I grew up in a city on the water, and although it wasn’t the ocean exactly, the salty smell of the Puget Sound is comforting to me. And I didn’t realize how at home having water and that familiar salty smell made me feel until I moved away from the Northwest and discovered that people lived in landlocked states and landlocked countries!
Despite being close to the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda, I craved the ocean and felt an important piece of me missing (not to be overly dramatic, or anything) while I was living there, that had to be supplemented by trips to Tanzania and the coast. When I was working in landlocked Port Loko, Sierra Leone, I needed to make several trips out to Freetown to keep from going crazy. Even standing near the harbor in NYC is almost enough to comfort me, though taking the Long Island Railroad out to Fire Island is the way I usually get my fix in the summer time now.
At the end of the day, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere where I couldn’t get to a large body of water within a reasonable amount of time!
More Sunday Scribblings about the ocean here.
I’ve never actually lived in a landlocked country, come to think of it! Never lived anywhere where the sea (or a harbor leading to the open sea) wasn’t within an hour’s drive of home, or where a real beach wasn’t 2 hours or less away. I’ve never thought about it, but now that I do, I think I’d have the same claustrophobic reaction as you!
Ooh, you have lived in some amazing places! Thank you for sharing them with us. :)
Beautiful photos. I liked the second one best. Serene yet volatile.
I felt the same way when I lived in Houston – granted it is somewhat close to water, but the water is brown and just not the same. I didn’t realize how much I took for granted living near water until there wasn’t any close by. I definitely felt the same, that something was missing. I appreciate living near water so much more now!