“I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came.” – John F. Kennedy, 1962
I came to Cannon Beach today to go back to the sea. Late in the afternoon, the wind was blowing so hard it propped me up when I stood in place to watch the sunset. The sky was grey and ominous, but just before the sun started to drop, a tiny break in the clouds appeared. Through it I could see blue sky. It was like an illustration of Leonard Cohen's "crack in everything, that's how the light gets in." It closed up after a few minutes, and then the sun began its steady descent toward the water. My dog Charlie and I were the only ones on the beach at this point. The wind was ferocious. I yelled into it at the top of my lungs, and my voice was quickly swallowed up. I kept yelling, leaning into the wind (making barely any attempt to stand on my own). There was only roaring in return. The power of the waves and the wind and the darkening sky and the perfect shape of the ball of light was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before.
As soon as the sun disappeared from view, things got quieter, it started to rain ever so lightly, and the winds began to die down.
It was as if an orchestral performance, complete with several timpanists, had quickly swept across a stage and we were the only ones in the audience. It left me laughing and crying at the same time, and the whole thing gave me an overwhelming sense of peace and acceptance. Even gladness. There was no way to capture with my camera what happened, but of course I tried.
It may have been just too mystical.
