The Call Of The Sea

As weeks go, this past one has been very busy and it made me feel tired and on edge. That explains my rather long absence from this blog. The words just would not come. Or rather, they did come, but my thoughts were as jumbled as veggies in a salad. Thankfully, today is a public holiday as the island stops and commemorates Good Friday. It’s a day of traditions and much pomp and pageantry – very reminiscent of Semana Santa in Spain, from where it was adopted.

When I woke up this morning, I felt an urgent need to escape. So the  Mischief Maker and I set off. We took the back-roads and, sometimes, got blissfully lost. But it is what my body and soul needed to regenerate. We came to the chapel at Kuncizzjoni. Since 1736 it has stood on this lonely, windswept plateau, surrounded by fields and a few scattered farms. On clear days, it commands a wonderful view. But not today. A haze in the air reduced the visibility to just a few miles. But I still saw it, way down below. Even from up there, the sea beckoned and I had to obey its call.

So, after a few photo-stops and a number of false turns into dirt roads that led nowhere, we made it to Gnejna (pron. Jineyna) Bay. Not even in the summer-time have I seen this bay look so beautiful. The water seemed to be made up of a hundred different hues of blue: turquoise and aqua; sapphire and navy; and many others that I cannot even name. I breathed in, deep breaths of salty sea air, while I waded ankle-deep in the crystal-clear water.

When all else fails, the sea always soothes my mood. At the water’s edge, the pulse of life beats rhythmically and strong. Beyond that endless expanse of blue, earth and heaven meet in an eternal embrace, and it tells me that all is well.

Location: Immaculate Conception Chapel, Kuncizzjoni; Gnejna Bay

March 2013