The Sea

 When I arrived at the beach today and settled into my usual spot for coffee, I noted an unusual smell in the air--unusual for Bali, but not at all unusual in my memory of the Oregon coast. There was a certain hard-to-describe saltiness in the air, a scent of sand and fish and shellfish, a coolness, the spray from breakers, seaweed, shell encrusted rocks, a vibrant liveliness. This all faded quite quickly, and yet the sensory experience was compelling and sent a sigh of remembrances through me. The ocean in Bali is much different from the ocean in Oregon, especially in the area of Sanur, where it is really just an enormous bay extending from Ketewel to Serangan, a placid pool rimmed by ankle deep white water. On the Oregon coast the ocean is immense, awesome, endless, a constant roar which breathes a constantly rushing tide, whether it is rushing in or rushing out, and which itself carries a clattering of small stones and shells on its tongue. One feels very small on the Oregon coast with the sand stretching before him and behind him and with the heavy breakers pounding, and when the water rushes in and bubbles up around your feet, it is stinging cold and possesses even in the shallow a brute strength. It is a living thing, immeasurably bigger than we. It is vast and boundlessly foreign. It is stunning. I do miss Oregon, especially when it suddenly visits me like this here on the tame and far side of the world.