A deep, creative and transformative process, which supports you through your holistic awakening journey and individual personal health revolution

A deep, creative and transformative process, which supports you through your holistic awakening journey and individual personal health revolution

An Elemental Love Story

by Rowena "Shoshannah" Ronson

Synopsis

The Greek Island of Skyros is the very special setting for a unique relationship between a young pelican, who fell from the sky during his family’s summer migration, and a blue mermaid (me of course), unintentionally abandoned by her family while visiting Atsitsa Bay. Both learn about connection, friendship, family and love during their precious time together, while exploring the elements. They share many adventures including a narrow escape from a raging forest fire. The tale is based on truth, as Poseidon did in fact stay on the island for a few years not so long ago, and I had the pleasure and honour of being his friend. I captured nearly all of these images while visiting Atsitsa Bay between 2006 and 2016. A few are from my trip to Kefalonia in 2018, and where Blue and Poseidon might well have visited in their dreams.

C1 - A Baby Pelican Falls To Earth
C2 - Birth Of A Mermaid Called Blue
C3 - The Lost Pelican’s New Family
C4 - Being Blue
C5 - Poseidon Go Fish
C6 - Abandoned Blue In Blue Water
C7 - Poseidon Go Fly In The Air
C8 - Blue Mermaid Lost and Lonely
C9 - Poseidon Meets Blue
C10 - Fire In The Bay
C11 - Beach Living and Daydreaming
C12 - Elemental Love
C13  - Not So Blue
C14 - Blue Poseidon
C15 - Marianna’s Dream
C16 - Lost But Now Found
C17 - Healing Through The Elements
Dedication

C1 - A Baby Pelican Falls To Earth

Not such a long time ago, on a beautiful and magical island not so far away …… our little tale began….
One summer’s day, as a flock of pelicans crossed the big sky from Russia to Africa, one very small and young one, born late in the season and not quite ready for the pilgrimage, found the journey just too much.
His wings were neither big nor strong. And as the flock flew over Greece, and specifically the Island of Skyros, and even more specifically, the welcoming and warm Bay of Atsitsa, this little baby pelican suddenly dropped out of the Sky.

Exhaustion had got the better of him and he could no longer hold himself high up above the clouds with his mother and the rest of his very extended family.
But as good fortune would have it, the great and wonderful Universe intervened and this precious bundle of brown feathers fell in exactly the right place at the right time…..
The baby pelican landed in the warm and safe waters of the Bay and swam around lost and abandoned until his eyes were too tired to stay open, and his feet too weary to move him forward.

There he floated, possibly for two or three days, while his family flew on, as they could do nothing to help him, nothing at all….

C2 - Birth Of A Mermaid Called Blue

Blue was named as such because she came from a sky blue egg, and she was born completely blue herself.
She was a total fascination to all the mermaids in their circle, at least for the first little while it seemed.
After that she became almost invisible, even to herself, as she was the exact colour of the sea.
She was also very good at hiding, as in truth, she really did not want to be seen – she really did not like the attention.
For her, she never felt one of the crowd, and never felt like she belonged.

C3 - The Lost Pelican’s New Family

Marianna of Atsitsa Bay, a beautiful fine young Lady with the generosity of an angel, the grace of the wise and the warmth of the sun was serving breakfast to the visitors of her Sunset Café.

Marianna looked out across the rocky cliffs at the deep blue sea below - as she often did throughout the holiday season - taking in the view that daily opened her heart and nourished her soul.

Her dark brown happy Grecian eyes made their usual scan of the little boats jostling up and down on the gentle waves, the small jetties with their uneven wooden planks, and the dancing patterns of the sun’s light filtering across the blue and green Bay waters.

All seemed good in her world.

Yet something caught her eye…. something new was in the Bay, something unfamiliar, which didn’t quite fit.

What could it be? It was small and was being rocked along by the gentle current. It seemed alive but somehow lifeless….. a hopeless, helpless creature beckoning to be rescued.

As she reached the place where rock meets sea, Marianna lowered herself into the cove and swam a little so that she could discover what this being might be, and if she could do anything to help.

Was it a chicken, a stork? It was very difficult to tell. She swam towards it, and she soon realised it was a baby pelican!!

So little and so vulnerable, she immediately lifted him in her arms to carry him to the safety of her Café on the rocks above.

The pelican was very scared because Marianna was the first human contact he had ever had in his very short life on Earth.

