Idle Minutes

Acadia National Park, like all our National Parks, is a truly beautiful place. Perhaps the rocky coast is the most enjoyable for me. There is just so much character in the cliffs where the land meets the sea.

This particular little spot was called Sand Beach. It is exactly that. It sits in a cove between where the sea comes to meet the rocky cliffs on either side. It’s a crescent shaped semi-circle of coarse sand, cozy but roomy enough to wander.

And wander we did. We were the only beings there on a September Thursday evening just before dusk, except for some seagulls. In the sand was an endless tapestry of seagull foot prints in all directions as far as I walked. Seagulls I take it, like to walk on the beach.

My wife explored and I explored, each sort of wandering on our own and taking in the serenity of it all. It’s one of those places you don’t want to leave.

The waves make the kind of noise that sets your mind at rest when they crash to the shore. Loud but gentle. Predictable. Dependable. Watching a wave come to shore, from its first noticeable whitecap, building to its abrupt crash with the land, to its then thin coating of water slipping up the sand beach, sliding forward fast, then slowing, creeping further, a little, a little more…then retreating back to the sea, energy depleted, momentum lost, is a mesmerizing thing.

There is something eternal about it. Peaceful.

I wonder sometimes if the original inhabitants of this land ever came to places like this and just sat, all alone, thinking and contemplating…you know, a couple thousand years ago. On this side of the world there wasn’t much to think about back then perhaps. But I bet if they knew it was here, they came…and they sat and they felt the peace.