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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Camera Words

After living on the coast for half my life, it still astonishes me that in less than 10 minutes, we can reach the edge of the land and watch the ocean bundle itself, then unravel like a carpet of foam as it churns to shore. The other day though, the sea rested. A full-moon low tide vacuumed the water from the beach where it undulated under the haze of a mild afternoon.

About a mile out, our lighthouse sits on a ledgeonly that day, it didn’t. As the still ocean mirrored the sky, it formed an optical allusion and Minot Light stood suspended, the granite tower hovering above the horizon like a statue levitating over the sea. Sometimes when we are lucky, we catch an image like that on a hot morning in July but this time, it was an unseasonably warm afternoon in February. As we gazed over the sea wall, our lighthouse hung above the horizon as if strung from invisible wires.

It’s a given that this image would appear when yet again, I forgot the camera. Today, I’ll  consider that a good thing. The memory has provided me with an exercise, has challenged me to to extract essential words in an attempt to illustrate the moment via a different mediumso  you see it the way I did two days ago, when the vision imprinted itself like a photograph on my eye.

15 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You stretched your writing muscles and described the image most eloquently!

Andria said...

Lovely prose. Makes me want to move near the ocean even more than ever.

Jan Morrison said...

Wonderful writing. I also live near the ocean and have seen 'floating islands' - a most wonderful illusion.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

I love your phrase 'bundled itself". Wonderful imagery. You have an eye for the picture and the words that freshly describe it.

Colette Martin said...

Oh what a perfect description. Nice job!

Wine and Words said...

You wrote it beautifully! I was there. I saw. Thank you!

Brenda Susan said...

wow, you did it, you painted us a wonderful word picture! I could see it. What a great writing exercise!

J.B. Chicoine said...

I think you've described the scene wonderfully, but the phrase I really love is "watch the ocean bundle itself, then unravel like a carpet of foam as it churns to shore" ...I simply love how you describe the sea--always some fresh new words you put to it!

Bish Denham said...

"unravel like a carpet..." having lived on the ocean I know just what this is like. Lovely description.

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

I had no problem seeing the picture you took with your mind. Beautiful!

Helen Ginger said...

Sounds amazing. What a picture I envisioned from your words.

WritingNut said...

It sounds so beautiful!... I don't think you needed the camera after all, I think you've remembered it perfectly :)

Lydia Kang said...

I love how you described the ocean--how it bundles itself...that was amazing. This was a lovely bit to read and enjoy!

Erin MacPherson said...

Beautiful...makes me miss the beach (and dream of living on the coast). My family had a vacation home at the beach (in Oregon) growing up and I loved spending my summers by the water and in the sand.

Anonymous said...

I've always lived within a short drive of water. Can't live without it. Love the mountains and the desert, but I need water if I'm going to thrive.