Her family gathered round. Her boyfriend Fotis, her father Constantine and her various close friends who worked with her at her Café all looked on in amazement.

They started to make a plan on how to revive this baby bird unexpectedly in their care, and bring him back from his weakened state to Life.

But they had no idea how well he would respond…..!!

They made a little bed for him inside a cardboard box with plenty of holes for him to be able to breathe. They put some fish and water directly in his beak as he was unable to feed himself, and they settled him down for a big long sleep.

They were doing their very best to copy how his mother would have taken care of him, making him feel safe and secure.

He needed to be left alone overnight while Marianna returned to her home on the other side of the little island.

In the morning, to her great surprise, her brown feathered new family member had broken out of his little bed, and was waddling all over the place, curious, surprisingly without fear, and certainly wanting attention!

There and then, Marianna decided to name him ‘Poseidon’ the Greek God of the Sea.

C4 - Being Blue

Blue was part of a family of twenty two mermaids who made their home in the waters surrounding the islands of Greece.

Blue was one of the younger members and her mother found it quite easy to ignore her needs, as she really kept herself to herself and hardly asked for a thing.

She would go swimming for hours on her own, making friends with the starfish, crabs and sea horses who also made their home in the Aegean Sea.

Her solitude sometimes was mistaken for sadness, and so it was not uncommon for her to be teased by way of a little tune ‘Blue by Name, Blue by Nature.’

She really did not feel blue or sad - she was just quieter than the other members of her family, and somewhat misunderstood.

C5 - Poseidon Go Fish

During the first few months after Poseidon’s sudden arrival, he flourished. His feathers turned from brown to white as he explored his new home.

He was still not so keen to feed himself though, so Marianna and her family provided fresh fish for him daily, caught by the local fishermen in the Bay. Poseidon dipped his long beak in a bucket full of fish and gobbled them all up.

Mama Marianna was trying to teach him how to be independent but he really did not want to fish for himself at all!!

C6 - Abandoned Blue In Blue Water

Late that summer, as the waters were cooling with the waning strength of the sun, the mermaids took a long and lazy swim around the island of Skyros, passing by the Bay of Atsitsa on their way through.

It was a particularly beautiful place that they found themselves in one morning in the early hours before any of the locals had woken.

They frolicked around in the shallows unseen, even surprising a sea urchin or two as they nestled in the rocks close to shore. As the sun rose, they decided to swim on lest they be seen…

The water in this particular Bay was the purest of blue and very similar in hue to Blue’s shiny scales.

The mother mermaid in her rush to leave, from the corner of her eye thought Blue was trailing slightly behind as usual, but what she saw was only the reflections of early morning light off the water’s surface.

Blue had slipped into a neighbouring cove for a mini adventure with a small school of slippery fish.

She returned moments later to an empty Bay, and her mermaid clan, gone as gone could be.

C7 - Poseidon Go Fly In The Air

Meanwhile, on the big white and clay-orange rocks overhanging the Bay, Poseidon was resisting learning to fly.

He was very nervous, and not surprisingly, considering his first experiences of being up in the Big Blue Above and Beyond.

The Sky for him seemed a scary place and he felt safer with his two webbed yellow feet on the Grecian solid ground.

Grandpa Constantine, Marianna’s father, was determined though and he would take him daily to the edge of the rocks and encourage him to jump off.

But Poseidon was very frightened, despite his size and length of his growing strong wings.
So one day Grandpa C decided that Poseidon needed a push. The time had come!!

They had spent several weeks flapping together. Grandpa C would move his arms up and down like he was flying, in the hope that Poseidon would copy him.

Flap, flap, flap. But no flight!

So it was decided that Poseidon needed to feel the fear and do it anyway!

And with his whole family as witness, Grandpa C gave Poseidon the push he needed. Well, it wasn’t exactly a push in the end. Grandpa actually lifted Poseidon up in his arms and threw him off the rocks!

Luckily Poseidon was not too shocked, as he saw it coming!

The family watched him initially drop like a stone, and they were worried that he would just crash into the water, which was quite a long way down. Worst still, they thought he could have hit the rocks and really hurt himself.

Poseidon was scared too as he catapulted into the air.

The initial upward direction of his release was followed moments later by a very swift bomb-like drop, as he succumbed to Earth’s gravitational pull.

