Water

I am fortunate enough to live about 5 minutes away from the Atlantic Ocean. Having grown up near water all my life, it definitely has a calming effect on me.

During the weekends, if I wake up before everyone else, I like to go and get my coffee and drive down to this bulkhead near where I live and just look out over the bay.

Some days the water is nearly smooth as glass, other days there is a bit of a chop and the reflection of the sun against the water just sparkles and glitters. I like to squint my eyes and see the light kind of dance around in a blurred vision.

We will probably sell our house in a few years, once the nest is empty. I would like to be a little bit closer to where I work since I have an hour and a half commute, but I can't be too far from some body of water to look out on.

I like the ocean though, I guess I'm a bit spoiled by it. There are people who have never seen the ocean. I can't even imagine that. I'm not a beach person, or at least not the kind that sits in the sand and bakes. The best time for me to go to the beach is either really early in the morning or late afternoon/early evening when the tourists and sunbathers have gone home and it's quiet and the sound of the waves have that rhythmic lull.

As a young child I remember when we used to go for car trips to visit relatives up in the northern part of NJ and when we came back home we'd be kind of drowsy from the day and the ride, but there was a certain point on the highway that we got to that I could tell even without looking, that we were almost home. It was the combination of smells that would awaken me. The salty sweet smell of the oceans and bays, creosote soaked pilings that are used to make the docks and the various bridges across the marshes that we cross over along with the scent of pine and cedar trees that grow in abundance here.

M grew up in Puerto Rico, so she was surrounded by water, but it doesn't have quite the same effect on her as it does me I don't think.

So, I think about moving, and the excitement and anxiety that brings. I tend to plant deep roots where as M is more the adventurous type and likes to move around a bit. We both agree that we don't want to stay where we are though. It's become too busy and congested and both of us would like to go somewhere and slow down a bit.

I just hope where ever we go, there is a lake or a river or even a nice babbling brook I can sit by and look at and recharge my batteries to.