...and I was a little under whelmed. Or I guess technically the Gulf of Mexico, but whatever. I mean it was impressive, and it was beautiful, but it was not the soul altering life changing event so many people say it is for someone who has live there whole life inland. Am I just jaded, or this happened to a lot of folks?
Sounds like you just had a brief experience. You need to take it all in, spend a few hours or days by the ocean, go there in the morning, see a sunrise/sunset, spend a couple hours walking on the sand, take a little boat ride. Feed some seagulls. Dunno. I think it's a more complex experience than just "seeing" it once.
I do know people who don't care much about the ocean. Personally, I find it regenerating.
All large bodies of water are like ampthetamines to me. Especially oceans. Standing at the edge of something that is unchanging, yet never still for thousands of miles, and filled with countless undiscovered life forms, is the closest most of us will ever get to touching space.
Not everyone has the mental capacity to appreciate the more enormous and profound things in life, so I wouldn't necessarily say you're jaded, just, perhaps, simple. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I wonder if what happens with the ocean thing is that by the time some people see it they've already read about it so much and seen it on so many TV programmes and in so many photographs that they feel bored of it even before they've been there. I know the real thing is never the same as a description or picture, but it has to be something pretty powerful to really overwhelme you, and I don't get that from oceans either.
In my case perhaps this is because I've lived on the coast all my life and I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't know what the sea looked like. The first time I saw the grand canyon I was six years old and have very little memory of what it made me feel like, even though I remember being there. The second time I went there I was 16, that's a much more meaninful memory. I suppose that's the closest I've ever gotten to anything like the overwhelming thing some people get from oceans. I've read that some people go out to Ayr's Rock and get so much of what's known as 'postcard fatigue' about it that when they get there they're a little disappointed although they don't like to admit it. Perhaps any experience that's supposed to blow you away will end up disappointing if there's too much hype about it.
I'm disappointed by your disappointment.
It is difficult to "experience" an ocean from the shore, especially for just a few hours. It depends where you are, though. The Gulf of Mexico along the East Florida coast was calm and warm as a bath tub for me, albeit with manta rays.
Along the West Coast, the Pacific can be gentle or completely violent. I swam buck nekkid off Big Sur, and let me tell you, it was far from any fresh water lake I've ever been in. Alternating between swells and undertow, I was in a whole new environment of salinity and sound and taste and initially terror, until I could catch my breath.
Swimming in the open Caribbean was a recipe for disaster - the good news is tropical fish don't know the difference between chum and barf.
Maybe it's simply the vastness of it for me - and I grew up on the Prairies, too - the way the wheat fields in Saskatchewan sway unending in the summer all the way out to where land meets sky - except with the ocean, it's sea meeting sky and the two seem closer related, which then does something with my own intellectual/spiritual proximity...
I dunno.
Maybe it's just not for you.
I think it will grow on you. I don't remember a time when I hadn't seen the ocean, but it's only in the last 10 years or so I've started to really appreciate it. Tropical waters and beaches don't really do for me though, I like dark, violent seas, something I'd be too afraid to swim in, or take a boat out on.
Maybe it's simply the vastness of it for me - and I grew up on the Prairies, too - the way the wheat fields in Saskatchewan sway unending in the summer all the way out to where land meets sky - except with the ocean, it's sea meeting sky and the two seem closer related, which then does something with my own intellectual/spiritual proximity...
I saw a documentary today about wolves hunting buffalo in Canada, I think the place was called Wood Buffalo Park. Amazingly beautiful place.
Opposite experience for me, I guess. I grew up in California, San Francisco bay area, so the ocean has been a fundamental part of my life since I was young. I always loved it, and a good beach as well, but never in any meaningful way. It wasn't until I moved out to Texas that I realized what an ungodly misery it is to be landlocked. I didn't think I would care so much, as it wasn't like I was a beach bum who was at/in the ocean every other weekend... but man, I hate this fucking place more than words can express. And when I go home, I clamp my ass down on the beach to stare at the waves like all the secrets of the universe were hiding in them.
But yeah, there are differences between oceans, and the Gulf may not have the same impact something else might. Being atop a high cliff in northern California overlooking a hyperactive Pacific is entirely different, or standing atop Ireland's majestic Cliffs of Moher.
I think the place was called Wood Buffalo Park. Amazingly beautiful place.
That's in the north eastern corner of the Province where I live, Linda. It is STUNNING. I've been fortunate enough to see whooping cranes migrating there in the spring time - it's their only natural nesting zone (wanna see someone nerd completely out??). The area is close to Fort MacMurray and the tar sands sites.
Sorry for the threadjack.
I prefer cities and mountains. I grew up in a coastal town, though. The ocean is fine, and on a particularly nice day in a particularly nice location, it can be great. Also, storms. Storms on the ocean are pretty amazing. Nature's wrath is completely raw. It's like the ocean comes alive and is part of the storm, whereas everywhere else, it's like everything is fighting it.
I don't think there's anything wrong with you if you found it underwhelming. Different parts of nature speak to different people. If you wanted to go on vacation somewhere else, I'd probably go with you.
Moby Dick starts with some kind of meditation on how humans are drawn to water. I guess it can be a river or a lake too, but I also think that if you see the wrath of nature manifested in an ocean, that's one of the most awe-inspiring things you'll see. I don't care that much about crowded beaches, but I love places where there are big waves crashing on rocks (and fewer people). The sounds, smells and of course the look of such a landscape is probably one of the things that makes people want to be sailors (as with Melville). I admit I fantasized about that at various points in my life. But I used to go to the sea a couple of weeks every summer as a kid, and camp and swim and stuff like that. So maybe it is, as Linda said, something that grows on you. If you see enough of it, that is.
