In Love with the Ocean

I have had the pleasure of living on the island of Okinawa for two years and four months now.  To some people here, that is a long, long time.  To me, it's a short little flash.  It's been 2 years, and four months, already? 

Some are bored of island life after the initial enchantment wears off-which probably occurs sometime shortly after the third or fourth day of non-stop rain.  (I am not kidding.  It can, and does rain like that here-sometimes for longer stretches.  It's rather amazing the amount of water that can pour from the sky.  Amazing in an annoying sort of way.)

Two years, four months and counting...and I still love island life.  Admittedly, my viewpoint of island life might be just a tad different than thousands of others on this island-I get to enjoy it all day, every day.  I traded my 7-4 job for a 24/7 job...but one that allows me the freedom (mostly) to enjoy this island life.

I see the ocean every single day.  Multiple times a day.  I never get tired of it.  It looks different every single day.  Some days are so gray, you can barely tell the water from the sky.  Some days are hazy and you can't see anything but water stretching before you.  Other days, it's so amazingly clear you can see the other islands around us, off in the distance.  Some days, it's stormy, with whitecaps visible and small waves crashing up on the shore.  (The water around Okinawa is for the most part calm-we do not have lots of waves constantly rolling in, as you might on the California coast.  Our ocean surroundings surprised my California-native mom.) 

This morning, the ocean was glass.  It looked like a giant pond-smooth, still, lit by the early sun.  It was incredibly beautiful-I wish I had had my camera ready to go.  (Instead, I was loading kids and driving to preschool and to run errands.)

Early this afternoon, the ocean was full of ripples and small waves breaking around the reefs.  I went for a run-most of it in sight of the ocean, some of it close enough that I could see into the clear water right down to the sand and reefs.  It was low tide-and the shallow water was a beautiful turquoise, slowly transitioning into a deep blue    It was beautiful out.  Breezy, warm, low humidity...and that glittering ocean.  I wanted to jump in. 

Two years of island life has spoiled me.  I honestly do not know how I will fare going back to a landlocked existence when our time in Okinawa ends.  In the meantime though, I will get my fill of the ocean on a daily basis-and hopefully store enough pretty pictures in my head to sustain me when we leave.