by Larry McNerney

Created on: July 23, 2010

I stood in the driveway and stared at it again.   Some have flown over it, ridden on it, swam in it, driven by it, stood on the land and like me were mesmerized by it.

   Books have been written about it, poetry has tried to describe it and there aren't enough words to justify it, or   delineate it's boundaries.  We have statistics about the length, the width and the depth of it, yet it lies outside of our   understanding.

  Countless fishes swim in it, sharks feed on it, man desalinizes it, and pollutes it.   There is no end to it and yet it had a beginning.  Rain built it and sustains it.  Life abounds in it and is sustained by it and   yet we have no control of it. 

 It seems endless and yet there will be a day when it dries up, or becomes steam, when the   sun goes nova and the flames hit us and there is no more to us, then the ocean will be gone, and then what?

   Will the words be said again, and there will be light?  Does the endlessness of time end and then begin again?  If there is   truly no time that existed before it began can there be eternity without it?

   I went on a cruise and went under the Golden Gate.  We sailed from San Francisco and went North to Canada, and then over   a bit in that direction and ended up in Alaska, and I stared at it through bright sunshine and moonlight.

  My heart soared when   I saw the Orca swimming, and dancing across the wake of our ship.  Many more have sailed and directed and steered, and they   have all been in love with it.

  My sister describes it as being what she misses in the landlocked beauty of Spokane.  All I miss of   Spokane is her.  I carried her with me when we sailed and I saw the glaciers, and the seals, and the porpoise and whale.

   My wife and I cruised to Mexico, and up to Vancouver, and over to Victoria and we laughed and kissed and smiled in bliss.   The Pacific Ocean lies out our front door.  I long to set sail and see that night and day upon her again, and again until my life is gone.

Learn more about this author, Larry McNerney.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.