California

Almost every year we spend the week between Christmas and New Years Day in San Diego. We have stayed a variety of places, from motels to apartments. This year we were blessed to stay in a beautiful condo.

 No matter what changes in our annual trip, the ocean is always there. The family line is "I love the ocean!"

 I never saw the ocean until I was 20 years old. I have dreamed of living on the beach since I was 13. The day I turned 21, I loaded a U haul an moved to Galveston Island in Texas, on the beach. I had a glorious year of looking at the Gulf of Mexico every day.

Life did not ultimately put me on a beach, but it did give me the opportunity to go to San Diego often.

I love the ocean. It is hard to express the emotions that being around the ocean bring to me. Joy, grief, contentment, and wonder. I feel the whole of the universe and the timelessness of God.

I need to say, I do not want to be in the ocean. I can swim.  I would just rather walk on the beach or sit and watch the waves roll in. I love sunsets over the ocean. I have looked for the green flash in every sunset for years. I hear I will have to go to Hawaii or the pacific islands to see it.

It seems to me that I am always planning my next trip to the beach. I think of all the places I want to go and the things I want to see, and I end up at the beach. I spend time scheming on how to live at the beach.

Then, the realities of California living rear their ugly head. The expense, the traffic, and the crowds. 

I have discovered that I can only handle about a week of the crowds and the traffic. I always think if I just never leave the beach, I can handle the crowds and I won't have to deal with the traffic.

I have scheduled my next trip to the beach. I still wonder everyday what it would take to live there.