Little things

I tip-toed out of our room in my bikini around 6 in the morning.  Since our arrival at Lima Coco, I have completely lost track of the day and time.  It was probably around 6 in the morning because it was getting bright outside.  Daylight started around 6 in Bangkok so I assume that it must be the same here in Ko Samed.  I have been waiting for the sky to light up since last night…

The flimsy doorknob made a clunk sound when I shut the door of our bungalow.  I ran towards the beach down the luggage slope.  There were people cleaning the resort, trimming grass, and sweeping the restaurant / lobby.  They looked at me as if I was crazy to be so happy so early in the morning.  I jumped in the ocean without warming up.  The water temperature was just right and there was no one in the ocean.  It was just me.  The ocean belonged to me!  I swam out to the deep side the ocean, way beyond where I can reach the bottom with my feet.  I turned around to face the land, marveled at the beach, the bungalows, and the mountains.  I thought, if God or gods had a residence on earth, it must be here…  I swam back closer to shore, stood in the spot where the tide pulls and pushes.  I stood in silence, watched and felt the pull and push of the tide for the very first time.  I am sure there are a lot of spots like this one, but where I stood, it was cool!  The sun slowly climbed up the mountains behind the resort and lit up the clouds above the ocean.  There I was, in the middle of nature, in the ocean, floating like an upside down jellyfish.

We had breakfast, so it must be around 9 or so because breakfast doesn’t start until 8.  We took a walk on the beach right away to avoid the heat later on in the day.  The gentle waves washed up tiny sand colored crabs that I just absolutely had to chase down.  Dad had taught me the crab digging technique on the beach, but these tiny ones were roaming free so it will save a lot of work for me if I caught one.  These little crabs moved really fast and after several attempts, I finally caught one!  Satisfied, we continued our walk between the shoreline where the waves meet the beach.  Dodging the bigger waves by jumping on the sand and letting the smaller waves wash off the sand on my newly painted toes was a treat in itself.

I settled in the hotel lobby with my books, sunglasses, camera, and sun tan lotion.  I can’t help but observe all the tourists that are getting ready for their first swim of the day in this hot morning.  They were all quite red already, like lobsters, but they lounged and swam anyway.  The staff of the resorts moved in slow motion completing their daily routine and the masseuse started with their first client of the day so it must be 10.

Life here is so slow and calming.  I am only concerned about the littlest things that happen on the beach, at the resort, in the ocean, and my tummy.  Who should wear their swimsuit and stroll down the beach and who shouldn’t?  Which holes on the beach have crabs in them and which ones don’t?  Which book am I going to read after I finish The Stranger?  If the sun rose from behind the mountains, it should set in the ocean that faces that lobby, am I going to miss it?  What will be my next drink and my next dish that I should order?  Relaxing means that these are not the least of my concerns but most of my worries!  If only if these were the only things that I am worried about, always.

I just ordered my first coconut of the day without vodka this time.  My next drink will be my first Johnny Walker on this island, probably around 11 or 12?