For those nanoseconds while he was falling, he almost felt like he was flying, but as the land and water came closer and closer into his vision, he was forced into action and he knew he would just have to open his wings.
And when he did, what a relief it was, for all!
Poseidon felt hugely proud of himself as he swooped back up from close to the water’s surface to the rocks above. The feeling was absolutely amazing!

And each member of his family cheered him on by clapping their hands together. What a site!

And so he flew!

And he flew and he flew and he flew……

And he flew and he flew and he flew……

And he flew and he flew and he flew……

….. but …..

he did not know how to land!!

He flew up and down …..

swooping back and forth …..

and he seemed to be having a wonderful time …..

BUT he had no idea how to come back down to Earth!

The first time he tried he crashed into a tree!! And a pine tree at that – with all its needles and cones - as the Bay is covered in thousands of them!!

Ouch!!!

The second time he fell onto a telephone cable nearby which luckily broke his fall.

The cable caught his left foot, which was fortunately quite large, and there he hung for a moment before he tumbled down to the ground, landing splat on his back.

Ouch again!!

It took him three days to learn how to land properly, and much like a little aeroplane, he found his landing corridor, the walkway from the little road up to the Sunset Café.

It was so exciting!! Each day he would take off from the rocks, fly across the Bay and then come back and land just in front of his home.

C8- Blue Mermaid Lost and Lonely

Blue resigned herself to having been abandoned by her family, although at that point, she only imagined she would be alone for a few hours.

While she waited and because she was quite grown up from all her little adventures, she managed to make herself a little temporary home.

She discovered a small, hidden cove in the Bay, with a comfortable, smooth rock to perch on and a space underneath it to slide, if anyone exploring the beach came too close.

There she stayed for hours, which soon became days, and the days soon became a few long weeks.

In that time, she did start to feel quite blue inside. She felt more lonely than she ever had before.

She was so well hidden, no one could find her at all.

She would only come out, when everyone else was asleep.

When she did, she would sit on the rock and look at the limited world she could see, lit up dimly by the star-filled sky.

C9 - Poseidon Meets Blue

Summer came to an end in Atsitsa Bay, and Marianna, much like the migrating Pelicans, made her seasonal switch to Greece’s capital, Athens, and her father, to the other side of Skyros island.

Atsitsa Bay becomes a quiet little deserted place between the Autumn and Spring and the only plan the family could come up with was for Poseidon to live mainly on his own for those months.

A small team was formed to check on him, Grandpa C being one of them.

He would come over every few days to see Poseidon, who was provided with fish in his special bucket by the local fisherman, daily, so he never went hungry.

And the air started to chill with an Autumnal light wind in the Bay.

When Blue peeped out, she started to notice that there were fewer people about during the day, if any.

And so she allowed herself slightly more freedom.

She initially started to feel safe enough to sit on her now familiar rock in the cool morning breeze, and in sunlight she saw so much more than she had before.

It felt like a whole new world had opened up for her.

Instead of the mysterious night-time shapes and shadows, she could now make out all the pine trees that stood firm and strong, protecting and sheltering the Bay throughout the seasons.

The colours were so beautiful, and she appreciated them even more because she had been in hiding for so long, in a space and time where all was dark.

Greens, whites, blues, oranges, of every hue – and the full spectrum of light reflected in the fresh Bay water - a delicious feast for Blue’s newly awakened eyes.

Blue started to take long swims at midday when the sun was at its warmest, and the waters, less chilly.

She explored the shallows in the coves and the deeper waters around the small island sat in the middle of the Bay. She was always mindful to not swim too far just in case she lost her way ‘home’.

Each day, she hoped and wished her family would return for her and so she never wanted to venture far just in case that was the day they came.

One day Poseidon flew over the cove on his own little adventure, and spotted her sitting on her rock, glistening blue in the sun.

The very first site of each other proved to be a shock for both Bird Boy and Fish Girl causing Poseidon to swoop back up the rock face as fast as he could, while Blue dived back into the Sea.

This same little dance occurred for the next few days until Poseidon took the risk and made a shy landing on a rock on the other side of the little beach.

There he sat, staring at the little blue fish girl, while she stared right back at him, this big white bird of the sky. What to make of each other?

Each day he would land on the same rock but allow himself to then move a rock closer, until eventually they were sitting right next to each other, side by side.

