Shore Lines: Life Lessons from the Sea

By Edwin Lynn

If you enjoy the delights of the ocean and revelatory stories found in people's lives, you will want to read Shore Lines: Life Lessons from the Sea. Edwin Lynn draws from his varied careers and a lifetime near the sea to reflect upon our everyday patterns while also capturing the beauty and glory of times at the beach, where our mind is free and our senses liberated.

In 27 short essays divided into three sections --Attitude, Adversity, and Gratitude --he creates a connection between the seaside environment and human experiences from which we can all learn important life lessons. He describes what it means to live with change in Crests and Troughs, ways of getting unstuck in Barnacles and Other Grabbers, and reshaping adversity in Greenheads in Season, No Refunds. The giant Under Toad, the tern's aggressive bombardment, and a dreaded shark attack can teach us about our fears, vulnerabilities, and assumptions. Lynn imaginatively and playfully examines the shifting sand dunes, breaking waves, and mysterious cormorants as well as other shore life to discover the lessons they reveal to us. Each story is tied to a seaside image --patterns in the sand reveal a grandmother's kindly wisdom about lasting love, the waters of a marshy maze echo the failures in using the wrong map, and the gull's grittiness and acceptance demonstrate what skills a young couple needs to survive 118 days at sea.

Sharing honestly and intimately about family, friendships, and personal experiences, Lynn's writing is accessible and inspirational. His stories are permeated with an exuberance, grace, and gratitude for each day, embodied in his daily mantra that he has embraced from Winslow Homer: The sun will not rise or set without my notice and thanks.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 26, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463419738

Edwin Lynn

After an auspicious beginning of being named "Most Likely to Succeed" when graduating from grade school in Manchester, Connecticut, and then at high school graduation being voted "Most Changed Since Freshman Year," Edwin Lynn redeemed himself when he went on to Syracuse University, where he graduated first in his class at the School of Architecture. After moving to Denver, Colorado, he became a registered architect. It wasn't long before he found out that he enjoyed reading and writing more than he did the construction of buildings, so he moved on to become an educator in Dallas, Texas with the Great Books Foundation, which sponsors adult and children's discussion groups. This new path led him within a few years to enroll at the Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California, from which he graduated during the tumultuous 1960s. His first church was in Milford, New Hampshire, where he wrote his book, TIRED DRAGONS: Adapting Church Architecture to Changing Needs, selected as one of the 50 "Best From Books" in the first edition of The People's Almanac. After this peripatetic life from one end of the country to the other, Ed, his wife, and two children moved to Ipswich, Massachusetts, where he has lived for the past 40 years. He served the Northshore Unitarian Universalist Church in Danvers, Massachusetts for 33 years, retiring in 2005. He was also active in the denomination as an architectural consultant to churches, was awarded a Merrill Fellowship at Harvard University, and appointed visiting lecturer and counselor to students at the Harvard Divinity School. In retirement, he and his wife spend a great deal of their time at the beach and enjoying the coastal amenities of Ipswich and the other beautiful communities on the North Shore.

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© 2011 by Edwin Lynn. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Cover Photo by Edwin Lynn

First published by AuthorHouse 08/25/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4634-1971-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-1972-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-1973-8 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011909776

Printed in the United States of America

Jane Kenyon, Otherwise from Collected Poems. Copyright ©2005 by The Estate of

Jane Kenyon. Reprinted with the permission of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota,

www.graywolfpress.org.

