Boat lights twinkled like stars on the Akashi Strait. The waves crashed and sent ripples against the pebbled shore. The ebb and flow of the tide - so gentle with rhythmic pulsations. It has the capability to ease and reassure a heart that yearns fervently for tranquility and quiet strength in a life of distractions, frustrations and minute pockets of emptiness and dullness. I sat on a huge weathered boulder. Gulls circled overhead. Boat engines hummed. Mountains silhouetted against the orange tinges of the sky. I spotted a fishing boat with a flock of birds trailing behind and watched the waves hit the shore and then subside. Where was their source? How long have they travelled? Where are they going next? I tried to find my bearings, orientate myself from where I was on Awaji island. The mountains on the far end might be in Wakayama. Or was it the islands of Shikoku on the other side? Akashi-kaikyo bridge is on the other side of the island, a suspension bridge spanning 1991 metres, linking the city of Kobe (via the Akashi Strait) and Awaji island. Awaji island is thus an essential transportation link from Kobe to Shikoku. 6:34 am. The sun peeked out slowly from the horizon. Its presence a tiny orange orb. Within seconds, its arms were fully stretched, its emergent rays blinding, warming the cold waters. I sat there embracing the warmth, the initial cold slowly receding. The water glittered, reflected the sun's all-pervading radiance. 日の出とてもきれいですね~ Hinode totemo kirei desu ne. (The sunrise is extremely beautiful.) I looked around, hoping to share the excitement and delight with someone else – anyone, passersby, those who are also like me, who often wake up early enough to catch sunrises, to chase them even though it seems like a daily phenomenon. But there was no one in sight. I sat still, trying to take it all in and freeze these moments into my memory – another sunrise for safekeeping. The refreshing sea breeze against my face. The radiant sun rays. The whistling of the birds flying above. The rhythmic sound of the waves. The ferries drifting on their journeys. The pebbles beneath my sneakers. It’s so easy to fall in love.
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