La Mer

IT WAS LIKE SOMETHING out of an annette funicello movie, only annette herself wasn't there, regrettably. Quite a few other folks were, however, there on the beach in swimwear, with cookout fixins, on the sands of the westport connectucutt shore, mid summer. Some pleasant young gentleman who actually looked like tony curtis had a hobiecat sailboat. I never got to ride; of course, I don't look like annette, or ann margret. A joint got passed around, and everyone felt fortified.

It being my first time opportunity to wade out into the ocean, I did so, and found it extremely pleasant. The water was warm and calm ancd clear, and I must have walked, i swear, half a mile into the water and it was still no deeper than my waist. I started to wonder if i could get maybe halfway to germany. Between me and the beach were sailboats, and folks on the shore looked like miniatures.

Thirty years later, the clarity with which i remember that day is in part a testimony to the alluring power of the beach, and the ocean. Still, I wouldn't want to live there. Not enough green hills, not enough trees. In fact, hardly any. Personal taste.

Something like seventy percent of the world's people live within striking distance of the ocean, and it almost seems as if the other thirty percent would like to, to hear them talk. People move from the ozark hills to be near the sounding sea, but i never would.

If we wait a few years, we might all have a chance to live close to the ocean, and at long length we might not have much choice about it. Sea level has risen about eight inches in the past one hundred years, and the process is not going to stop. People with land on chesapeake bay report that their land is noticeably "sinking". Islands in the south pacific are vanishing.

How long until maimi, new york, and thousands of other cities are bailing water, then building huge sea walls, then bailing out? Sitting on the sand, looking out at the water to the horizon is a beautiful experience, but one which i need not enjoy everyday, or even very often. No hills. No trees. I think I'll stick to my land in arkansas. After all, it may one day become quite valuable.