Astrogator's Logs

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Artist, Heather Oliver             

The Crystal Goblet

Nauset Cove 2 sm

The Copper Yeti and I spent part of the holiday week on Cape Cod in what may become a custom (this is the third time we have done so in winter). We roamed Wellfleet, Eastham and Orleans, art galleries and national seashore trails, beaches and ponds.

At this time of year, the bleached bones of that sliver of land are visible – and it’s even more beautiful than its spring and fall ripeness, if possible. It is quiet, stark. It shimmers with transparent membranes and glass shards. The slightest spot of color is as vivid as the blood of Snow White’s mother on the windowsill. And there are the unexpected notes of grace: the feathery eddies of a brief snow shower lit by the cold fires of Sirius and Orion; a swan pair floating in a mirror-still lake under a bottomless girdle of Venus; the casual last-minute decision to visit a gallery and discover six Michael Whelans on its walls.

This is all I know, and all I need, of heaven.

8 Responses to “The Crystal Goblet”

  1. Asakiyume says:

    truly lovely–yes, transparent membranes and glass shards, and oh yes, the stars and planets.

  2. Athena says:

    I thought of your beautiful story about the glass factory when I was looking at some tree and ground filigree formations at the Cape.

  3. Asakiyume says:

    I am touched! You know how it is with stories–they are released, then sink beneath the waves. . . I never think of anyone remembering them. This makes my day!

  4. intrigued_scribe says:

    Beautiful imagery; thanks for sharing this lovely post.

  5. Athena says:

    Francesca, when stories make a strong impression on me (good or bad) I never forget them.

    Heather, I’m so delighted you enjoyed it!

  6. Walden2 says:

    I would love to visit the Cape in wintertime. I have been there in the fall, but I am talking winter here.

  7. Walden2 says:

    Did you visit the Highland Lighthouse? I was there one starry night to see the Milky Way arcing over the lighthouse. Amazing. And except for the glow from nearby Provincetown, the light pollution is at a minimum.

  8. Athena says:

    That sounds gorgeous, Larry! I spent a (rare) snowy February in Provincetown on an invitation by the city council — we were put up in a resort that juts out into the marshes. The wind-sculpted ice swirls in them looked like my vision of the Martian poles.