It is, perhaps, the most common, elemental attraction to all of us beach lovers, the rhythm and pulse of waves. Some of my earliest memories of my day at the beach, when I was very young, are of my ‘required’ after lunch naps under the umbrella. As I drifted off to sleep the sound of voices around me amplified but it was the rhythm of breaking waves that calmed me and transferred me into quiet, deep sleep. Rhythm and waves, of all sorts, are both intertwined and instrumental to our existence. Sound comes to us in waves as does light. The sound-waves of music are intensified by the beat of the song or piece. A marvel of the natural world around us is the many way waves are the delivery system of sight and sound that can either delight or forewarn; a symphony versus a thunderstorm for instance. Waves in water are similar as they can appease or destroy. This photograph prompts me to reflect on the satisfying feeling we humans get standing on the thin edge of land next to the sea, taking in the sight and sounds of approaching and breaking waves. As the top edge of the sun emerges over the horizon in Rehoboth, or on any Mid-Atlantic beach probably, people gather to watch and feel. It gives energy. And it lifts spirits. Humans love rhythm, and waves deliver.
