Ahh, the ocean...

It's never far from my mind. What is it about the ocean anyway? The sound of the waves, the taste of the salt, even the gritty, sandy peanut butter and jelly sandwich eaten under a palm tree...just thinking about it takes me there.

The ocean didn't always captivate me though, especially when I was younger. The beach was a place to congregate and socialize. You swim, you hunt for shells, you don't just sit there, come on! 

I'd go to the ice cream stand and grab a cone, chat with my friends for a while. Back on the sand, I'd find my dad in the same spot in the beach chair, smoking a cigar, looking out on the water.

Me: "Dad, what are you doing?"

Dad: "Nothing."

Me: "Don't you wanna go for a walk or take the Sunfish out?"

Dad: "Nope."

Me: "See anything out there?"

Dad: "Nope. Just watching the world go by."

Borrrriiinnnnngggg. While he watches the world go by I'm gonna search for fairy glass, then take a dip, then read my magazine, then get a burger...

For a while I thought it was an age thing. When you get older, you sit in your beach chair and watch the world go by. Is it really an age thing, though? I mean, I'm young and I like watching Lawrence Welk. Whoops, did I just say that? Okay, I don't really like Lawrence Welk, that just came out heh, heh.

Eh, all right I did watch Lawrence Welk back then. For research purposes. As a musician, you know...

Back to the ocean. At some point I realized that the ocean was far from boring. I think this truly hit home the first time I went to the Florida Keys. Fishing with my husband on the bridge, me with my chair and a book. Looking up from the book I started noticing the incredible variety of life that was all about. Some of it was on the business end of the fishing poles on the bridge. Some of it was in the water by the pylons, a rainbow of parrotfish pecking at the coral, a pufferfish zooming by at lightning speed, the clunky pelicans diving for their noonday meal.

And then there was the barracuda that followed us home one day.

Snorkeling about fifty yards off our campsite I happened to spot it just a few feet from us.

"Holy crap, a barracuda! Let's swim in!"

It was probably about 3 feet long from nose to tail, but it might as well have been 20 feet to me. We swam halfway to shore and I looked down again.

"Holy crap, he's still here!"

"People fishing out here must be feeding him," hubby said.

"Well let's get out of the water before he feeds on us."

I never appreciated all this when I was younger, took it for granted. Not any more. If you're an ocean person, you know what I'm talking about. If you're not an ocean person, try being one just for a day, or for an hour. Look out over the water. See the constant rhythm, the sunlight glinting on the waves. Feel the breeze brush against your face. 

A fish jumps. A boat sails by. There's always something happening, and it's still so calming nonetheless.

Keep watching. Who knows? Maybe you'll find your own story out there somewhere.

--TR, August 2010

Sunblog Archives:

Reflections on 2010

A Review of SEA BEGGAR

What do Soccer and Writing Have in Common?

The Appeal of ChickLit