The Measly Jar of Motivation – the ocean- have you seen it?

Have you ever seen the ocean? I don’t mean on TV or in films or on social media. Have you actually stood on the beach and gazed out over the ocean?

I have. Two of them to be precise but let’s stick with one for the purposes of this blog.

I first saw the ocean fifty years ago this August on a family holiday to the USA. (Lord that makes me sound ancient!) I was four years old but still have some vivid memories of that trip. Among the clearest are those of visiting Ocean City NJ, playing in the icy cold sand under the boardwalk, paddling in the ocean itself and watching my cousin build “drizzle” sandcastles. Some of that sand and ocean seeped into my soul that summer.

We returned six years later for another family reunion. That trip marked the start of another ocean related love affair. We spent a few days staying in Rehoboth Beach DE. (If you’ve read my Silver Lake series, you’ll be familiar with Rehoboth Beach) That small town stole a piece of my heart there and then.

It was another twenty-four years before I returned to the USA for a family trip. This time it was me taking my own young family to experience the ocean’s magic.  We spent a few days in Ocean City MD but on the way back to my aunt’s house, my cousin took the kids and I to Rehoboth Beach. I was a little anxious in case the magic had faded. I needn’t have worries. That ocean magic was still there even if the Weather Gods weren’t being kind that day. We got soaked to the skin in a downpour!

I returned several times over the next eight years and a highlight of each trip was a day at Rehoboth Beach.

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I’ve been able to enjoy the ocean and the beach from afar. In fact, watching the sunrise via FB live videos shared by wonderful local photographers and the webcam on one of the oceanfront hotels helped keep me going through the three years of the Big Green Gummi Bear’s illness.

That ocean kept whispering to me.

As I watched those virtual sunrises, I made a promise to myself to return to Rehoboth Beach and sit on that sand and watch it for myself.

I’m honouring that promise at the end of next month.

My world has changed since my last visit to Rehoboth Beach and my last view of the Atlantic Ocean. My kids have grown up and have lives of their own to lead. I’m now a widow (still not too sure about that word) and I’m returning on my own this time.

I hope that magic is still there….