A calm day. Air heavy and hanging in stasis as I breathe large gulps of it- hungrily waiting for the taste of sea to consume me. It comes, eventually- soft and delicate at first- hinting at a deep expanse I have only ever dreamed about. I catch my first glimpse of far off lines- where blue meets blue- between buildings that stand like giants- blocking me from the water. For a brief instant, I can not see it... and then we are there.

Salt grass thrusts dusty fingers through the sand- shifting against each other as they are parted by human legs- human feet treading on their course backs. I have taken off my sandles- burning sand a welcome change from normal leather. Here, there is magic in each tread as I set my virgin toes upon the glistening brown- tossed for millenia beneath the waters I have only dreamed of.

There She is- long and luxurious- sunning Herself beneath the crisping sun. Soft waves- from a distance!- crash upon the swimmers- tossing small bodies with care and some indiscretion. Some times, it appears she is gentle- holding up humanity and letting them rise above the waves, instead of beneath. The next instant, she changes- slapping them about with the unruly force of some mother bear. I watch this happen- I listen to the waves- I smell the salt and my eyes consume the color of blue no photograph could ever do justice. As I walk- faster now- towards the water... I realize that I had been waiting for this reunion for a very long time.

Though I had never seen Her- nor touched Her- nor been embraced or upheld or scolded by her water and brine and beauty... I had always known Her.

This is what I remember- the first time I saw the Sea...