Relief from the Heat

Relief from the Heat

The heat of the night was stifling, with the humidity so thick and heavy, every breathe was like inhaling warm milk. Every window in the apartment is open, with box fans humming in the sills in a vain attempt to cool the hot, still, air from the outside, and move it to the hot, still, air inside. At a little before two o’clock in the morning, I stumble from my bed and its sweat soaked sheets, to turn on the oscillating fan at the end of my bed. I momentarily lock it in a stationary position and stand before it to cool the sticky wetness of my perspiration. The temporary reprieve is enough of a motivation to seek a longer lasting solution to this misery, so I strip the bed and toss the sheets in the laundry hamper. Taking a quick cool shower and dressing in light cotton clothes I decide to take advantage of the heat and the time I have left on my vacation, and head for the shore. It has been too long since I visited; having allowed work to get in the way of living, maybe I will find more than relief from the heat, Nags Head had always offered something far more important; it offered perspective.

After packing a small travel bag of clothes and other incidentals, I write a quick note to Mr. Lawson, my downstairs neighbor; a wizened old curmudgeon who I befriended shortly after moving in, by saving his very mischievous cat “Alice” from a neighborhood dog. Informing him of my destination, and asking him to keep an eye on my apartment, with a bribe of peanut butter cookies, and salt water taffy upon my return; (both of which, he has a weakness for). The bribe isn’t necessary, but he wouldn’t want anyone to think he had gone soft. After locking up the apartment and dropping off the note, I am surprised by the sense of adventure that has filled me; I am excited and can feel the adrenaline softly humming through my veins like the promise of Christmas in a child’s heart. I toss my bag in the back seat, and get into the smothering heat of a car that has been closed up during the roasting daytime temperatures. I roll down the windows, secure my seat belt, and start the car. As I pull out of the parking lot I am reminded how much cooler the evenings are on the beach at Nags Head and smile with anticipation.

Having only stopped once for gas, and a refreshingly cold drink, it took only a couple of hours of driving before I arrived at the familiar sites of my destination, Nags Head was for the most part the same. Still the sleepy little town with its clean, quiet little streets, brick and white washed clapboard buildings, all of which helped to personify the image of a simple coastal village of years gone by, for the tourist to revisit year after year. Of course the tourist did not know the true magic of the area as I did. I grew up discovering its secrets, and keeping them close to my heart, because even as a child I understood how fragile the magic of a place could be; it should be protected and cherished. Few people who came here really saw the gifts of the area, only what they came across with an exorbitant price tag in the local novelty shops that dotted the area. I continued to drive just past the town common and parked in an empty sand lot. It had cooled off considerably with a soft salty breeze from the ocean blowing my hair away from my face. I could feel the sand under my shod feet and quickly relieved myself of the offending loafers, the sand felt heavenly to my hot tired feet, its cool and soft texture massaging my arches and covering my toes as I curled them into the tiny white granules. I could have wept from the sheer physical pleasure of the gentle massage I received from simply walking. I continued walking up to the crest of the dune, I could hear the sound of the waves breaking on the surf, and was compelled to hurry, as though I knew something special was waiting for me just on the other side. Upon reaching the crest I sat, facing the ocean, as the sand form-fitted my body and the salt air filled my lungs I realized I not only was no longer miserable from the heat, I was were I needed to be. I had missed this place for many years, so as I sat there watching the most incredible sunrise I had ever seen, I found something I did not lose; rather I left behind in my pursuit of being a grown up…. The pleasure of discovery that I had as a child, the sense of adventure that I ignored because there where other more important things that needed to be addressed, and finally, I had left behind that sense of wonder that comes from looking at the world from the top of a sand dune as the sun rises before me.

I know now that the heat was simply an excuse to return to the place where my heart could remind my head what is most important in life has no price, or limits, it is vast, and forever; and needs only a little nurturing from time to time… the human spirit is the most neglected and most resilient of things. So take some time to feed your spirit.