Oh ocean, how I miss you

Growing up in a two hundred year old house perched on a hill overlooking the dock in Southwest Harbor, I was never too far from the ocean. Climbing up to the third story, we could look out to see it snowing in the harbor, or a lobster man unloading his catch. The best though was sitting on the back porch on an early summer morning and smelling the ocean as the breeze wafted up from the water. Smell always carries such strong memories with it and the smell of the ocean is no different for me. Since I now live inland I miss out on that crisp, salty scent every morning and I relish it whenever I get to be near it again. As someone who grew up so close to the sea (and often in it as well) I am always dumbfounded when I find out that a friend or acquaintance of mine has never dipped a toe in the Atlantic, or even seen it! I guess all my time spent looking out at the ocean should help make up for all the poor people born inland or in the Midwest who aren't lucky enough to grow up with the ocean in their backyard.