A Love Affair in Goa

People asked me if there was a romantic motivation behind my trip to Goa.  They were guessing that sparks would fly:  good friends, an exotic beach in a tropical climate in a foreign land – how could they not?  I told them no; that our friendship was only platonic.  I told them that our relationship was based on a deeper understanding of each other, which in turn was based on a deeper questioning of reality.  They persisted.  I denied.

I did end up finding romance in Goa, but it was a love affair with the ocean, not with a woman. 

Every morning I sat on her shore, absorbing the last bits of coolness of night as the sun rose behind the palm trees to the east, lighting first the crests of the waves, then showering glitter upon her face, then finally casting light upon the sand.

Every day, I spent hours wrapped in her embrace, and started the new year with the longest open water swims I have ever taken in my life.

Every day I lay on her shore, my skin soaking up the warmth and light of the sun.

Every dusk I watched a large glowing ball of light descend into the horizon, igniting the clouds that sat just upon the farthest reaches of my sight.  It was a sun like out a wildlife documentary from the Serengeti.

 Every night she lulled me to sleep with her waves.  By the end of my trip, my heartbeat had aligned itself with the slow, methodical rhythm of her tides.  

 

I sang to her, constantly.  

 She inspired within me music that only love brings forth.

I ran with her.  I kayaked with her.  I walked along the shore, picking up seashells and watching crabs with homes of all shapes and sizes interact in the ponds left by the outgoing tide.  I played in the sand like a child. 

 I hiked, climbed and scrambled to every lookout on every point.  I listened to the birds she cares for.  Bright-eyed and awed, I chased colonies of monkeys through the jungle.  I made friends with the beach dogs, admired the cattle enjoying the sunsets, knocked on the shell of a huge washed up sea tortoise, watched the fish skirting the ocean’s surface, paddled with the dolphins in the late afternoon sun’s light beam.  I closed my eyes, laying upon her surface, and let the swell move me up and down. 

I humbly succumbed to her power.

I kindly accepted her grace.

I deeply enjoyed her beauty.

I absorbed her peace of nature, and will carry it within my heart, until I arrive home, to see her again.