Getting refueled with the richness of life

CHERRIL DOTY

Often the end of a vacation journey is bittersweet as we are thrown

back into the tumult of everyday life. Not this time, though, and the

ecstatic feeling of just being in and of each moment stays with me.

Even glorifying words of description don’t begin to cover the wealth

of experience that still lingers within me from this well-spent time

away.

It would be difficult to describe the trip, for it would take as

many days as the journey was long to tell of all that it was. The

many aspects of nature, the mysteries of relationship and the

solitude spent in self-study have left me with a fire surging through

me. I long for more while still feeling replete. So let me just try

to relate the two-day trip home as my spirit still glides and sings

with those sublime moments.

We left the shore of the Sea of Cortez -- sparkling tranquillity

teeming with life under the bright sun -- after exhilarating days of

sun and wind and rain and cold. Dolphins were at play in a circle in

front of our campsite as the shorebirds swooped and foraged in the

receding tide. The last osprey was sighted atop a cardon as we drove

off and we stopped for just one more photo op before we could say our

final goodbyes.

Radiant light seemed to fill the day. From the azure sparkle of

the sea we turned inland and drove on narrow winding roads toward the

Pacific. Sunshine seemed to turn even the fresh-blooming cactus

plants to shimmering, dancing stalks as we drove. As evening

approached and we neared our destination of San Quentin on the

Pacific side of Baja, the sky was splendid with the play of the sun’s

golden rays gilding the edges of billowing clouds over long stretches

of uninhabited mesas.

A good night’s rest had me up early, pen and journal in hand on

the balcony of our hotel. Then, a leisurely walk along the Pacific

shore in the dark of pre-dawn. Seaweed snapped and crackled under my

feet as I walked, accompanied by the roar of the surf and the peeps

of small, unseen shorebirds. Soon, light bloomed in the sky and the

vast breadth of the sweeping shoreline began to fill with swooping

gulls and pelicans. I picked up a couple of the small round sand

dollars as I turned back toward our hotel. It would soon be time to

leave for the final leg of our journey.

This last day was a chase of the previous day’s dazzling light up

along the Pacific. Open, sparkling, blue-green vistas seemed to show

up around every turn and the panoramic views just seemed to scream

out that it’s great to be alive, to just be.

Once on the California side of the border, the countryside felt

like somewhere I had not been before. Again, the sparkle on water

filled my sight. Broad blue expanses of sea were everywhere, along

with lagoons filled with life. It seemed as if the sea was beckoning,

beckoning and, for just a moment, I thought of how it has done just

that for so long to so many. When we arrived back here in Laguna, the

beaches were filled with people and I knew then that it was not only

me hearing this call.

Later at home, the car was unloaded and the laundry was started,

but through it all, I could not seem to tear my eyes from the sea.

When at last the day waned and the cold had driven me inside, I still

kept glancing -- checking that the glimmer was still on the day. And

it was -- every time. To top it all off, the daylight ended with a

glorious fruit-colored sunset that streaked the western sky with

ambrosial shades of mango and cantaloupe and ripe orange and deep

cherry -- a panoply of perfection in another perfect day. As I

watched, I found myself wondering in that moment: Is this merely

breathtaking or the very breath of life itself?

So here I am, at the end of one journey and the beginning of some

other, I’m sure. Happy New Year to you all. May we all know the

abundance of a full, rich, joyful life.

“Ah, the wild joys of living!” -- Robert Browning

* CHERRIL DOTY is a creative living coach, writer, artist and

walker who lives and works in Laguna Beach. To schedule a coaching

session or to comment, contact her by e-mail at emmagine@cox.net or

by phone at (949) 251-3993.