They created a way of understanding each other, and to their mutual delight this unexpected, yet most welcomed friendship evolved over the remaining months of winter.
Just being together made hours pass like moments, and in what felt like no time at all, Poseidon’s family returned in the Spring for another season in the Bay.

And as he promised, Poseidon kept Blue and his growing friendship with her, their Little Secret.

Each day he would land on the same rock but allow himself to then move a rock closer, until eventually they were sitting right next to each other, side by side.

They created a way of understanding each other, and to their mutual delight this unexpected, yet most welcomed friendship evolved over the remaining months of winter.

Just being together made hours pass like moments, and in what felt like no time at all, Poseidon’s family returned in the Spring for another season in the Bay.

And as he promised, Poseidon kept Blue and his growing friendship with her, their Little Secret.

C10 - Fire In The Bay

In the June, disaster struck the forest surrounding the Bay.

A ravenous and raging fire broke out one morning and Marianna and Poseidon both spotted smoke rising from deep in the forest.

Marianna immediately called the fire brigade while Poseidon looked on stunned, confused and scared as smoke poured down from the hills from the West.

Within half an hour eleven planes and helicopters arrived from Athens dragging water up from the sea in the Bay to try and put the fire out.

Blue kept herself totally hidden under her rock while the planes flew overhead. She was terrified and had no idea what was going on.

She could hear lots of shouting from many different voices above the rocks and the vibrations she felt from the helicopters was deafening.

Everyone in the whole area, including all the guests who came to visit every summer, were told to leave, as the flames ravaged the forest.

The wind was howling that day forcing the fire to race across the skyline.

The inferno was completely out of control, as the blaze scorched through the pines.

Poseidon was not only scared for his human family, he was also very worried for little Blue, who he knew was all by herself in her cove.

As soon as he could, he flew down to find her, hoping that no one would spot either of them, with all the distractions going on.

He found her shivering and shaking, so he spread his wings out and wrapped them around her to give her a big comforting hug.

They soon decided together that the best way to keep themselves safe was to take a deep and long dive into Blue’s world, and far enough from the Bay that they would not be in danger. They did not want to be scooped up with the water by the planes!

While they were gone, the army came….

3000 soldiers in trucks arrived and Marianna’s Sunset Café was turned into their base for three whole days while they did all they could to put out the wild fire.

Tragically, it destroyed many thousands of pine trees, young and old.

Poseidon and Blue could see the black smoke and red and orange flames from afar and so they sensibly kept their distance.

Most of the time they took shelter on the far side of the small island in the middle of the Bay. The tides are strong there, and Blue needed to be really careful so she was not washed out to sea.

Poseidon worried about Marianna, the family and their home but he knew the best place for him to be right now was with Blue. They needed each other.

By the third day, as the hot summer sun rose, the fire was at last put out – every last golden flicker.

But the heat was still very much in the burnt ground and the whole area was covered in scorched trees and ash. The thunderous cracking of the fire was now replaced by a deafening silence, which filled the air.

The forest near Atsitsa Bay was looking more like a dark volcanic scene from Mars than the voluptuous earthy, lush green from days earlier.

If it wasn’t for the great work of the soldiers and firemen, the deep endless sea that put out the flames, and the prayers of the people of Skyros Island, this enchanted place would have been gone forever ….!

Poseidon and Blue only returned when all the strangers were gone, every last one of them.
And peace resumed for all in Atsitsa Bay…..

C11 - Beach Living and Daydreaming

Poseidon and Blue spent the rest of the summer being with each other as much as they could.

They discovered a secret beach cove just north of Atsitsa, where no humans ventured, as it was difficult to ramble through the brambles by foot.

Blue was able to swim there, and Poseidon would fly, and so they would have a place to meet every day and be there for hours taking in the gorgeous view.

Sometimes the sea was so calm that it looked like a mirror and perfectly reflected the trees, landscape and sky above.

They watched as the light danced across the water’s surface turning it orange, yellow, green and blue. It was almost magical.
The stones in the shallow water glistened and were multi coloured and quite beautiful.

Sometimes they would see tiny fish that always seemed to be the same colour as the stones they were swimming in-between. They were almost hidden from view, like Blue herself often was, and they had to watch very carefully so that they could spot them.

Poseidon really did love the sea and totally enjoyed the sensation of the rush of water through his beak as he pushed his head under the surface.

He would come back up again and sometimes take off before swooping back down.

