Gift from the Sea

"The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach -- waiting for a gift from the sea."
~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"Perhaps this is the most important thing for me to take back from beach-living: simply the memory that each cycle of the tide is valid; each cycle of the wave is valid; each cycle of a relationship is valid. And my shells? I can sweep them all into my pocket. They are only there to remind me that the sea recedes and returns eternally."
~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I watched a film version of Rosamunde Pilcher's Coming Home today. Because I adore Pilcher's work and read her novels over and over again, I was disappointed in the movie. The actresses weren't right. They were lovely talents, but not at all fitting when compared to the characters in my brain. When the novel was published, I bought it right away and settled on my bed to read it aloud to myself. I reveled in delight as I turned page after page, completely lost in Pilcher's world. The estate that dominates a good amount of the setting proved another disappointment in the film. I know better than to expect a set designer to duplicate the magic from the story. However, you can't mess up on the sea. Every time I see the sea - I want to SEE it. I long for it. I'm thankful that the Pacific coast is a two hour plane ride away even though I can't just jump on planes and go places whenever I want to. Somehow, I must get to the sea before too much time goes by. Bill will see the sea off of Cape Town, Africa this month and then he'll see the sea from the shores of Australia. He'll take pictures for me and that will just have to do. Meanwhile, I had a nice shrimp salad for dinner.