“On approach, it became instinctive: throttle back, prop on full, mixture rich. Check the flaps. Check the wave pattern and look for the wind. No landing gear to worry about, just those big old floats underneath. Left hand on the wheel, right on the throttle, ready to add that dash of power just before touchdown to grease the landing, and a wiggle of the rudder pedals, just to be sure they were loose and ready to use. Complete focus, no distractions. These few minutes, and those right after takeoff are what pilots live for; this combination of mental and physical perfection. A splash and then he was down, just that quick, just that easy. Andy’s left hand relaxed, the motor went idle and only his feet were working now.”

                                                                          ~ from the as yet unpublished novel Dolphin Key by Diana Taylor


Nights in South Florida tend to be warm. The sky is usually clear permitting constellations, still unfamiliar to me, to appear every night as the sky changes from midnight blue to black; a living Maxfield Parrish painting.
 

"Stars" by Maxfield Parrish

It has become my habit, my prayer really, to step outside before retiring to say goodnight to all that is good. The coconut palms sway gently in the breeze, the crickets sing, and the stars twinkle.

Airplanes arriving at Ft Lauderdale Airport make a low and slow approach.
 


Against the night sky, they are a graceful assortment of navigation and beacon lights; moving constellations.

A while back, as a gift to myself for a milestone birthday, I got a tattoo of the Southern Cross, a little latitude constellation.


It served as my talisman of sorts; a pledge to myself that one day I’d move from my home in New England to a warmer climate where the Southern Cross would be a regular part of my night sky. It was, in effect, a living vision board.

Most people are probably familiar with the concept of vision boards. The object is to gather images of one’s desires, post them in a visible place, gaze upon these images regularly and, while taking action, feel them into reality. 

The Southern Cross on my heart guided me to the nighttime skies of South Florida where I now live.  And while the stars that comprise the Southern Cross make their home in a latitude a few degrees smaller than mine, I understand that my dream has come to fruition.

This week marks the year anniversary of my move from New Hampshire to South Florida, the year anniversary of a dream made true; a dream manifested into reality. In celebration I’m heading south to the Florida Keys which is just a couple hours from my home.  While there, I’ll walk through the Bird Sanctuary in Tavernier Key, have a little dinner in Islamorada and a take a peek at a 5 star constellation called the Southern Cross.

And somewhere along the way I’ll stop at Dolphin Key, the home of Morgan Taylor and Andy Dalton (the pilot in the passage which began this writing.) They live right there in Dolphin Key and also on the pages of the novel that was my first foray into writing many years ago. Morgan and Andy were a talisman of a different kind and they, too, kept me focused on the vision I had created for my life.

I invite you to create your vision for your own life. Where do you want to go? Who do you want to be? How will you choose to live your values and beliefs and principles? And which talisman will YOU assign as a sentinel for your realized dreams?

<*)))><{

Make it a beach day, whatever that looks like for you!

Copyright 2009 Diana Taylor, Pug At The Beach
Photos courtesy of these sites:
For copy & paste:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxfield_Parrish (Maxfield Parrish)
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/electronics/q0263.shtml (aircraft lights, great photo)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crux & www.phys.ncku.edu.tw/~astrolab/mirrors/apod_e/ap050130.html (Southern Cross)

Look for Diana's new website coming soon.
Photography. Writing. Book Coaching.