uncommons

I’m sitting here on the beach facing the Atlantic here on Hutchinson Island, off the coast of Port St. Lucie, and about a mile and a half from the house, lounging in a wooden folding chair from Target with Karla, writing a few lines from the beach on my powerbook connected to the internet via a verizon aircard — gracious, not only was that a mouthful (and I assure you not in an arrogant or uppity tone), but who would have ever figured that one could sit anywhere, plug in a card, and have virtually broadba nd internet at disposal. Only a few years ago I was freelancing for my hometown paper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, sitting on the cutting edge of technology with a AP NC2000e digital camera, a Nextel i1000 phone, phone to computer cord, and a Gateway2000 (remember them before they were retail?) laptop computer, crunching away a 1.3megapixel image coasting in around 128k, taking a good long while (maybe 3-4 minutes) on a zippy 9600 connection. It’s been a long way since then, and if I had the gumption I’d break out the Nikon D200 from the bag laying back in the car and make a frame of the water. Alas, sometimes it’s better just to relax and take in the scenery, so I think that justifies powering down the laptop and laying back on my day off.

But before I go, I find that there is something so incredibly invigorating about the beach — maybe it was Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his idealism that he described it:

“Behold the Sea,
the opaline,
the plentiful and strong,
yet beautiful as is the rose in June,
Fresh as the trickling rainbow of July;
Sea full of food, the nourisher of kinds,
purger of earth, and medicine of men;
creating a sweet climate by my breath.”

or maybe other poetry describes it better, i’m not sure. There’s one quote I keep searching for that I’ve longed since lost — it was a verse on the ocean as something that makes, renews, and forgets memories. I keep searching the poetry foundation, but I haven’t found it yet. If you’re interested in finding some ocean poetry, check out my favorite poetry radio show for more.