Sand in my Shoes

It was the most perfect morning ever. I opened my eyes and looked outside far beyond the white veil of the curtain adorning our hotel room and all I could see was palm trees – two tall ones at an angle on either side of the huge window and a whole lot of them in the distance far ahead.

I wondered what was it that I loved so passionately about the barrenness of the desert – a love which has increased only fiercely over the years, each time I find myself close to the mountains and the empty vastness of the desert sky. They say there is a perfect landscape for each one of us – something that defines the elemental in us, something that draws us in completely and makes us want to melt away in its nothingness. If there was ever such a thing - then I can say with absolute conviction that for me it was this, right here, right now and for always – my love for the desert, in all its emptiness and all its glory....

I shifted my gaze from the window to behind me –A was still sleeping, peacefully. This trip had turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise after all. It was A’s treat to me – I am usually the trip planner for all our trips but this time around he did everything - right from the choice of the vacation destination, to the sight-seeing planning to the hotel booking, a room with a beautiful view right in the middle of the center tower, all the way to the top floor. And so far, it had been a dreamlike vacation. We checked in last night to this most amazing resort in San Diego with the perfect holiday vibe all around and not to mention the perfect weather!

By the time that we got out of the hotel it was noon and we spent the entire afternoon exploring the old downtown San Diego. As evening began to set in, we drove towards Coronado ‘Island’ which boasts of blue skies and white sands and is a popular holiday destination for many a travel folks. We parked the car and started walking down the main strip of restaurants in downtown Coronado. We went inside a hip, trendy coffee/sandwich place and were pleasantly greeted by live music sung by a pretty woman sitting on one corner of the room holding a guitar. I instantly fell in love with the vibe inside the place and interestingly even liked the food that I ordered! The thing about me is that I’m very fuzzy about food – and on top of that I’m a vegetarian and a non-salad eater! But there, that’s me and I have a hard time, well lets correct that - people who are with me have a hard time listening to the not-this, maybe-that game that I play when deciding about where-to-go. The usual word which goes around is that if I’m asking where to go – no one is supposed to 'really' answer to that question ;-)

So, we ate in absolute silence – A and I, listening to the beautiful songs being played around us one by one. There was a sheet lying on one side besides the bar stool where the pretty woman was singing and I noticed it was the list of the songs you could request her to play. I asked her if she could sing ‘Wind beneath my wings..’ and she said she sure would....

I’m amazed at people who can sing so well and often wonder how do they give their whole heart while singing something each and everytime. It’s a lot of emotional effort I think and it would surely drain me if I were them, singing in their place putting so much of myself, in every single piece. But she sang and she sang beautifully – and I loved it completely. I told her she had an amazing voice, to which she responded with a thanks and a wide open smile. It was a smile that I would never forget – it was a face that I could never forget - even today, almost a year after that day as I’m writing this, I can see her sitting in that coffee shop and playing another beautiful melody, singing another lovely song and making someone else’s life picture perfect....

A and I left the coffeeshop and walked down towards the beach. It was an amazing evening and the sun was setting somewhere in the distance, casting a soft vermilion hue onto the receding waters of the Pacific. There was white sand all along the stretch of the beach. We walked for a long time on the sand and took in all the happiness from the evening – a million sights and a zillion dreams, maybe some our own….We came back from the long walk and A decided to bury my feet deep in the sand. He made me sit on the blue-green beach towel and gathered in the sand all around me, onto my feet, while I was laughing endlessly and asking him to stop. A group of young women walking around us smiled approvingly at him and he told me that they too thought it was the most romantic thing to do. It was indeed, the sweetest thing ever – something I know I would remember for a long long time to come. If I close my eyes today and search for a memory so strong that would be the happiest of all in my entire life – this would be the closest to one…just those few moments - the setting tangerine sun, the endless waters of the ocean and A burying my feet all the way up in the white sand and making an impression on it which said – I love you…

It’s weird how you remember things, all of a sudden one fine day, sometimes after as long as a year. I was listening to this song from Dido called Sand in my shoes and the only thing I could think of was the San Diego beach and the white sand and the perfect vacation with A. And I can't help but sing along what she's sung so beautifully..

I've still got sand in my shoes
And I can't shake the thought of you
I shake it all, forget you
Why, why would I want to
I know we said goodbye
Anything else would've been confused but I wanna see you again
I wanna see you again