Preoccupied and muddled with the business of sorting, packing and preparing to move, my eyes have not been focused lately on the daily beauty of this paradise-like beach setting I have called home for three years. With little time for walking on the beach and a mountain of preparations to work through, the sights outside my doors and windows have passed unnoticed these last days. It’s been more like closet dust, jumbled drawers and hidden corners of stashed books. I sat out on the patio a few days ago with friends from up the street but for the hour we spent catching up, I never once turned my eyes to look out at the ocean and sky. And then a friend came out today to pick up his fishing equipment, a well-rounded collection that has been stacked in my utility room for a long time. When he first got here we sat for a while on the patio, him smoking and me gazing out at the deep blue simple of ocean and sky.
After a week or more of not noticing, it suddenly hit me how spectacular this life I'm giving up truly is. I have been blessed to occupy this space along the Atlantic coast for the past thirty-six months. Most people would agree it offers a vista that never grows stale, one that can hold the eye for hours day after day. How many times have I taken a book out to the patio and immediately lost in the view never once opened the book? When I bought this property some years back, it was first of all for the view from the patio, and I expect the new owner had similar thoughts upon first looking out across the sand, surf and ocean blue and feeling something resonate in his bones.
With sunlight losing ground to the shadows of late afternoon, I walked down to the water’s edge on Saturday to wander for a time through the ripples of surf and its endless scatter of seashells. For a change, no boats or ships were in view and the ocean shimmered and heaved in an uninterrupted sweep of one hundred and eighty degrees. Related no doubt to my upcoming move, the scene this time was enhanced by a special clarity that made me linger until the sun faded into shadow.
No regrets about trading places at this point. I look forward to enjoying the diversity of country life every bit as much as I have enjoyed the diversity of this coastal setting. Hard for me to visualize now just what the daily cycles of nature will reveal out there on the back side of Oak Hill. But I’m game.
