The Moon in the Water
And Other Tales of Inspiration for which I Am Thankful
I am lying on my back on the deck of my uncle’s cabin cruiser. We are perhaps ten miles off shore in Lake Huron. No lights shine except for one—the moon. Butter yellow, it glows in the sky like a beacon to me and my ten-year-old soul, and the water in which I have always felt as home as on land, reflects the call—Write about me. Describe me. Place me in a scene.
Perhaps the call came to me earlier than that. I didn’t answer it until many years later. And always I come back to that scene, that moment when that sailing moon invited me to sail along on wild adventures of the heart.
Water still inspires me and lifts my spirit in a song of thanksgiving. Rain sends me to the window or onto the balcony to listen and drink in the freshness. Snow compels me to grab up coat and boots and go for a walk.
Recently, feeling burned out from too many upheavals in my life and too many writing deadlines, I took advantage of the fact that I live 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. Within five minutes of walking along the beach, the surf roaring in my ears, the water lapping at my legs, my soul felt washed clean, my spirit renewed.
I am apparently not the only person who finds renewal in water. A survey conducted a couple of years ago found that the happiest of people live within a half mile of some kind of water. I live about half a block from a resaca, a kind of natural canal, with a walking path beside it and ducks upon it.
I am thankful for many parts of God’s creation—my husband, my dogs, my cats, the scent of jasmine in the spring—and nothing makes me more thankful than the gift of water.
I am thankful for many parts of God’s creation—my husband, my dogs, my cats, the scent of jasmine in the spring—and nothing makes me more thankful than the gift of water.
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Bestselling, award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes used to lie in bed as a child telling herself stories so she didn’t wake anyone else up. Sometimes she shared her stories with others; thus, when she decided to be a writer, she surprised no one. Family Guardian, her first book, won the National Readers Choice Award for Best Regency in 2007. In the past three years, she has sold six books to Baker/Revell, five of which are set during the Regency time period, five books to Barbour Publishing, as well as two novellas to Barbour Publishing and one to Baker/Revell. Seven of her books have been picked up by Thorndike Press for large print publication, and Lady in the Mist, her first book with Revell, was chosen for hardcover publication with Crossings Bookclub. She also teaches on-line writing courses and enjoys a speaking ministry that takes her from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast. Laurie Alice lives in Texas with her husband, two dogs and two cats, and is learning how to make tamales.
