May 17, 2016

Salty Lips

The day started early today. A bit passed dawn, not because I needed to be up, but for some reason I was ready to start but my day around seven. I stepped outside to see the ocean and the beach doused with a golden orange hue that begged for some immediate action. I saw Tom and Jen catching some waves at the end of the beach, so I joined them for a quick swim and very mellow surfing session. I never actually got up, but just being in the water, early in the morning and the threat of riding a wave was a great way to start the day.


Back on shore, after a quick breakfast we loaded the kids onto Kayaks and I was back in the sea. Hot sun. Salty lips and balance exercises. It was a pleasure to watch the kids gain confidence on their Kayaks in the waves. We explored a near by river and mangrove forest and then back on shore for lunch. After lunch, we had some down time and I chose to ignore the urge to nap, so I took out one of the stand up paddle boards and paddled out to a near by reef on my own. I saw a turtle come up for air and marveled at the rainbow of blues beneath the surface. I laid out there a while and jumped in for a few refreshing dips before I headed back to land.


After lunch, we took the kids out to the same reef, and I was on a SUP board again herding kids to the right spot and helping them with their masks and allowing them to use the board as a rest stop.


It was time for an beach art project when we got back and I decided to go for a quick 5km run up the beach and back. It was hot and sweaty and running on sand is much harder than on concrete in my shoes. Another quick dip and it was time for dinner and a night time jungle hike.


Needless to say it has been a pretty active and physical day. Which made me think about how I wasted so much of twenties searching for the truth in dark bars and at the bottom of bottles. Why was I not out hiking and surfing and kayaking and looking for whatever it was (am) looking for in the ocean and in the jungle? I suppose at the time I needed to explore the darkness to reassure myself that I had seen everything I needed to see there, but these days….I am relishing pushing my aging body.


I have been living in South East Asia for many years now and I never get bored of the tired beach feeling at the end of the day.


It is passed ten and I am ready for bed. Tomorrow we are sailing, jumping off a jetty and learning about a turtle release program.

No comments:

Post a Comment