Thursday, July 25, 2013

Day 11

So once again I turn to the web for catharsis. It's been a long week - an emergency Saturday night flight, several political run-ins, and worse - on the back of an intense start to the month. I'm exhausted, and I've only been back for three weeks. How can I contemplate keeping on doing this?

But tonight, as once again I left work in the dark, I turned left instead of right. Took the six minute drive to the beach, the residual twilight glow leading me on. In my work dress and high heels, stepped out onto the sandy tarmac and meandered towards the dunes.

It was surprisingly cold. I can't seem to remember that I need warmer clothes up here, or carry them with me in preparation. So I hugged myself as I walked out onto the cool sand, the beach a runway of dark before the reflection on the ocean. The wide tidal stretch is firm under my feet, and it takes many more steps than I think before I register the boom of the waves.

As I stand with my feet in the water, a new star appears. A steady tone grows under the wave wash; the star resolves into two. I stand in the dark at the brink of the Indian Ocean and watch as a jet forms, dives, swoops over me to land at the airport behind.

The Milky Way streams as I turn, warmer than before.