MY OCEAN
I've always loved the ocean. Ever since I can remember ~ its been special to me.
When I was a little kid, I would go to the beach with my folks, and when I grew up ~ would go with my boyfriends.
I love to sit, and watch the waves roll into the beach. Thinking about Vikings sailing off to unknown lands! Pirates, and explorers braving storms in their little ships. Watching the kids play in the sand, and the surfers trying for that "perfect" wave of the day. Seeing the birds dive down for fish, and dogs running on the beach chasing driftwood. Same waves ~ same beach ~ that people have walked on for hundreds of years.
I live just five minutes from the beach. All the kids around here learn to surf. Kind of a tradition! As you drive down the highway, you can see them all lined up waiting for a good wave to ride. Some world class surfers have come from ths area.
Swimming is dangerous off our beaches. There is a powerful undertow that has swept many an unknowing swimmer out to sea. The Northern California beaches aren't like Malibu! Our's are rugged and wild. The water meeting cliffs, and huge rocks. That's what makes our coastline so beautiful.
Once in awhile the word spreads through town that there are dolphins in our cove. Everyone gets to the beach to watch them. My kids have seen them playing off our beach, but I never have. People have also seen whales as they head for Baja ~ I went whale watching last year, and finally saw some! I was thrilled to death! It was something I had always wanted to do.
While the ocean can be beautiful, it can also be scarey. During a bad storm ~ waves crashing over retaining walls, and destroying man-made barriers. Man can try to stop the ocean from claiming part of the beaches, but its a never ending battle. Several years ago ~ during some bad storms ~ the front part of town was flooded. You couldn't tell where the ocean ended and the town began. The kids were surfing through our shopping center that was under water! Kids can always turn a bad situation into something fun! When the ocean finally went back to where it belonged ~ it left alot of wreckage. Since then, the pump stations have been improved. Our city officials say it couldn't happen again ~ hmmmm ~ we'll see! Put together high tides, alot of rain causing the streams and rivers to run their banks ... and you have a perfect set-up for a problem. Fortunately, I live on a hill ~ and look down on all of this!
The ocean holds alot of memories and dreams for me. Like I said earlier ~ I go there alot to think and reflect. It's a good place to go when I need to get away from everyone, and just think. It's also a good place to go when I need to cry, and scream.
In alot ways, the ocean and beach are my "church". I feel close to God while watching the waves. Compared to the vastness of the ocean ~ man is such a small part of this planet. We run around and do our "thing" and make changes. Wars are started and ended ~ politics come and go ~ the stock market rises and falls ~ people are born and people die ~ we send stuff into space ~ we discover new things ...... and the ocean waves just continue to roll on to the beach. Day after day ~ year after year ~ century after century.
When my days of staring at the waves ends, I'm sure there will be another blonde to take my place ~ and wonder at the same things.
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