Nicholas Acker: Natural Setting #1

As I lay out at Virginia Beach it is easy to see what attracts so many people to the coasts. My body is free to relax and my mind is free to wonder. I watch the waves come in and the concerns and resposibilities present back and the university drift away as the tide pulls them out to sea. The sun not only brightens the scene around me, but also my disposition and I find it hard to see a flaw in the day. There are hundreds of people around me also enjoying what the beach has to offer, but as I shut my eyes and lay out they all disappear and it is just me and the seemingly endless expanse of sand and water. There are few disruptions in the landscape; only sand under my feet, and water as far as my eyes can see. The simplicity of the scence adds to its beauty and appreciating the power of the ocean in front of me is all too easy. Although the coast is filled with people, and buildings line the roads surrounding, there still exists this unspoiled wilderness under the water. The water that cools me and cleans the sand off me is a barrier, protecting the creatures that inhabit it. I cannot fully experience the other world that lies just beneath the surface of the sea, but simply the thought of it is satisfying. Laying here, thinking, just taking in the asthetics that hide a wilderness no one person fully understands is enough to spark my imagination and inspire me to stay for hours.