I decided to take my own advice and take some time to relax at the beach. Its was later afternoon, but absolutely a stunning day at the beach. I looked up and saw these clouds right in front of me. I thought to myself, it’s a dragon and a centipede squaring off. Underneath, another cloud formed and I thought, ah, Thor flying in his chariot towards them is coming to intervene. I laid back and watched for the longest time. The centipede looked to be hurling poison towards the open mouth of the dragon. They were getting closer and closer and I was wondering who would win. After about 45 minutes, I looked away and saw an egret who was just putting his feet in the water, testing to see if he should go in. The egret was not unlike a human testing the water for temperature and feeling what was underneath his feet. He jumped a few little ripple waves and seemed poised to go in further when a dog ran by and he flew off.
With that scene settled, I looked back up at the clouds. The centipede had entirely dispersed and the dragon had turned and run. I guess it was Thor scolding both of them for fighting.
I decided to walk down and test the water myself. It was still quite cool. We have had a very cool summer with temperatures in the 50’s at night or about 12C for those of you reading outside the US. The days are pleasant, low 70’s, which is not warm enough to bring up the cold temperatures of the Pacific Ocean this year.
It was peaceful at the beach. Families had mostly left, and the surf camp had ended. It was the kind of day when I lived near this beach that I would linger until the sun was setting. But alas, I had to get in my car and drive the 35-40 minutes to my house. Still the peaceful, relaxing feeling of it stayed with me well into the night. It is good to step away from our work and just connect and relax in nature. The ocean has always called me.
Reflections Outside My Window 