Distant Diary

Gone with the wind

Nabila Chowdhury

THE time was between silk and cotton, another good-bye to the long snowy days with a soft touch of lovely spring. The weather is indefinitely indecisive and each day I can feel the direct ambiguity in every vein of my soul and body. As the green leaves and bright colours reappeared, and provided the eyes and nose with a soft and new fresh odor, I've slowly fallen in love with summer, All over again! The crowd love walking down the street, sipping on Dunkin's in-famous, freshly brewed and flavourful with a choice to make between raspberry and peach or simply stick to the original sweetened or unsweetened iced-tea, as they dress in comfortable cotton shirts, with pair of matching pants. The ladies wearing their favourite sandals show off the rose-red toe-nails, and the dark brown or black shades as a way to protect and cover the smoky eyes from the strong sunlight as they listen to the music player, and just hum. I enjoy the wind as it hits the face, and the hair flies all over, and during the long jolly walk a lot of unknown eyes simply meet with yours. Walking down, it is quite impossible to miss the noticeable, how everyone looks joyous and freed. Winter is gone, and everyone is in his or her cheery mood these days. Everyone folded their long wintry over-coats and boots aside, and filled their closet with slippers, flip-flops, dresses and skirts, and light comfortable wears.

Standing in complete silence, letting the cold water touch the feet wet and silky, watching the calm ocean and its mysterious waves, can be breathe-taking. Summer in New York is all about the beach. Hearing the birds cuing softly, and seeing their freedom of flight, baskets full of light snacks, cool packs of tropical juice and bag of lays potato chips, the atmosphere near the ocean is always filled with joy and excitement. To escape the heat, there is nothing more soothing than visiting the peaceful ocean and find comfort from the humidity. Family picnics at the beach have always turned out to be a perfect outing. I never regretted my trips to the beach or the hours spent simply watching or walking. The large ocean filled with water has always provided a peaceful and stress-free time. I read Stephen King novels, practiced my hands and continued to capture with my single reflex camera, mostly aiming for some vintage shots that has remained to be my hobby, and simply observe.

I found myself surrounded by a lot of colourful umbrellas from red, blue, white, yellow, pink, multi-coloured and lots of lean men and women starting from very light, to Mexican tan and dark, as there were faces filled with freckles, nose rings, and adorable children giggling and at the same time crying. Lots of eyes covered with a variety number of dark shades, as everyone watched the calm blue ocean silently, the sight had left me wondering what were running through their minds as they looked completely lost in their own dreamy world. Watching them, we too for some brief moments completely forgot all the chaos that was around us, and enjoyed the sand and the ocean water. As I walked for what felt like miles, I noticed the old who spoke very slow and calm, and the young, the large teen group as they played Frisbees and volleyball full of energy, the loud one's screamed and burst into an uncontrollable laughter while they arm-wrestled, the nerds sat silently and read thick novels, cute couples played with their children and took some candid shots posing with cute hugs. I was drifted somewhere else. Dizzy with the promise of lovely bright summer afternoon, I thought I could be someone else, sparkling and proud just like the strong bodybuilders on the lawn, relaxed and unaware as the hippies sang and played their guitars, and long hair that were tucked with beautiful sunflowers behind their ears.

What one feels near the ocean, is quite impossible to put in simple words. And this is what drags me back to the beach every summer where I feel, that once again I am at this moment quite unable to express in simple words.

Photo: Nabila Chowdhury