pink

he was frustrated that the ground was pink. i told him, 'well, go ahead and dig then if you think it's an illusion.' i had seen the aerial view so i knew it was striated with cream. i didn't understand why it was so important for him to prove his point when, if we just walked a bit farther it would be cream again. i guess i felt irritated by the whole thing. i said, 'well, it's not something that even matters to me one way or another, but there's the shovel, have at it. dig however long you need to feel satisfied.' he walked over to the shovel, which was actually much further away than it seemed. it took him about 10 minutes to return. i didn't say anything else to him but i was thinking he was just wasting the day by being stubborn. when he came back with the shovel, i noticed his face had already begun to sweat from the heat. he started to dig not far from me even though it was not the ideal spot for his excavation. i knew he wanted me to feel the effort he was putting into it- but i didn't care. i walked to the top of a nearby rise where i could get an uninterrupted view of the ocean. soon the repetitive chinking sound of his shovel was obscured by the rhythmic crashing of the surf.

it was just beautiful, plain and simple. the fact that he needed to turn it into difficult work mattered less and less to me as i calmed from the pink of the sand and the blue of the sea.