STAYING CALM

“She [stays] calm, whatsoever storms

"Heading Home", oil,
by Kelley MacDonald

 May shake the world.”

-- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Idylls of the King”

     Sailing with my dad years ago, I understood what Tennyson meant when he wrote these lines. Dad was as calm in high seas as he was when the winds were softly wafting us along. He seemed to understand that nature knows only calmness, even when storms are swirling. I think he saw serenity in every aspect of nature – in whirling waves as well as in smooth seas – and a similar serenity seemed to spread out from inside him when he was sailing. I recall seeing a strange poise, an almost blissful stillness, in his face as he steered his small sailboat in rough weather. Perhaps he smiled in storms because he sensed the gentleness inside the winds, the secret quietness and lightness in the lifting and falling of the waves. I saw it in him, too – the mildness with which he maneuvered the boat, the almost neighborly way he met the strong winds and waves. Dad’s long gone, but I still feel his calmness, his ability to be quietly brave no matter what -- and I’m still trying to learn it from him.