Day 116--Running into the ocean at 3am in a little black dress

And so I ran across the sand and into the ocean with my little black dress on and my black heels in hand, and let the 3am calm coolness hit me as my feet made it into low tide.  Never in my life have I seen the ocean more beautiful.  It was a slightly overcast sky that meshed well with the mellow waves, making that edge beyond the white crests look like the most peaceful place you could ever reach.

I thought for a moment that it was the absolute perfect place for a surrender.  

It was one of the best moments of my life, without exaggeration.

We were there on a whim of my roommate's boyfriend.  We were partying in Pacific Beach for a friend's birthday and after being kicked out of the bar at 2 we wandered the streets looking for some Mexican food place that was his favorite back in the day.  We found it eventually and I thought to myself that it was some crazy happenstance that we were sitting on a concreted tiled bench surrounded by pretty drunk twentysomethings along the sidewalks, with cabs and chatter just a bit too loud to hear the ocean a block away, with a broken neon sign saying Bicycles replacing the stars.  

He wanted to walk along the beach which seemed like a strange request at 2:30 in the morning with a belly full of cheap burrito but we went along anyway--his girlfriend, my boyfriend, and I.  It wasn't a cold night by any means, and the cool sand felt incredible on my 2-inch-heel-ached feet.  

We stopped near a ramp leading back to the sidewalk when the guy decided to walk down to the water's edge.  My boyfriend and roommate were talking about something or other when the sudden ferocious urge to be in the water leaped upon me, and with a quick, "Hey, let's go to the water" to them behind me, I fucking sprinted as fast as I could to the beautifully opaque and calm Pacific.  

The low waves hit my toes, and ankles, and I splashed in deep enough to my calves.  My boyfriend and roommate soon joined.  My roommate got out her camera, and though a lens can never capture the nighttime ocean's muted glamor, we took pictures anyway and walked along the water's edge.  My boyfriend twirled me, my roommate shared the awe of the scene with me, her boyfriend joked around about former his skinny dipping experience and losing his underwear, and I enjoyed all of the reasons why I moved to San Diego and why it's now my home.

I'm not a writer and I could never do a moment justice by depicting it to you with words or grainy pictures, but I hope you know that I wish you were here tonight at 3am, rolling up your nice jeans or dress to get your city feet wet in the pacified waves and feel completely at home in a warm but overcast night with people you only really just met but hope that you'll know for a lifetime.  Goodnight.