On the Plane

As I am sitting next to the airplane window I look out to watch the vast Pacific Ocean tease me below. It's impossible not to imagine emerging myself in the blue, salty goodness and feeling the cool water touch every inch of my skin. But that's in the past now. At least for the next two years while I attend graduate school in California- inland.

I've never lives on the mainland. I'm one of those lucky people who was born and raised in Hawaii. The ocean was my playground as they say. I'm only now beginning to understand the impact that it has had on my life and my connection to the ocean. This is the main reason I am pursuing higher education so that I can have a good job that will allow me to afford life in Hawaii.

This means sacrificing two years of ocean life for job security. I am trying to be strong but the in-flight entertainment is showing surfing in Hawaii and I have to look away. Not that I didn't get my share of surfing this summer. There were epic swells I rode at my favorite spots along the South Shore. One day in particular stands out from the rest. I paddled out to my regular morning spot to find glassy, head-high surf with only two other wahines out. After two hours of perfect lefts and a nice cut on my foot, a photographer came out and captured one more hour of one of the best surf sessions I have ever had. When I went in my foot was bleeding, my shoulders were aching, and I had a parking ticket but it was all worth it. AND I was lucky enough ti get those waves captured on film. The high I got from that day lasted for weeks.

Now it will be at least three months before I will get a chance to be in the ocean again and the first time I will watch my tan fade away. How will I survive? I can picture myself pouring salt in the bathtub like Madison did in Splash but I don't want to alarm my new roommates.

So begins the tail (pun intended) of my land-locked life in the mainland...