Self-deprecation is worth its weight in smoldering phoenix-ashes and baby unicorn tears.

I'm still a couple of weeks behind in my postings, but I haven't written as much as I did when I was in Madrid.  (You all realize that was like twenty pages of crapola from there?  Wowzers.)

--

17 Apr 2008.  4:02pm.

The blessed sea spray splashes on my toes, washing away the sand and stealing my breath in its chill.

Oh, how I missed her.

Though it's a cold, clammy day, I can't help myself.  I dive in, eager to be enveloped by her again.  She's freezing but enticing, like a black widow in her allure and strength over me.  She's gorgeous, but she seems to suck the life out of me.

Yet I press forward, stroke after stroke, further into her icy embrace.  A thought flashes across my mind - something rather silly, but my mind works it around for a few moments.

It's funny how in most places where Spanish is spoken, the sea is called el mar.  But not on the coasts.  On the coast she is la mar, the life-giving mother, the enticing lover, so utterly and thoroughly female that to think of her otherwise is almost unnatural.

I swim for a couple of hours, out from the beach and around the craggy point, almost reaching the twin beach on the other side of the city before turning back.  She soaks into my skin, seeps into my bones, joins with me.

I'm hers once again.


Comments
on May 08, 2008


and when the day arrives
I'll become the sky
and I'll become the sea

and the sea will come to kiss me
for I am going home

nothing can stop me now


Nine Inch Nails, 'La Mer'

If any one song were to sum up exactly how I feel about the Mediterranean, that's the song. It's instrumental, calm, soft, and beautiful, so I demand that you listen to it.
on May 08, 2008
I can never be far from the sea...she calls me. I grew up on an island within walking distance of the black sand beach. Swimming preceded walking. In the water I am lithe, light...graceful. I miss her.


I've never lived near one until now. (The Great Salt Lake doesn't count - I don't even like to go within a couple of kilometers of the thing, it's stinky.)

I'm afraid of how much I'll miss her.
on May 08, 2008

You know, after we went down to Myrtle Beach, I was reminded just how much I love the beach, and being able to go into the ocean.  I really love it.  One of my biggest fears of moving West is being away from the ocean.

on May 08, 2008
One of my biggest fears of moving West is being away from the ocean.


I think I'm going to cross my parts for a grad school near an ocean.

But for the record, the Mediterranean is not just ANY sea . . .

She's my sea.
on May 08, 2008

I hear the Mediterranean Sea (literally in-between-land sea) is beautiful. I'd like to see it sometime. The only ocean I've seen is the Pacific. Gah. Maybe it's the beaches I've been at, but it seems too industrialized, not enough beauty, too gray. Granted, I'm never there at a good time. Maybe I'm just a critic.

on May 12, 2008

I can't live far from the ocean either.  I just don't feel right.  The furtherest I've ever lived from the ocean was a few hours drive.  Driving to the coast filled me with a feeling like I was going home.

Australia has some of the most spectacular beaches in the world, mate.  I'd love to show 'em to you one day.

on May 15, 2008
While mine is not the ocean, I am drawn to water but I thrive with mountains.

on Jun 04, 2008
I don't know why, but I've never been a big fan of saltwater. There's just something not right about salty water. Maybe it's corruption from Papa Jones snorting it for colds or gargling with it...but....ew.

I don't know...you all make it sound very romantic thought.

Hmm...gives me some thought.