Photography, Travel, Perspective

Where the Ocean Meets the Sky

Sky photos over the Pacific

There’s a place, over the Pacific Ocean, en route to Maui, where the sky and the ocean meld into one unending stretch of blue. It’s nearly impossible to say where the earth’s waters stop and the heavens begin.

Every time we fly this route to Maui we hit this spot over the open ocean where the clouds tumble into fleecy peaks and vapor trails. With nothing but water below and sky above, you lose a bit of your perspective.

I always wonder what it’s like for your soul to float free. And I think, sometimes, that I can sense my father’s and grandmother’s essence in this place. We recently lost my husband’s 93-year old mother and my mind was on her during this flight.

And then, as abruptly as it must be for a bee or a butterfly to spot that sought-after pollen-laden flower, land appears beneath you — terra formed from eons of volcanic activity, all tumbled black rock and red dirt patchworked with fields of emerald green.

And then, I can almost feel those warm waters hugging me as I float on the surface of the sea and look to that vault of the sky.

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).

I hope you enjoyed my photos and musings. I thought about Anne Bonfert’s recent piece about perspective while putting this together. Thank you for the inspiration. It’s always good to look at the world through fresh eyes.

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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.