I Love Swimming In Warm Ocean Waters
The most pleasant experience I've encountered in my life has occurred in warm waters. I won't try to account for the reason this simple thing caused such great joy, though it reminds me: the simple things in life are the most profound. Far off O'ahu, I found myself in what seemed the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Past surf boards, past the wave breaks, next to sea turtles, I swam, rested on my back, watched the sky, then swam again. I looked at at the bright green around the Diamond Head peak, the tall buildings just beyond the sand, the horizon, where one blue merged with another. And, being inside aqua, pure aqua, pure warm aqua. Safe.
Suddenly--with no warning--rain began to pour. Wind drove up along the shore, and palms swayed their long leaves, picking up the pace until the leaves hurriedly waved their arms at me, “come ashore, come ashore.” I looked around, felt at peace, and began the long swim inland. As I arrived closer to shore, the small hurricane blew blankets, lunch bags, beach umbrellas. People hurried to shelter. Watching the turmoil, I waited out the storm, where a bottom sand met my feet, still floating inside the warm waters.
After the storm passed a bit, I rode the final waves to sand, walked up the sandy beach, and looked back at the vast ocean that held me during the storm.
