I'd get up early some Saturday mornings and drive south on Highway 17, push the Ford up the winding road through the mountains to Santa Cruz. I would park by the old lighthouse and wait for sunrise, sit in my car and watch the fog rolling in from the sea. In Afghanistan, I had only seen the ocean at the cinema. Sitting in the dark next to Hassan, I had always wondered if it was true what I'd read, that sea air smelled like salt. I used to tell Hassan that someday we'd walk on a strip of seaweed-strewn beach, sink our feet in the sand, and watch the water recede from our toes. The first time I saw the Pacific, I almost cried. It was as vast and blue as the oceans on the movie screens of my childhood.
An excerpt from the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Imagine if you'd never seen the ocean, can you imagine it? Imagine if you'd never smelled sea air or walked barefoot on the sand. Imagine if you'd never eased your feet in salt water or caught a rolling wave ....
This book is dedicated to the children of Afghanistan.
Painting: Breakers and Surfers, Constantine Bay, Cornwall from my website http://www.melaniemcdonald.co.uk/gallery_surfer-paintings.htm