And then he would sit looking at Blue swimming gracefully as ever. They really had a great deal of fun in the water!!

When they had had enough playing in the sea, they both swam back to the beach together to dry off in the sun.

Poseidon would then go through an elaborate washing and drying process, which involved cleaning each and every one of his feathers with the pointed little red hook of his beak.

The sight was amazing as he opened his wings to their full width glory and displayed all his long white feathers with their fine black tips.

When they were both warm and deeply relaxed and happy, having sat for a while in the peace of the sun, Poseidon would share stories of his experiences living with his family at the Sunset Cafe.

Of course Blue could not walk on land, so she could only imagine Poseidon’s life when he was not with her. Experiencing his stories filled her with such delight for him.

He was part of a family who loved him. She could really feel that love and she yearned for that herself.

She missed her own family, and she wondered if she would ever see them again. She also wondered if she would appreciate them more, if she were ever to be found.

Blue and Poseidon deepened their emotional connection and they could especially feel it when they looked into each other’s eyes.

And the darker months, they spent mainly alone, and very happy in each other’s company.

Poseidon promised Blue, that when he was big and strong enough, he would take her flying across the Bay on his back.

Poseidon was very excited when his family returned in May and the other visitors of the Bay started to arrive soon after. Atsitsa was busy and full of lots of happy people again….

Meanwhile Marianna and Fotis, her lovely boyfriend, had been growing more and more in love, and so they had decided to get married.

And in the June, the Sunset Café was turned into a place of celebration for their wedding, and everyone was invited, with Poseidon as the star attraction!

C12 - Elemental Love

It was later that summer that Poseidon decided he was strong enough to carry Blue up into the Sky with him.

First they had to practise balancing, and they did this playfully on their Secret Beach.

They discovered that if they were too wet, Blue would slip off Poseidon’s back almost immediately. But if they were too dry, she could not slide up on to his back at all.

But they had a lot of fun in the trying!

It was later that summer that Poseidon decided he was strong enough to carry Blue up into the Sky with him.

First they had to practise balancing, and they did this playfully on their Secret Beach.

They discovered that if they were too wet, Blue would slip off Poseidon’s back almost immediately. But if they were too dry, she could not slide up on to his back at all.

But they had a lot of fun in the trying!

So every day, not only did they swim, but they also flew!

They decided that during the day they would fly out to sea, where they could not be seen.
Hovering up high on a clear day, free from the occasional passing fluffy baby cloud, they could see nothing but the colour blue right across the horizon.

But there were of course so many different shades! The bottomless Sea was the deepest blackest blue and the Sky, the lightest whitest blue right near where the sun shone.

On one occasion they spotted a family of Dolphins swimming joyfully together in the distance. They hoped for a time in the future when they could swim with them.

And at night, they would fly over the Bay.
At that time Atsitsa would be beautifully lit up by the light of the stars and a couple of street lamps that threw out golden reflections on the sea.

And Poseidon and Blue fell more and more in love, with each and every adventure they took together.

And as their love deepened, Poseidon noticed one day that Blue was no longer totally blue. Her scales were starting to turn all different colours. In some lights, she almost looked like a rainbow!

The sun’s blinding light reflected back every colour imaginable and Blue became more beautiful than ever! Her inner beauty shone out of her whole being through her mirror-like scales. She not only felt the love – she was love itself.

C13 - Not So Blue

Later that summer, something very unexpected happened one morning at Sunrise, as Poseidon and Blue sat on her home cove rock – where they first met - looking out to sea.

They were waiting for the water to warm up so they could have a little morning dip, but to their surprise, suddenly the waters in the Bay started moving in a very unusual way.

It was as if something was bubbling underneath and they wondered if the Dolphins had ventured closer to shore, but they thought it was extremely unlikely.

They could make out a tail or two in the distance and some light coming from below. What was happening? Poseidon and Blue looked to each other for answers, but none came.

They watched on in amazement as the Bay waters continued to swish and swash.
Then out from the depths of the water came a beautiful, bright-eyed mermaid with a crimson red tail – big, bold and strong. It was Blue’s mother who was almost overcome with emotion seeing her daughter sitting there on the rock in the cove.

Blue’s family followed one by one and the Bay was lit up with colour and motion, joy and love. They explained that they had tried to find her throughout the time she had been there. Blue realised that she must have been either hiding or at the secret beach when they came.

