Thoughts

How does time pass so quickly? Looking back at old photos, I am amazed to see how many people flow in and out of our lives constantly. Faces of people whom I felt so connected with in the past are now absent from my life. If only I could hold onto everyone that has been a positive force in my life—no matter how short or long of an encounter we shared.

I remember hiking forever, but we didn’t care—we had the cool, green ocean to our right and the lush, looming mountains to our left. Total equilibrium. We took refuge from the wind where a small creek met the sea and we collected fresh, salty muscles for lunch. We decided to camp for the night at Spanish Flat in an old shelter made of driftwood and broken surfboards. We lay on the soft sand and stared up at the cloudless, starry night sky and counted satellites. We talked about other galaxies and unfathomable colors as we drifted into sleep.    

I remember that summer: we were in our junior year of high school. We biked anywhere and everywhere. The ocean was our shower. We didn’t brush our hair. We lived on bean and cheese burritos (with lettuce). We were drunk probably more than we were sober.

I remember hot instant oatmeal that warmed our souls in the mornings at the cabin in the snow. We would watch the white, paper-like snowflakes fall from the grey sky while bearing huge grins of anticipation for the powdery slopes. Then we would suit up and snowboard all day until the sun went down.

I remember relaxed days, cold beers, loud music and endless laughter at the lake. The whole crew was there, almost equally divided between boys and girls. We had no serious commitments and nothing to lose.

I remember busy streets, bustling markets, Australian accents, car stereos booming and dead leaves scraping along as the wind carried them across the cold pavement. Pungent and tantalizing aromas of hot curry would often waft though open windows, beckoning us to pay a visit the quaint, little Indian restaurant down the street from our apartment.