I brought up Melville because, of that whole book, I identified with that particular statement the most. I can't live somewhere where I have no access to some kind of water.
I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida and I've seen the water every day for ten years, and it's never really done it for me. I worked on the beach for a few years and hated it. Prior to living here I lived on the east coast of Florida as well, still didn't get the appeal. Give me mountains any day of the week. Actually the only time I was really wowed by the ocean was driving to the Keys. Driving US1 from Key Largo down to Key West on a sunny day it's hard not to love the view on either side of you.
I love the ocean. Just watch the tides and imagine what the moon is controlling, or just sit and listen, or stand and let the sand wash under your feet. The ocean puts me in awe of the universe. However, I felt a bit like you about the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful, and I loved the sun sets, the geology and wondering what caused all this, but I kept thinking " it's not the ocean, though."
Get a boat and go a few miles out. Sit there in isolation with nothing but the sky and water. No sounds except wet lapping against the sides and the shush of the boat as it rocks back and forth. Look around and know that you're a drop in the ocean. Go back to land at sunset and sit on a dune. Watch the moon ripple on the surface, and the tide reclaim the shore. Marvel at the tiny crabs that scurry and bury themselves in the receding surf. Count their glowing eyes. Smell the air. Feel the breeze, like being stroked by a silk scarf on your face. Listen to the complaint of the gulls, and the sea oats brushing together.
It's not soul-searching or life-changing. But it is overflowing with life and sensation, and it sure feels good to squish your toes in the sand.
*Disclaimer: do not attempt to go out into open water without proper training and life vests. ;)
Conversely, use the ocean as a place to dump bodies*. Crabs are good for more than just embarassing trips to the doctor after New Orleans vacations.
*Make sure you are away from the shore and that you weigh the bodies down.
Dismembering them (ala Dexter) also helps with the decomp process and once more accessibly opened, the body parts will get waterlogged and sink even without weights.
Just remember to burn off the fingerprints, bludgeon the face into unrecognizability, and remove the teeth, thus forcing anyone who possibly DOES stumble upon human bits while scuba diving, to have to resort to DNA testing if they're really set on identifying the remains.
God, I love the ocean.
The shushing of the waves does add to the appeal.
Thank you, SP, the shipwreck zombie story I'm working on just took a turn for the worse. I mean better. No, I mean worse in a better way.
Hey, I could go on and on. Regardless, glad I could be of service. I always aim to please.
He's a regular pleasure-factory. It's why I have a hard time leaving his house, if you get my meaning.
He's got you tied up in the basement, hasn't he.
...maybe*...
*yes
It's ok to drop the bell, Utah. This isn't a contest.
I'm with Dwayne.
Everyone just stop. Kill people.
And Utah, who the fuck untied you and let you use my laptop???
You tie shitty knots.
Also, Dwayne, I have three words for you: For Pete's sake, re-read what you're posting before you click "Post"!
That was a lot more than three words.
I love the ocean, but like many here, I've lived near it most of my life. Now that I am in the desert, a weekend at the beach with the windows open and the waves shushing in and out is a regenerative experience for me. I *think* I get what you're saying though-- many people find something almost (or downright) spiritual about the ocean. I think it's impressive in that it is incredibly beautiful, and looks so peaceful, but is incredibly powerful and destructive, too. Salty air and ocean breezes are pretty nice, though, either way you cut it.
Pete's still hitting the sake, huh?
Dive. Swim wid the fishies Dwayne. Then you'll get it. You look around you and there's just the depths, and you begin to think about just how deep and how vast the ocean is...
Or you can just go to sleep with your fingers in a glass of water.
If you Snuba you won't even need lessons. You'll breathe through a tube. So enjoy the holiday.
Sorry, you're making me laugh.
I don't really do vacations any more. Nowadays, if I start to get to feeling like I need a vacation - I change my life. And try to remember that I'm damn lucky that I still can.
I don't know how I've just seen this thread!
I feel like I'm drying out on land without living by the ocean these days. I lived on the beach in Australia and swam in the ocean every day before work and spent every weekend laying on the beach. My grandfather was a lifesaver on Australia's most famous beach and I was taught to swim by him. I think I was swimming by the time I was walking!
You know what's funny? I dream about the ocean most nights, and sting rays and sharks. I really miss it. I guess you need to grow up with it and enjoy swimming to feel the way I do.
I'll see the ocean for the eleventybillionth time next weekend. It still transfixes me. Though, I understand it's in the blood, as my 2xGreat grandfather was a sea captain (and some other relative wrote books, one of which is about him), when ships had sails...so maybe a few more greats? Anyway, ever since, the maternal side of the family has lived on the third coast. Until my grandfather moved to the desert.
Was one of the books called How to Avoid Huge Ships?
Possibly, that was, to my knowledge,the end of any sea faring in the family.
I love row boats...
I have only been to the Gulf of Mexico, and that was only for a few minutes because a storm came in. I'm not sure how I would feel about going in the actual ocean. I have this odd, unreasonable fear of sharks. Unreasonable, because I live in Kansas. Short of one coming through the wall of an aquarium, I am probably safe.