Spring is (finally) here and we have had a couple of truly warm days. I have really become a sun-worshipper, as soon as the first rays of warm sunlight hit us I bring out my summer outfits and run to the nearest terrace, garden, park, playground, outside location.
Last Friday we went to a beach with a close friend of mine (and Yu) and it hit me. I live by the Sea. I was one of those girls who grew up in the 90's dreaming of becoming a Marine biologist. I actually wanted to work at the Sea World. That place really impressed me in all the good ways as a child and I thought it was doing a great job at taking care of animals in a humane, scientific, state-of-the-art way. (Then I saw Blackfish and all those ideas were shattered.)
Ever since then I fantasized with the idea of living by the water, one of those dreams that you have there on a shelf and never really actively pursue. But then, there are those dreams that you do pursue and I did go live and study in Barcelona, first as an Erasmus (Biology) student, and later to go to Vet School.
After which I moved to The Netherlands. If I start counting, that makes it almost 10 years of living by the ocean and I did not even notice. Did I assimilate it? Was it so much a part of me that I did not stop to think about it at all?
It makes me really happy and grateful to realize that maybe unconsciously, seamlessly some of the things I thought I'd do when "I grew up" I'm actually doing.
Do you have any dreams or places that have pulled you once and again?
Ahh! Yu and her little friend look adorable. You are so lucky to live by the sea. I don't remember giving it a thought growing up until M and I moved to Vancouver, I was so excited to live by the sea for the first time ever. And then Sydney, which was love at first sight. Where we live now is very far from any body of water and I miss it a lot. There is something so charming about cities surrounded by water, whether it's the sea, a river, or a lake; I am looking forward to living in a place like that again!
ReplyDeleteTHank you! It is so nice indeed, particularly on days with nice weather I have to say. (Otherwise you stay in the city, it gets so, so windy over there and when it is gray and rainy it feels like such a different place).
DeleteI always wanted to visit / do some internships at Vancouver (they have some seal hatcheries near right?) and it seems like a beautiful place. Your posts about Sydney make me want to come and visit.
And yes, water makes places special, almost magical.
I'm from the sea and it's SO hard to be away from her now. Whenever I go home or travel, I gravitate to her and spend as much time soaking in the salt air and the high energy.
ReplyDeleteI love how you refer to the Sea as "her". She is definitely alive, a presence. You are so lucky to actually BE from the sea, I have always been attracted to it, but I am a girl from the province... first lived in crowded Mexico city and then in an area that you could describe as semi-desertic.
DeleteI love living by the sea. We're currently by the see where we're staying with my mother in law. But we also lived by the sea in Tanzania, Libya, and Qatar, and Angola. That' said, I'm far from a sea-worshipper. I can barely swim, and hate actually going in the sea. I love seeing it, more an anything. No matter what the weather, it's always stunningly beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is so beautiful. I do like to go in the Sea , but only in warm weathers. There is no way I would swim here (so cold, the North Sea). Even the Atlantic and Mediterranean I find extremely cold (I was spoiled, growing up near the Mexican PAcific coast and being able to drive there at every holiday).
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