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Close to three-fourths of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans, a
vastexpanse of blue that has boggled the minds and stirred the imaginations
ofhundreds of human beings throughout time. The largest ocean on planet Earthis
the Pacific – a word meaning calm and peaceful. There is an old adageabout the
Pacific Ocean, they say it has no memory. I would have to agree.I have lived
next to the ocean all of my life. I have fond memories ofbathing in the Black
Sea in Odessa as a young child and now live severalshort blocks from Ocean
Beach. I find that as long as I'’m near an ocean I amsomehow calm and at ease.
I cannot spend all of my time, precious as it is,on the beach. Life and my
duties constantly call me away, but when the realworld becomes too stressful for
me I come to the ocean and I let it erase mymemory. Going to the Pacific
Ocean is a special event for me, and I usually setaside a significant portion of
my day whenever I go there. I set out in thelate morning with a bottle of water
and a thick sweater, which provideswarmth against the strong ocean winds.
Walking west down my street I take aleft and then a right onto prominent Sloat
Boulevard. Westward again acrossa bridge that hangs over Sunset Boulevard and
the place where a speedingdriver killed my grandmother less than a year ago. At
this point in myjourney I usually slow down, my eyes searching for the little
bouquet offlowers my mother leaves every Sunday at that spot, the words of
theMourner’s Kaddish (the traditional Jewish Prayer said for the
dead)automatically enter my head. I walk on, and as I break free of the
line of trees that surrounds SunsetBoulevard the first blast of the ocean’s
wind hits my face. Onwards past therows of sun soaked and wind beaten wooden
houses with their continuousconcrete front yards that are so typical of the
Lower Sunset, I walk downpast the abandoned bus stops of the eighteen and
twenty-three, past SloatGarden Supply with its withered greenery, and past the
faded head of theever-so-famous Doggie Diner where hot dogs are just $1.25. Then
past the newapartment buildings whose garish bright colors clash with the
matching greyof the sky and the road. After the apartment building I am
met with the four lanes of the GreatHighway. Walking cautiously across, I
don'’t let my eyes stray from the roabeneath my feet, leaving myself with the
taste of impatient anticipation. Myeyes remain pointed downward as I plod up the
embankment of sand as though Iwere walking towards a great temple or a monument
to an awesome god. I watchevery slow painstaking step until I am finally at the
crest of the bluff,only then do I let my eyes flick open, only then do I let
myself be engulfedby the majesty and grandeur of the Pacific Ocean. My
eyes dilate, their color switching from green, the color ofpensiveness, to blue
the color of peace. I scale down the bluff and walkalong the beach, my feet
kicking up small mounds of sand. I scout out myfavorite comfortable spot, a good
distance from any other people, and sitdown with my back against a sand
dune. I sit mesmerized, in a trance. I look into the waters of the ocean,
watchingthe colors tumble over each other. The salt of the brine nips at my
lips.The crash of the waves and the rush of the wind fill my ears with the
soundheard by thousands around the world, a sound that has been enduring
forcenturies and will continue to do so for centuries to come. I look out
ontothe leagues of water stretching like blanket as far as the eye can see.
Thewaves come in and out, governed by the laws of the moon and imbued with
thesame rhythm that has captivated humans for centuries. The ocean, the
source and sustenance of all life, has remained the samesince the beginning of
time, its’ might revered since the dawn of humanity.While we humans go about
our daily business, while we fight our battles andwar, the Pacific Ocean
endures. That is why they say it has no memory. It isa pillar of strength and
hope and thousands have looked across its’ endlesswater dreaming of faraway
lands and a better life. For me the Pacific Ocean brings peace and
confidence. The ocean pulls me in,takes my memory, takes my worries and washes
them away, washes me clean. Theocean renews, calms and reassures me. Coming to
the ocean, for me, is likecoming to something that is as intimately familiar as
my home or an oldfriend. |
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