I've been thinking about the ocean a lot recently and why it means so much to me, so I dug out an old favorite book the other night, Gift From the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and was once again ported to the soothing summer days of sandy beach chairs, hot lazy days with the lolling sounds of waves rolling in, tingeing everything with their spray. Sitting on the beach, just looking out at the vast expanse without book or voice to distract, is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world.