Some wonders truly never cease to inspire.

I forget now what it was that I was planning to write about. It could have been a few things, as there was plenty to chat about, and a fair bit comes to mind. Nature, however, as always has other plans. Good ones. 

So, this is what happened. Even as I think about it, to write about it, an involuntary big smile spreads across my face, and I can relive the joy I'm about to share with you. Happily. 

We had just gone past the picturesque Yorkshire dales, followed by the Lakes district almost simultaneously, driving south, when the sky turned a misty, watercolor baby blue on the horizon. The Sun was still somewhat high in the sky, backstage somewhere in all of this, undeniably orchestrating this majestic grandeur. 

I thought we were getting views of some waterbody on the horizon, a vast lake flagged by a township, perhaps? Something so pretty had to be inhabited if it was attached to the mainland. Except we were nowhere near the coast and were driving right down through the middle of the country as we continued south. 

The water body looked like the color of the sea that one sees in photographs of the shallow water beaches of the islands of Greece. As we drove further, the mountains on the horizon gave way to gentle, low lying hills, and this waterbody opened up and hugged the horizon in all its pristine blue glory. It clearly was an inlet; I was sure of it—what a spectacle of ethereal beauty. There was no sign that somebody could even remotely connect to man's design but the plentiful and compelling evidence of divinity. 

At the edges of this inlet of tranquilizing blue seemed to rest what appeared to be the thin, pure white foam of a gentle ocean that is so in love with the shore, it does not want to disturb even a grain of sand on its pristine beach as it lay sunbathing. This place was an open-air church where the waters come home to embrace and be embraced, the gentle lapping of the waves, an ode to the Maestro of all creation. It left me spellbound, eyes glued to the horizon, mile after mile, bend after bend, as we progressed along on the highway. 

Above this blue, the beach became a lengthy strip, stretching all along the water's length, the color of a blushing peach, which first turns color from a pubescent green. I wondered if this strip was perhaps a tombolo, except there was no sign of land at either end.

Beyond the ripening peach of the sands of this beach was a rich deep blue ocean reaching further away, filling up the sky. I was taking photos, and videos, even using the slo-mo mode, but nothing could capture the rapture with which this stunning vista had me enthralled. 

It was about an hour later when the Sun eventually came out, beaming in pride, that I realized it was all in a day's work for our Surya Devraj, the mighty Sun. We were witnessing a spectacular sunset, adeptly scored, every tuft of cloud which formed the gentle foam of the incoming tide, every speck of blushing sands, every inch of baby blue, every sliver of gold that shone like sunlight on the illusory inlet. 

We were still a couple of hours away from our destination and the drive, with its unhurried consistency, allowed me to wallow contentedly, drunk with the beauty of this setting sun, high on having had this experience. 

Wanting to give them a rest, I must have closed my eyes, tired from the constantly concentrated effort to unravel the mystery of this scenery, and unawares, I dozed off. When I woke up, the sky was on the cusp of dusk. Luckily, I have the photos and the videos to assure me that I was not dreaming. 

I couldn't have asked for a more fitting homecoming, returning as we were from the fringes of a place that can be as close to a paradise on earth. I have now found the third secret sacred place that I can keep in my heart, knowing it's only a journey away. 

For that, and for today’s gloriously, deliriously, captivating sunset, I am grateful. 

On 12/28/ 2021. Started at 10:43 pm. 

Veenu Banga

Completed 12/29/21

1:07 am.