This time, they were in luck, and she was very easy to spot in all her magical colours. They hardly recognised her, and they obviously were delighted to have found her at long last.
Later that morning, Poseidon and Blue had a very tearful goodbye. It was the hardest decision Blue had ever had to make – leaving Poseidon – her real, true love.

But she knew that she was still only a young mermaid, and she needed the care, love and support of her family at this time of her life.
Poseidon and Blue promised each other that they would meet up again, sometime in the future, in their Special Bay Cove.

C14 - Blue Poseidon

Poseidon sat on Blue’s rock as she swam away. He waited until the light no longer reflected from her mirroring self, as she disappeared into the depths with her family.

He cried Big Pelican Tears into the Clear Blue Sea.

Every stone he could see in the still waters reminded him of their adventures together, and of the Love he shared with Blue. He missed her so much.

For hours he sat there in the Cove, yearning for his Sweetheart.

And when he could cry no more, he flew out into the Bay for a different view, in the hope that it would make him feel a little better.

He saw the main house where the holidaymakers made their summer home, the bamboo huts where they slept, the Magic Circle in which they danced and the happy people walking back and forth to the beach.

He saw the little coloured boats bobbing up and down on the water and the big island sitting right in the middle of the Bay, where he sheltered with Blue the year before during the Great Fire.

And he saw the amazing rock ruins from the iron mines built many moons ago.

His heart rejoiced as he spread his wings, gliding so close to the surface of the Sea that he felt its coolness tickle his feet, just before swooping up into the Sky again.

For him, there really was no place like his home, Atsitsa Bay.

In the distance, beyond the lapping of the sea, he could hear the goats coming down from the hills with their sing-song bells chiming in harmony around their necks.

He felt he could fly around in the Bay taking in the sights, sounds and smells forever.

And then his thoughts returned to his soulmate, The Blue Mermaid, his newly lost friend of the Sea. He already missed her so much!

Over the next few weeks, his family were adorable, as always.

But there was a kinship he felt with Blue, that he was now really missing. He felt a hole and an aching inside of him that he had not experienced before.

One morning he was sitting on Blue’s rock again and he found himself thinking this….

If we open our eyes and our hearts, we can see and feel how we are part of a Much Bigger Picture and that we are Truly Blessed to be here and to meet those that we do on our own individual journeys.

This thought made him feel a whole lot happier, and he decided to think that thought as often as he could.

C15 - Marianna’s Dream

And so another winter settled in the Bay for Poseidon, but this time, without Blue.

And Marianna returned to Athens, now expecting her first ‘human’ child….

As Christmas approached, and Marianna’s tummy grew bigger, she took to having naps in the afternoons as she was feeling very tired.

On Christmas Eve she fell into a deep sleep and dreamed of Poseidon at the Sunset Café.

He was standing at the entrance ready to greet her but he was very, very tall and with his wings outstretched as if to embrace her.

She walked towards him, and he ran towards her, and they fell into one and other’s arms and held each other close, giving and receiving a very warm, and what felt like, Farewell Hug.

She woke soon after, surprised and a little unsettled…

C16 - Lost But Now Found

Meanwhile Grandpa C was actually in Atsitsa Bay making a visit to their feathered friend.
So Marianna decided to call her father and see how Poseidon was.

He told her that he had seen Poseidon earlier and had fed him as he normally did, at about six o-clock.

And as he was sitting by the Café afterwards, he looked up towards the Sky and surprisingly saw the Flock of Pelicans making their trip back from Africa to Russia.

They were late this year and were flying very low. There were probably about 100 of them, a much smaller flock than normal.

Poseidon saw them too but couldn’t quite believe it. He had never seen another Pelican before and he thought he was the only one!

Long white feathers, black tips, yellow beaks – this must be his family!

Poseidon had no memory of his early life before he arrived in the Bay.

He always saw Atsitsa as home and his family, as just that. He never questioned it in his mind, as he always felt he belonged.

He knew Marianna and the rest of the family were Human, and that he was a Bird, but beyond that, he felt no difference. Their love was real and true, and he felt completely accepted.

Poseidon started dashing back and forth up the flying corridor, not knowing what to think or do.

Grandpa C told Marianna, on the phone, that he was very surprised to see Poseidon acting in the way that he was. He also did not know what to think or do, so he decided to just watch.

