I probably would have missed this and so I feel fortunate even though in a few seconds they are gone. Jeremy has taken a walk down the beach and later tells me about his experience.
“I was standing waist deep in water and thinking about nature and how beautiful it can be. I was really at peace with the world and when I looked up there were several dolphins swimming towards me.”

We will always remember these moments.  Such a beautiful dream.