Sunday, July 24, 2005

At the edge of the world

I approached the curve in the road and the sand dune that prevented cars from going straight ahead, and then I saw it: the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. I had arrived at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, where I'd spend two days roasting in the sun and burning my skin out of whiteness. There was a haze that covered up the horizon, making the water and the sky seamless and seemingly the edge of the world.

I saw neither television nor computer during those two days. The only politics around were the vast number of W stickers on countless SUVs and a few Kerry stickers on more practical cars. In a world where every minute brings some inane news that everyone has to comment on as if it were the most important information on the planet, I was alone with my ocean, my sand, and an infinite number of people, most of whom should have had more clothes on. Is there no shame in the world? No modesty? No humility? Once upon a time, gluttony, sloth, and pride were considered sins. Now they define America.

I was appalled at the number of people buying useless junk. There was a family of four who sat on a bench slurping ice cream cones and staring at these little gadgets with a spinning ball of lights as if they were dogs watching a fan go around and around and around... There was a shop which had an endless supply of barking dogs, flipping pigs, and squealing monkeys. My friend and I were basically kicked out of our seats at a restaurant after we ate dinner because they wanted rapid table turnover instead of letting their customers enjoy food, drinks, and life by the sea. Everyone was eating junk food and buying useless crap and letting their screeching child run wild. It shocked me none to see the W stickers on the SUVs after observing the idiots running around the beach.

Nonetheless, sitting on the beach and enjoying the waters of the Atlantic made it enough of a mini-vacation to be worth it, especially when the horizon reappeared yesterday, reminding me that the places I love are just an ocean away.

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