Home to the Sea

There were profound reasons for his attachment to the sea:

he loved it because he needed rest,

needed escape from the demanding complexity of phenomena and life

hidden on the bosom of the simple and the tremendous;

because of a longing deep within him,

a longing for the unarticulated and immeasurable,

for eternity,

for nothingness. 

Thomas Mann

Death in Venice and Other Tales

~~~~~~~~~~

I didn’t know allegiances could be transferred so quickly.

The Atlantic Ocean has long been my emotional home;

from childhood on,

the topography in which I feel most fully myself.

All other bodies of water have paled by comparison.

So I was taken aback last week when the Pacific, 

in Northern CA, 

lured me in.

There was something in the water and surrounding wildness that spoke to me

in ways the manicured beaches of LA never had.

It was,

in all weather,

in all light,

on any given day,

spectacular.

It spoke to my heart -

in whispers and roars -

and helped the fragmented pieces of my soul 

knit together

into a cohesive whole

once more.

It smelled like sadness and memories,

of belonging and worlds beyond.

I felt right at home.

“I really don't know why it is that all of us 

are so committed to the sea, 

except I think it's because 

in addition to the fact that the sea changes 

and the light changes, 

it's because we all came from the sea. 

It's an interesting biological fact 

that all of us have in our veins 

the exact same percentage of salt in our blood 

that exists in the ocean, 

and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, 

in our sweat, 

in our tears. 

We are tied to the ocean.

And when we go back to the sea - 

whether it is to sail or to watch it - 

we are going back from whence we came.



[Remarks at the Dinner for the America's Cup Crews, 

September 14 1962]” 


John F. Kennedy

 How could you not?