This morning around 2:00am Syndi and I were awoken by the sound of a helicopter. The thundering sound passed by our window
and unexpectedly passed by again. I layed awake staring at the ceiling fan, wondering how in the world such a noice could
come from the slow turning blades. Syndi said to me "Do you see the light?"
"Not for many years", I thought to myself but then isn't this a strange conversation for the middle of the night.
Then a light passed over our open windows to the canal, and I was jolted to full consciousness.
At the end of the canal directly outside our bedroom windows blue lights rotated wildly. We could see people
scurrying around on one of the docks. The helicopter would shine it's light at the dock for a moment, then seem to point
the light randomly as the whilrybird careened in lazy circles.
About 25 minutes from our awakening the lights stopped spinning, we watched a small Coast Guard boat idle back out the
channel past our window and towards the river. With no lights on all we could pick out was the orange stripe and the
crackle of radio calls over the sputtering outboard motor.
Quiet then returned to the canal, a loud splash soon followed. Reassuring normality as a pelican's relentless
appetite drove him to take countless headers into the darkened water.
"I hope he caught one that time", I thought to myself as I tried to fall back into the stupor of slumber. "I wonder who
they caught, everybody is so hungry..."
