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.
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