I've Never Seen the Ocean

Someone asked me about the poem "I Never" and this post will help answer that question.

I finally put up my spring decorations and put out my summer ones. No, I did not still have bunnies and Easter baskets out, I had pastel glass bottles and forsythia branches-that type of thing-along with family photos. I have different seasonal photos that I change out. I like to change my knick-knacks from season to season. My summer decorations include vintage cameras, sand and shells with other natural elements as I find them. I am also looking to add vintage postcards from interesting places as I find them. 

To look at the items I have displayed you would think I have traveled to tropical locales and gathered them along sandy shores. Sigh. I haven't. I have never seen the ocean. I want to though. 

There are many places I would like to see but the ocean is at the top of my list. Space exploration fuels the imagination of young and old alike-they dream of traveling to the stars and exploring space. I find the ocean much more provocative. Its depths have never been completely explored, its inhabitants constantly surprise scientists. Seemingly foolhardy myths of ocean monsters are more understandable with the discovery of giant squid. There are creatures that have yet to be discovered. It isn't just a beautiful view that I am interested in, it is standing at the edge of an unknown world. 

I want to walk across a sandy beach and feel salty sea spray misting my face. I want the wind to whip through my hair and the waves to lap at my legs. I want to watch the activity in a tidal pool and dig for clams. I want to watch the sunrise and sunset over the endless horizon. I can imagine the delight on the face of my girls as they find the treasures of the beach, shells and sea glass and little creatures scuttling away. I want to hold Barry's hand and stare at the endless expanse of water. 

April and Jon's honeymoon in Hawaii yielded a small treasure box (okay-shoe box) of sea sponge, coral, shells, volcanic rock, weathered beach wood and sand. (Both chuckled a little when I asked for sand from the beach.) I have coral and shells from my Uncle James' Caribbean cruise when I was a girl. Coley brought me a beautiful shell from her trip to California with Barry's family. I have pictures of the trips that I want to frame and decorate with. 

I want to add my own to my collection. I even have my sand bottle picked out. I will fill it with sand and write out a little label and tie it on with twine. Hopefully when I am old I will have several bottles to take down and pictures to pull out so I can tell my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren about the wonders of the ocean and the God who created it.

You see, there are many things that I have not yet had the opportunity to experience and see. Many things. I know they are there awaiting me. I have seen enough pictures and read enough excellent descriptions in books to have a good glimpse in my mind of what it will be like. I have quite an imagination but I also have a desire to actually go and see and do. Emily Dickinson never went farther than a few miles from her home and by the end of her life she was a recluse. Her mind traveled the world but she did not. She wrote that a book can "take us lands away," but she never got to see them for herself. I want to see the things I have read about, I want sand on my feet.

Love,

Shawna