The Ipswich Marsh map ©University Press of New England, Lebanon, NH. Reprinted with permission.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

EVEN KEEL

BENCHMARKS

PEARLS OF WISDOM

THE HORIZON

CRESTS AND TROUGHS

SWASH AND RILL MARKS

SANDBARS AND SAND DUNES

TAME AND TURBULENT

SHARKS

TIDES IN, TIDES OUT

GREENHEADS IN SEASON—NO REFUNDS

BARNACLES AND OTHER GRABBERS

GRITTY GULL

CRAB SHEDDING

OCEAN’S EDGE

CORMORANT DIVING

FOG LIFTING

RENTED BOAT, BORROWED MAP

UNDERTOW, UNDER TOAD

SEASIDE SUNRISE

GRAINS OF SAND

BUILDING SANDCASTLES

WHALE LOGGING

ROCK SOLID

SEASHELLS

FOR SPACIOUS SKIES

TO THE SEA AGAIN

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

For Marj, my beach companion, inspiration, and wife of 50 years, without whom this book would not have been possible.

I don’t really know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it’s because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea—whether it is to sail or to watch it—we are going back from whence we came.

-John F. Kennedy

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our family has enjoyed a lifetime of beach excursions, vacations, sunrises, and sunsets that have included experiences that often generated the thoughts I share in Shore Lines. But this book is about more than my connection to the sea; it is also a reflection on the shared time over many years spent with family and friends, all of whom are a part of the book’s creation.

My children and grandchildren showed no signs of tiring of several stories they’ve heard before and have been encouraging and helpful as I completed Shore Lines. Our daughter, Sharyl, and her daughter, Katrina, assisted with the layout of the book and gave me valuable observations, and her husband, Scott, skillfully guided me in the design of the book cover. I also want to thank our son, Bruce, and his wife, Lori, and our oldest grandchildren, Isley—our budding playwright—and Chase for reviewing and commenting on early versions of the manuscript. I am grateful to my mom and dad, Edna and Charlie Lynn, who, when I was quite young, introduced me to the delights of the ocean.

I am indebted to an extended family of friends who made valuable contributions with their comments and observations, including Linda and David Bertelli, Linda and Will Buddenhagen, Bob Bullivant, Aldyth Innis, Valerie and Menalcus Lankford, Barbara Moran, Nancy Paskowski, Cathy Poirier, Peter VanDeBogert, Beth Welch, and Vivian Wheeler. I especially want to acknowledge the friends and colleagues who shared anecdotes that ended up in Shore Lines. They are David Bertelli, Curtis Buddenhagen, Fred Chadwick, John Corrado, Bob and Alyce Crouter, Tal and Judy Hindson, Al and Judy Lynn, Ken and Cathy Savoie, Bill Schulz, and Don Wood.

I extend a special note of appreciation to the members of the Northshore Unitarian Universalist Church, who generously understood that my time at the beach during the summer was for research.

My wife, Marj, diligently and capably edited the book’s text and graciously coordinated its publication. For her generous contribution, I am most grateful.

INTRODUCTION

The ocean is my constant companion. After countless walks and lots of sitting during my almost daily visits, I have come to realize that much of the shoreline’s physical character and the various creatures that inhabit it have numerous lessons to teach me.

I am 75 years old. I’ve spent a good part of my personal and professional life as an architect, minister, and educator thinking about the unique ways that each of us travels through life. It has been my privilege to read about, reflect upon, and be engaged with the different patterns of living we adopt for ourselves along the way. I have my grown grandchildren particularly in mind as I log these lessons from the sea, and am delighted to share them with you as well.

In Shore Lines I chronicle images and stories about my personal encounters with shore life and how they create for me a connection between the seaside environment and human experience—what it means to live with change in Crests and Troughs, ways of getting unstuck in Barnacles and Other Grabbers, and reshaping adversity in Greenheads in Season, No Refunds. The giant Under Toad, the tern’s aggressive bombardment, and a dreaded shark attack hold lessons about our fears, vulnerabilities, and assumptions. I invite you to join me in examining the soaring seagulls, shifting sand dunes, breaking waves, and mysterious cormorants to discover the life lessons they bring.

