Member-only story
Big Water
A connection piece
I live in the Great Lake State, and the Great Lakes are, in fact, great, but the ocean is my favorite.
I saw the ocean for the first time when I was sixteen, on a marching band trip to Florida. We went to Cocoa Beach, I think, and played on a day cruise to Grand Bahama. While we were on the island, I went parasailing and was gobsmacked (one of my favorite words) at the sheer vastness and beauty of it. Seeing a large, dark shape swimming far below was a little creepy, but in a really awesome way.
I can’t explain it. The combination of the power of the waves, the salt air, and the knowledge that the other side is thousands of miles away just fills my soul with exactly what it needs. I feel at peace.
I know a lot of people who prefer the lakes and I understand that, I really do. The lakes, both Great and smaller, are wonderful. They also have a lot of power, there isn’t any salt, and there are no sharks, for the most part. (Bull sharks do swim up from the ocean into rivers and the lakes that connect to them sometimes, but never as far as the Great Lakes. That we know of, anyway.) I grew up spending every summer in one of Michigan’s many lakes and it was something I always looked forward to all year long.
There’s just something about the ocean, though. The energy is different.
I miss it.
Originally published at http://juliabbb.wordpress.com on July 25, 2020.
