Marshall's Observations

Marshall watched seagulls and crows playing in the wind among pink-tinted cloud beds that slowly turned gray as the sun hung at the sea's horizon. He used his iPhone to focus on the reflections in the water and snapped a photo. He liked the result; it showed a butterscotch sun sitting on the water below a pink cloud, with the ferry in the foreground.

Clouds: colors - white, pink, orange; types - wispy cirrus, fluffy cumulus, flat stratus.

Birds: 8 Herring Gulls (common); 2 Bonaparte Gulls (black-headed); 23 Glaucous Gulls (sometimes confused with Herring). 4 American crows. 2 mature Bald eagles.

Mammals: 4 Harbor seals. 1 Cocker Spaniel, 1 German Shepherd, 3 Golden Doodles (is that what they were? Must have been – so jumpy and long legged. Labradoodles are calmer, I think), 1 grade-school girl with 1 pet rabbit in a sling over her shoulder.

Ducks: 4 mallard couples (love those shimmery green heads on the males), 3 male buffleheads and their ladies, 8 common golden-eyes, and 1 eared grebe (I wonder why he was alone?)

Marshall closed his 4x2 spiral notebook and shoved it into the inside breast pocket of his forest green REI rain jacket. It was too dark to see much now except the ships and the ferry. He sat quietly, enjoying the moonlight reflecting off the bay's seawater and the silence. Stars began to peek out, with Jupiter bright in the sky and Mars shining red, rare sights in the area where Marshall lived. Usually, the sky was clouded over, and when the forecast said it would be clear, he had raced to the water, with bird book, binoculars, and notebook in the passenger seat.

He continued watching the waves. They sloshed rhythmically, hypnotically. His breath caught in a gasp when he spotted the quarter moon, lighting its corner, a sky nightlight. He reached for his notebook, then stopped. He didn’t want to spoil the moment’s beauty by writing a note that the moon’s current phase isn’t large enough to reflect in the bay. He tucked the thought into a corner of his brain.

Couples strolled arm in arm along the seawall, conversing in soft tones, enjoying the serene evening and the rising tide. Marshall spotted it before the walkers did. He had a practiced eye for these things. Its colors were muted in the dark, but with its long wingspan, legs, and neck, he easily identified the Great Blue Heron as it flew in and landed on the seawall. The water was too deep here for it to wade and feed, but Marshall enjoyed the visit. “Thanks for stopping by, big guy,” he whispered as it flew toward some boulders at the water's edge that would assist its evening hunt.

Overwhelmed by the stillness, he turned his attention from the water, inhaling deeply.

Cars: Chevy Corvette (1). These new ones are kind of cool, but the 1960’s were the best. 2 Hyundai Kona and 1 Hyundai Tucson. Whoa! A VW Bug convertible!! (Must be 1977?) 1 Audi A-4 and 1 Dodge van (looks like a painter owns them, with ladders on top), 2 Prius. 1 ugly Tesla truck (what a dog of a vehicle, it looks like a garbage dumpster)

Parking Lights: 4 yellow LED; 7 blue LED (they must be replacing them as they burn out. I hate the bright blue ones – they blind you and block out stars too).

Artwork: an old boat with plants growing out of it, a huge ship’s anchor hung from a pole, and a large “musical” object that has never played music because it’s too heavy for the wind to move. (I wonder if it was donated or if they paid for it?)

Marshall climbed back into his car; the moon reflected in his rear-view mirror. He counted the stoplights along the boulevard and, 20 minutes later, arrived home. He unzipped his jacket and pulled out the notebook.

Using the overhead auto light, he noted: 28 stoplights, 5 right turns, 2 left turns. 7 bus stops.

January 31. 9:18 pm. Marshall Stone, Jr.

Copyright © 2/4/2026 by Andrea O. Corwin

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