Friday, August 13, 2004
THE SMELL OF SEA
On some afternoons, the wind blowing from the direction of Manila Bay carries the scent of the sea for miles. I smell it in the streets of Makati. I smell it in my room at home when the windows are wide open.
It is the scent of summer and beaches. Of the bounty of the ocean. Of saltwater warmed by the sun.
Then there are those stormy nights when the wind from the west has a particular bite to it. Those nights, the wind still smells of water. But it is darkened with the scent of a shadowed vastness and huge waves. Of countless galleons, boats and battleships rotting in murky, haunted depths.
Nights like those, I close my windows slightly.
It is the scent of summer and beaches. Of the bounty of the ocean. Of saltwater warmed by the sun.
Then there are those stormy nights when the wind from the west has a particular bite to it. Those nights, the wind still smells of water. But it is darkened with the scent of a shadowed vastness and huge waves. Of countless galleons, boats and battleships rotting in murky, haunted depths.
Nights like those, I close my windows slightly.