Poseidon was frightened and excited all at the same time. But he knew this was his big opportunity and he needed to be really brave.

He had no idea how he was going to get up as high as the Pelicans were flying, but he knew he just had to.

So for one last time, Poseidon found himself on his familiar launch pad on the rocks by the Sunset Café.

Grandpa C followed him there and they waited for a moment together, both remembering.

This special spot was where Grandpa C taught Poseidon to conquer his fear of flying when he was the younger version of himself.

They took a quick and teary sideways look at each other and then they both looked again at the Sky Above and the disappearing flock of birds.

And then Poseidon quickly jumped, as frightened as he was that very first time, but he knew in his heart that he had his Grandpa’s support in his decision. Grandpa was always there for him.

Poseidon did not look back. He just couldn’t. He never imagined he would be saying goodbye, and even the thought was too painful to bear.

Besides which, he needed his eyes not be filled with tears as he soared.

Intuitively he started spinning and circling upwards, gathering height and speed with each loop.

To his surprise he was able to fly himself up and up, faster and faster and higher and higher, as if by a miracle.

Grandpa C could see from the Café, that Poseidon had managed to catch up with the Flock and he was relieved. Moments later, the speck that he had become, disappeared altogether.

Poseidon made the very brave leap up into the Sky - a ‘domesticated’ young pelican - to join his wild flock and return to his true family; his true home. Grandpa C was overwhelmed with pride.

Marianna had mixed feelings about the news. On the one hand she felt very sad that her baby had gone of course. She couldn’t stop crying …

But more so she was happy for him that he was brave and independent enough to leave and go and be with his kind.

It is every mama’s dream for her children to take flight and lead a fulfilled and healthy independent life….

Marianna was also struck by her dream and how Poseidon did in fact come to say goodbye….

And she was also completely overwhelmed by the timing, as she was now having her own baby and perhaps Poseidon somehow knew that….

All was good in the world.

C17 - Healing Through The Elements

Later that evening, Grandpa C left Atsitsa Bay for the last time that year, with no need to return until the following May.

The Bay was now quieter than it had been for a very long time. Winter settled in and it was the worst Atsitsa had seen for many years.

The days were short and chilly; the nights, long and cold.

It was if the lights had temporarily gone out in the Sky, as the warmth of Poseidon and Blue’s Love had vanished.

The Forest was bare and barren where the Great Fire had left its mark.

The Sea was rough and stormy, and the Sky rarely free from thick cloud.

It felt like the whole area needed time and space to grieve the loss of the unique and special union of the Pelican Bird Boy of the Sky and the Blue Mermaid Fish Girl of the Sea.

The Bay experienced an unusual amount of electric and thunderous storms that winter accompanied by huge downpours of rain, as if the Sky was crying.

And as always, winter passed and so did this much needed time for healing.

And in time, the days grew longer, the Sun’s rays strengthened, and up popped hopeful little green shoots from the intensely watered and nourished forest floor.

Spring arrived to Atsitsa Bay, in all its glorious wonder, and with it, the fulfilled promise of the beginning of a New Cycle Of Life.

Marianna was unable to run the Sunset Café for the holiday season in Atsitsa Bay that year, as she was busy nursing her newborn baby girl.

But as soon as she could, she came to visit, with her babe in arms, and the rest of her family by her side.

And she looked out across the rocky cliffs at the deep blue sea below - as she often did throughout the summer, taking in the view that daily opened her heart and nourished her soul.

Her dark brown happy Grecian eyes made their usual scan of the little boats jostling up and down on the gentle waves, the small jetties with their uneven wooden planks, and the dancing patterns of the sun’s light filtering across the blue and green bay waters.

And as she sat at the Sunset Café, she remembered Poseidon with love. And as she did, she started to fill up with immense joy.

Her memories of him were so real and strong; she could almost feel him there with her.

All was good in the world.

Dedication

To Poseidon who blessed all who visited Atsitsa Bay with his presence from 2007 to 2009.

Here are the wise words of Fotis, Marianna’s wise husband and father of their now two children, Urania and Orpheus…

‘Poseidon was much more than a bird. He was a wise old soul who communicated his love joyously. He came here to Atsitsa Bay because of love and the love remains.’

Fotis also said ‘Poseidon will always be with us. If we keep thinking about him, we will never lose him. You never lose anyone if you don’t stop thinking about them.'

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And here is the bird himself!

Dedication