I’m reminded of the chap who once stopped me on the beach, he was visiting the island, staying at a nearby cottage with his young family and wanting to know WHAT to do and WHERE to go and THINGS to see and all this as we were surrounded by one of the most glorious stretches of coastline, uncrowded, perfect weather, seals breathing deeply on that rock there, blue heron on another, a single tern idly floating in water calm as glass, the occasional kayaker and only a few swimmers in this magical expanse of saltwater where only minutes earlier I’d been floating myself, though not entirely tern-like, eyes to the horizon, thinking how extraordinary to have all this s p a c e to myself… and so I ask the chap, who is the whole time he’s talking, looking at his phone… I ask how long he’s here for and he says a week and I give him some places because he seems so intent on What and Where and Things, but then I add my best advice which is, honestly, for now, just sit down, I say, and in the morning see how you feel and if you Must Go Somewhere, drive in a random direction, don’t plan anything and be surprised by everything or, even better, don’t drive, stay where you are another day, and maybe another… He nodded as if yes, yes, but he could hardly stop fidgeting, scrolling, googling for better ideas while all around him the heron and the tern and the horizon scratched their heads.

**

Later in the week, I went back to the beach and there was the guy again… seems time and maybe the absence of finding what he thought he was looking for, had had its effect, turned him into a guy who wears loose clothing, trousers rolled halfway up the shin, hands in pockets and walking sloooowly along the shoreline, stopping frequently to stare at the horizon, walking in a way that looks like he’s in love with walking and you can imagine him walking like that around the world, no sign of a phone and the tween kids are swimming a ways down the beach, his partner walks too, at her own pace, separate but together, like they’ve all found each other by giving each other space, not separation. Walking like someone who noticeably breathes differently than the guy I saw six days earlier. In fact I hardly recognized him.

♦

♦