Like many people, I have always been drawn to the ocean’s edge as a release from daily pressures and urban congestion. The shore frees my mind and my senses. At the beach, I am most aware of the impact of the sea’s total palette—the moon’s influence on the tides, the continuous strip of variously colored sand and rock separating green shoreline vegetation from blue water, and the wide expanse of salty ocean that pulls my attention to one, long, continuous horizon. My eyes enjoy the beauty around me, my body feels the warmth of the sun, my nose breaths in the pervasive scent of the refreshing sea air, and I float in the buoyancy of an undulating sea. Here I rest, read, play, and nap. I find a relaxing peace, and sometimes run like an exuberant child over the sand to nowhere in particular, engrossed in a blend of sight and sound and smell.

I have learned that every shoreline holds the possibility of finding hidden truths. During my childhood, the calm beaches of Connecticut along Long Island Sound were my introduction to shore life. Youthful travels took me to the New Jersey and the Carolina coasts, and later, when I lived in California, I was introduced to the power of the long-travelled waves of the Pacific. In retirement, my wife, Marj, and I enjoy a reprieve from the snows of a New England winter by visiting the graceful, white-sand beaches of Siesta Key on the Gulf coast of Florida. But my special beach—a source of relaxation and inspiration for over 40 years—is Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts, which is on the Atlantic coast about 25 miles north of Boston. Crane Beach is four miles long, largely preserved in its natural state, and maintained by the Trustees of Reservations. Regardless of location, at each beach I relate to the same basic elements of soft sand, unceasing waves, restless birds, over-arching sky, far-off horizon, and omnipresent sun that ignite my inner spirit.

Over the years, when I have asked people what they do for mental and physical rejuvenation, they inevitably talk about their experiences in nature, especially at the beach, where they feel free and in relationship to the sea. At a more profound level, John Kennedy understood this being tied to the ocean because he knew whether it is to sail or to watch it—we are going back from whence we came.

Edwin Lynn

Ipswich, Massachusetts

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EVEN KEEL

Staying Balanced

I find immense pleasure in the gurgle and splash of a boat propelled by a direct force of nature, the snapping of canvas and the humming of rigging in a fresh breeze, the rattle of ropes running through blocks, the crying of gulls, the lift and heave of a buoyant hull, the pressure of wind against my body, the sting of flying spray, the sight of billowing sails and the swirling foam of the wake.

-Robert Manry

I was eager to go sailing. The sun was bright, framed by a few fair-weather clouds. My friend David, who had been a drug counselor and a corporate human resource development officer, had invited me for a day sail. He was not one to get up at the break of dawn, so I was able to enjoy a good weekend sleep-in. At midmorning, I met David at the dock of the Ipswich Yacht Club, where he had already begun preparing the boat for departure. Not being a sailor, I am always surprised at how much preparation is necessary to get underway. Sails need to be put up, lines and rudder checked, food stored, gasoline and motor connections completed, and life jackets and seat cushions put in place.

As the novice deckhand, I merely followed David’s instructions to pull this and tighten that. I have found that skippers of sailboats enjoy these rituals and show none of the restlessness I feel. I wanted to get going, but I’ve learned that the sailing experience is not just on the open water, but also in the detailed preliminaries and relaxing postludes. When everything was ready to David’s satisfaction, I cast off, and we leisurely powered out from the inner waters. As we approached the more expansive Ipswich Bay by Crane Beach, we prepared to hoist the sail. David was in charge, the sail was quickly up, and with his direction, we began to cruise comfortably in the bay.

When our course seemed set, and the sails trimmed, I asked David how his stress management seminars were going and, somewhat parenthetically, what was included in the course. He laughed, as anyone might with such a give-me-your-life-story-in-twenty-five-words question. To start, he asked me the meaning of the word stress. I told him that the word brings to my mind nervousness, tension, and ulcers. David nodded and confirmed that’s the way most people think of stress, but if I wanted to understand its effects better, I needed to recognize some distinctions. He described how stressors, which can range from loud music to an abrasive boss, are the causes of stress; they