Traveling Thoughts

It has been eons since I've been on an airplane at night.  Last night, as I flew home from California, I got to watch the sky outside my window grow darker as we headed east.  I saw snow stream by in the lights as we headed into Denver.  On the way from Denver to OKC, I saw the full moon above us, and saw it shine on the wing and the clouds below.  As we got below the clouds before landing, I saw the lights spread out below like jewels, rare and beautiful and sparkling in the dark.
Our world is indeed a beautiful and magical place.

Moon through an aircraft window.

The ocean has such mystery and power.  Even when we see it on a mundane day, when people are out enjoying it, and it is relatively calm, there is a sense of the vastness, the potential, the eternal nature of the sea.

Moonlight on the ocean

 

 

Waves at night.

Surfers waiting on waves.

It's been a long time since I've been near the ocean.  I missed listening to it.  Missed the smell of the salt spray (and the hint of petroleum in the air). Missed the cry of gulls over the waves, and the way the sea seems to mute every other sound.

The waves whisper of faraway places, long ago times, adventures, losses, dreams.
No matter how big the ship, the sea is always stronger than it seems.
Though the land seems solid and unchanging, the sea knows
That this isn't so.
For over the years,
The sea ever so slowly
Moves and subtly changes
The face of the shore.
Also the storm winds and waves come,
And change the shore a lot. Suddenly.
The sea has moods.
Friday evening the sea
Was loud and crashing and rattling
The pier as we walked in the dim lights.
Sunday afternoon
It was playful
 Calmer
But not tame.
The sea is never tame.
Especially not the so-called Pacific
Which is cold, and drops off the California coast to sudden depths, and has evil fast rip tides that draw swimmers too far out before they know what's happened.


To feel the power of the waves hitting the pier, to see how excited my grandniece got feeling the waves shake the pier, and seeing and hearing the water below us, was sweet and beautiful to me.
 Yes, it has been far too long since I spent time with the ocean.