Waves

We were recently in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and spent a good deal of time at the beach. Most of our trip consisted of soaking in the sun, sipping wine and watching the waves crash on the beach. I finally managed to finish The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, which spoiler alert ends with what is ostensibly the end of life on Earth. Staring out at the seemingly endless expanse of water in front of me with these apocalyptic thoughts rattling around my alcohol soaked brain really got me thinking…

The waves crashing on this beach have been doing so for billions of years. Long before there were any people around to observe them, long before there was any life of any kind in or out of the ocean, the tide rolled in and out and the rhythmic sound of waves against the shore kept time. This cycle went on day after day, year after year for eons until the moment that I lay on the beach, looking out at the water, looking up and down the shore at rows upon rows of umbrellas. People litter the beach, literally and figuratively, boats of all sizes float by, some dragging paragliding tourists behind them. The hypnotic rhythm of the waves cause my mind to drift to a distant future where all the boats, all the paragliding tourists all the umbrellas and all the people relaxing on the beach have disappeared. The only familiar sight on the shoreline are the waves lapping against the shore.

In this moment I feel very small, awed by the immensity of the ocean – it has spanned the Earth, both in space and time, completely indifferent to humanity. All of our triumphs, sorrows, past and future, will one day be washed away into the ocean, and the waves will rhythmically pat the shoreline, on and on and on…