Our Homage to Whales

I've recently discovered the children's author, Cynthia Rylant. Upon reading just a few of her books, she is at the top of my list of favorites. When I was at the library on Monday, I checked out several of her books. Of those, my personal favorite is The Whales.

Whales are my spirit or power animal. They are magical to me. One of the best days of my life was the day I first saw humpback whales swimming and feeding off the coast of Provincetowne in Cape Cod. It took my breath away. Each time that I've been pregnant (six times all together), I had a dream about a whale very early on. A few times that's how I knew I was pregnant. I don't know why this is but the dreams are always ethereal and calm and magical.

So, back to business, I'm reading this book in the library. And I get to a page that has this narrative:

And whales do not know,

as they rise up for a big breath of air,

that someone is standing on a shore

and "her" heart is filling up.

Filling up and ready to burst.

Whales do not know how they change people,

how they make them better,

how they make them kind.

Like angels appearing in the sky,

whales are proof of God.

I read this and it brought tears to my eyes. Amen, Cynthia. You are my kind of woman. I was so excited to read this book to Sophie and, of course, she loved it as much as I did. Whales do fill my heart up until it's ready to burst. I hope my girls feel the same. I dream about the day when I can take Sophie & Clara on their first whale watching expedition.

Since I have no photos to accompany this post, Sophie and I took the liberty of drawing some whales. Mine is quite elementary (I never said I was an artist!) and I surrounded my whale with a rainbow aura. Rainbows, like whales, are magical to me. Sophie drew two whales, a Mom and a baby. She told me specifically that hers are beluga whales. Later that night, as I was cleaning up our mess, I noticed that Sophie added rainbow auras to her whales also. Warms my heart.

Whales are one of the greatest pleasures in life. Just knowing that they're out there somewhere makes me happy.