Dreaming Out Loud - By the Seashore

Photo found via here

I'm drawn to the sea.

Maybe it's because I'm an Aquarius.
Maybe it's because I spent summers on the Cape.
Maybe it's because I love all shades of blue.
Maybe because my ancestors are from an island.
Maybe because I work on one now.
Maybe because I grew up in the "beside the long tidal river" in a town called the "land of swiftly moving waters."
I'm not quite "shore."

If I can't get to the ocean, a river is fine. If I can't get to a river, a brook will do. If I'm stuck in a cubicle, I stare up at photos of the ocean. My meditation ritual is envisioning my favorite beach as the tide goes out on a sunny early fall day as the sun sets. I also have other mental meditation rituals involving water.

I don't know what it is, exactly, but for me - there's something about the combination of sky and surf that is a balm to my soul.

I love the push/pull of the tides; the waves that offer and retract new discoveries with each wash up on shore. I love the breezes and the gales; each satisfies a different need for me. I love the differing colors of the sea, from its browns, greens, to its azures and blues. I just ... love it. I need it.

Despite the inherent risks of living so close to nature, lessons learned with the tidal surges, hurricane havoc, tourist torrents, and ever present errosion issues, I dream of having a little place by the sea.

Maybe a little classic cottage that has weathered the weather on the Bay, with a private dock, decking for cozy Adirondack chairs for reading away the afternoon, or a cozy conversation with friends. Something like this, though I would have to paint the fanciful trim another color, say a deep green, to reflect how it was all through summer visiting the Cape as a teen and/or to be like Anne's Green Gables.

Mayo Beach, Wellfleet, MA

Or maybe a classic shingle- clad cottage with backyard access to the beach?

Lower Cape, MA

 A place close to the beach where you could run down the stairs, past the "parking,"

walk the sands for hours, or sit and watch the tides go out over the flats for miles,

 Or park a chair and watch the skies put on a display.

I don't need much. Just a little Cape, with room maybe for a piano, lots of room for bookshelves, a sunny little eat-in kitchen, with lots of light, a little back deck with room for a lounge chair, maybe a pergola for some wisteria or a combination of moonflowers and honeysuckle. The yard needn't be large, as I'd be there for the beach -- to walk at sunset (let's be serious, I'm not a sunrise person), or on nights of a full moon.  So I could meander, collect sea glass, sea shells, driftwood, take pictures, ponder, relax, and enjoy.

And good 'Net access.

If I could work from the beach, the deck, or my Adirondack chair -- that'd be perfect! A girl can dream, can't she?

Photos by me, from various recent Cape Cod Girls Trips (2010-2011)