V is for Vacations

My kids thought this river is big. Just wait until they see the ocean!

This summer I will finally have the opportunity to fulfill one of my life’s dreams.  My family and I have plans for a beach vacation.  I am incredibly excited because my children have never been to the beach yet.

Back in high school, I did have the opportunity to see the ocean for the first time.  My family and I took a small vacation to the Jersey Shore.  The ocean was a magnificent sight.  Even though I knew that the earth is mostly covered by oceans, I never could fathom the true magnitude of these open waters.  My family and I thoroughly enjoyed our vacation, but since it was October, we spent only a small percentage of our time on the beach.   The majority of that time was spent simply walking along the water and soaking in the beauty.

Although it was much too chilly and windy for me to enjoy the water, seeing the ocean for the first time changed me.  It really made me sit down and ponder how vast the world actually is—how much there still remains for me to explore and discover.  The sheer power of the waves and the way the water blended with the sky stirred my soul.  And I returned home with a little bit of the ocean permanently imbedded deep inside me.  Once you see something so infinite and stunning, you can’t remain the same.  Such a scene awakens something within you that can never again be dormant.

For me, it awakened within me the desire to capture the beauty of nature in all its diversity.  Since then I have taken countless photographs and written quite a few imagery poems to celebrate nature.  Also, the historical novel that I began as a high school writing project is set by the ocean.  The chapters that I have finished are overflowing with the images and the emotions that flooded me during my time on the beach.  Even almost 11 years later, the mind-blowing wonder of the ocean still inspires me.

I am excited to see what memories my family and I will make on my second beach vacation.  But I am just as eager to discover how this second ocean experience will affect me. I wonder what new creativity these glorious waters will inspire next.