What Do I Love About the Ocean?

I was recently asked the question: "What is it about the ocean that you love so much?"

You could have asked me an easy question, like, what is the speed of light or the depth of the San Andreas fault. Those are questions I could look up the answer to and be relatively safe in answering.

But this question had me completely twisted into knots. So many crazy answers flooded my mind. I mean, there are a lot of people who love the ocean. They love going to the beach to sun, to lie in a beach chair and leave work and stress and hours of their lives behind.

But the ocean is more than that to me. I can't quite figure it out. I'm afraid of it, and have enormous respect for the sheer power of the water moved by the pull of the moon. I love to watch the birds along the shore, and the waves bringing in the sea foam. I pick up pieces of wood, shell and glass, tossed around for months, sometimes years, and they find a place on a windowsill for a while. I love to sit in the sand and run my toes down into the warmth and smell the salty breezes, and, after a while, taste the salt upon my lips. The rhythmic sound of the back and forth calm me down and all I can feel after a while is that same rhythm in my own breathing. I don't swim in the ocean, I have an absolute panic attack if I get in deeper than my knees. But I enjoy feeling the cool water over my feet and, although I have sand in my car for weeks after a long visit to the shore, I think I can live with that.

My dogs love the beach, too. It might just be instinctual. I remember bringing my best boy, Wiggle, to the beach for the first time when I moved back to Florida from Kentucky, which is where he was born and raised. I'm not sure who was more excited. He just loved the car ride but had no idea what the beach was all about. We got out, we walked to the sand and he freaked out a little. Sand was not something he was familiar with. When we got to the ocean, he stopped pulling on the leash and just sat down, unexpectedly, about 60 feet from the shoreline. And, he stared at the ocean. Just sat and stared. I sat down, too, and stared. It was one of those magic, weird, stunning bonding moments between human and dog. It lasted all of 17 minutes, give or take a minute, and then he discovered shore birds and other people and bicycles and water rushing at his toes and water rushing at my toes and oh, there became so much to bark at!

I love the colors of the ocean, and the sky is huge over the water. I love the colors of the sand and the shells and the beach grasses as they wave every so slightly in the breeze. I hear the music of the wind. When the sky starts to turn pink and purple and then dark fire red, it's just one of the most awe-inspiring sights in life. I'm happy to leave, and go home, and then when I get home, I can't wait to get back.

I need to find other things, other people, in my life that I have the same feelings about. And when, and if, I do.....look out.