At the beach

(Do you really think summer is over?)

Being at the beach can be such a liberating experience: Taking our first unsteady steps on the hot sand hills like captured animals that are set free, we look around in search of shadow and isolation. We see the other sunbathers and we try to find the perfect spot (keeping a safe distance from them, yet close to the water) to lay our towel down on the sand; we take the book and the sunscreen out of the beach bag and we start covering our face and body with it. Then, we rub our hands together to keep the sand from sticking to them. And at last, there is nothing else to do.

We look straight ahead, towards the sea; the water is bluer than blue and the sky, just a few shades lighter. Everything else then fades away. Voices fade, details fade, thoughts fade, even colors fade; it’s the strong light and the heat that make our sight slightly hazy, leaving us with a saturated image of a place that looks almost surreal.

photos by christos drazos