Image source: Merlina McGovern
For the first decades of my life, I have always lived by the ocean. Whether it was the beaches along the pier in Oceanside, California; or the sandy beaches of Hawaii; or the far shores of Okinawa, Japan, I spent much of my life bobbing up and down along the ocean waves. I have distinct and vivid memories of camping out by the beach and listening to the rhythmic pounding of surf into the beach as I sat around a roaring bonfire.
Most of my swimming was done during the day. We’d slather ourselves with that orange-blossom-smelling Coppertone and had not a care in the world about sunburns as we frolicked all day in the sun and the sand. I loved running into the ocean and diving into the waves, sometimes inhaling burning salt water, but always laughing and sputtering as I launched myself back up to the surface.
As I got older, I would hang out with high school friends at the beach until late in the evening. Those were magical memories, with the crackling of the bonfire a constant undertone to laughter, gossip, and flirting. And some of us would even swim in the ocean at night. It was always magical, but also slightly menacing. Evenings at the beach were never pitch black, there were always city lights, moonlight, bonfire light. But even still, there was the rolling dark ocean that would no longer be fun and frolicking as it was in the daylight. Instead, it would roll and swell deeply, menacingly.
Today’s Inktober prompt was Dangerous. I instantly had a thought of swimming in dangerous waters. Now, there aren’t any alligators in the oceans, of course, but as I searched whether night swimming was dangerous in preparation for this post, the top result says in all caps, NOT Safe. And all 12 of the results on the first page warn of the extreme dangers of swimming at night. Those dangers range from having your visibility being lowered so that you aren’t able to see dangerous obstacles like jagged rocks to not being able to see rip currents or stinging creatures like jellyfish. And, of course, we’ve all seen Jaws, and we know the dangers that lurk in the deep, in the dark. Indeed, many predators, like stingrays and sharks are more active at twilight and at night.
Eeek! I hadn’t really given any thought to those lurking night dangers as I swam with my friends in the ocean at night. Looking back now, I can see that we were young and reckless, but I honestly wouldn’t change that time in my life. Despite the pains and strains of high school, those moments when you felt young, and free, and so full of life are the things that you remember down the road.
I can still smell the ocean air and feel the cool evening wind across my skin. I can still hear the pops and hisses of the burning bonfire. I can still see the sparkling moonlight rippling across the ocean waves. Those are memories that I will treasure forever.
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