The Rhythm of the Tide
Gulf Shores Beach
Walking along the Gulf's edge, I stop to allow the white foam and salty serum to wash all about the ankles, feeling the massaging sand emptying beneath my toes. I watch as the glass like surface moves to and from the sandy bottom, curiously moving about the crushed particles of shell.
The white sugar beach extends for miles, dotted with chairs, bathing bodies, coolers and umbrellas. Children dash in and out of the white capped waves. Tidal streams create warm pools of green and yellow hues. The horizon flattens to meet the sky and the summer sun sends diamonds of reflective light dancing across the Gulf waters. Minnow like fish tease one's legs, and sand fiddler crabs offer a pinching greeting then quickly disappear beneath the sand's surface.
A lingering glance out and beyond the waves breaking above the sandbars, remind one of the youthful gazes that held the awesomeness and the wonder of what lay beyond the water's horizon. The flowing and changing of tide, the endless Summer, the endless spirit of youth, these thoughts would combine with secret expectations, hopes, and dreams, never sensing any possible detour or shipwreck in life. The Gulf grants the gift of an endless dream, endless sense of wonder while combining with the endless sight of sea and horizon, sky of blue.