16 Comments
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Jay Warner's avatar

I really, really love this. I mean really. From the Woman of the Sea to the crashing waves, rain travelling through air, to the stones, to the boat, all of it takes me on a journey of ancient tides and present day miracles of nature. I am enamored of your relationships with your wife, your children, your time and place. When you write about the sea you seem so grounded.

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Thank you Jay, this is one of my articles that's actually "writing" in my opinion :)

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Laurie's avatar

A perfect Valentine read! Thank you!

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Walter Rhein's avatar

thanks Laurie!

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WTH Is Going On?! Chris Berrie's avatar

OMG, Walter! I felt like you were writing for me in this piece. I’m a beach baby who has been inextricably connected to the sea since I was born. Through my childhood, our family was fortunate enough to have friends with beach houses where we stayed. In my adolescence, my parents built a vacation house on the Oregon Coast. We spent most weekends and vacations here. I moved here permanently when I retired. Like your wife, I feel the ocean is mine. Especially on gorgeous days in winter, when there are few or no other people in sight. I walk the beach nearly every day. The waves, sand, shells, stones and wildlife have been a magical presence in my life. Your description of the ocean containing the essence of all that has been before is so profound, it struck me deeply. I’m in awe of your prose. It, too, is magical. Thank you so much. ❤️

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Thanks so much for the lovely comment! Maybe we're all connected because we're water people :)

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Tracy Mansolillo's avatar

Beautiful piece, Walter. Perfect read for Valentine’s Day. I’m a woman from the sea too - learned to swim in the ocean by the beach were I grew up and my son and I stuffed our pockets with rocks and sea glass when he was small and so I returned to area. This really resonated with me.

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Thank you Tracy!

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Deb's avatar

Loved this piece. Enjoyed getting to know La Punta and your Lady, as well as reviving my memories of the Lake Superior shoreline. Such a calming read. Needed that today. Thanks.

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Thank you for reading!

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Ariane Goodwin's avatar

I’ve been wondering where the more literate you has been hanging out. This evocative hymn of la mar y corazon was such a relief from information overload. 🙏

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Walter Rhein's avatar

yes, I need to be more deliberate about posting a literary type story at least once or twice a week. I'll have to think about a better way of ensuring that happens :)

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Lone Peep's avatar

I love the comparison between freshwater and ocean energy. I am a Pisces too, and I grew up around lakes and rivers. I didn't see the Pacific until I was 21 years old, and then I fell in love. I've made my home beside her ever since. I grew up in northern Ontario and agree with you about Lake Superior, which is about the closest thing to an inland ocean you can find. (It holds one-fifth of the world's fresh water.) Though I love the innocence and stillness and simplicity of lakes, the great foreboding, moving nature of the ocean fills me with awe. You described it perfectly, and there was a sense of tidal action in the beautiful push-pull of your loving commitment to your wife and children.

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Thank you for that beautiful comment!

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Lisa Cunningham DeLauney's avatar

Beautiful ode to water and your wife.

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Walter Rhein's avatar

Thanks Lisa!

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