The endless sea is Portuguese. – Fernando Pessoa
Because we live on the road and no longer have a physical place we call home, there are times when we feel the need to create the restorative feeling associated with home. For our family, that place is usually by the sea.
When we feel, in the words of the famous Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, “sick of everything and of the everythingness of everything,” we gravitate toward the coast. We run until we are out of breath, swim until we are waterlogged and sit until long after the sun drops. We find treasures, we tell stories, and we have long periods of silence as time stretches out before us. The ocean restores us, which is why, without even really knowing it, we have driven the Portuguese coast in its entirety.
The beauty of the coast is that no matter how slowly we travel, or how long we stay, there is always something new to discover the next time around. I know we have missed many things that still await our discovery along the Portuguese coastline. What will stay with us long after we leave this country is the rugged accessible beauty that is diverse, welcoming, powerful, and calming all in one salty breath.
God gave the sea the danger and the abyss, but it was in it that he mirrored the sky. – Fernando Pessoa
