Thursday, February 11, 2010
259 Words: Thin Place @ Sunset State Beach
Friday night and Sunset State Beach was strangely vacant. No surfers, no beachcombers, not even the odd dog. Maybe a seagull or two, and a wide swath of golden sand stretching along the eastern side of Monterey Bay. Evening was coming on and I sat on driftwood reading The Blue Fairy Book for a lit class at UC Santa Cruz. Trying to read, anyway. Between checking the parking lot for my wife’s car every few minutes and being equally unable to keep my eyes off the westward dipping sun, it looked like I’d be in for an all-nighter after our weekend camping getaway.
The sunset finally won my full attention. As the sun dropped to the horizon, the sky exploded—burnished amber fire—rivaled only by its blazing reflection in the water, and at last the surrounding sands. A perfect moment of glory—stunning, literally. Then God passed by and it was gone. The air, water, and earth missing the crucial fourth element.
Five minutes later my wife arrived. Traffic jam. Hadn’t seen the sun set. Despite my enthusiasm to share what I’d seen, undergrad English Lit vocabulary couldn’t convey the momentary vision of fire and glory. Spouses shouldn’t keep secrets, but what do you do when you want to tell but are unfit for the task? To this day it haunts me.
The sunset finally won my full attention. As the sun dropped to the horizon, the sky exploded—burnished amber fire—rivaled only by its blazing reflection in the water, and at last the surrounding sands. A perfect moment of glory—stunning, literally. Then God passed by and it was gone. The air, water, and earth missing the crucial fourth element.
Five minutes later my wife arrived. Traffic jam. Hadn’t seen the sun set. Despite my enthusiasm to share what I’d seen, undergrad English Lit vocabulary couldn’t convey the momentary vision of fire and glory. Spouses shouldn’t keep secrets, but what do you do when you want to tell but are unfit for the task? To this day it haunts me.
Labels: Thin Places
Mikesell
4 Snarky Remarks:
You always won Boggle in sixth grade. May your vocabulary expand to fill everything you want to express.
Karen (Rips) Macauley, at 1:28 PM
Wonderful. It is hard to convey beauty with mere words. Thanks for sharing your story. It made me miss the beach!
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Hello nice blog
