Afternoon stand up paddle around that island under a heavy overcast sky and such stillness in the air it felt like the world was put on pause for a moment. Gliding over the bay above 10-15 meter depth, clearly seeing the sandy bottom with no distraction of direct sunlight made you feel you were flying above ground when looking down.
Flying, stroke by stroke moving through, up in the clouds. Beautifully surreal. Smoothly moving on mirror-like water, yet feeling like flying high in the sky. Suddenly I lost balance and my legs got shaky. Damn the mind! How powerful is it. Only by the brief thought that I could potentially fall down from my imaginary cloud, my legs started tremble. Silly mind. Tremendous mind. Extraordinary mind.
The things we can create or destroy with the capacity of our thoughts. Scary, impressive and so very intriguing all at once. All the things we could conceive…
The sounds of the world reappeared as I closed in on the uninhabited island. Seagulls scream. A gentle swell bounced of the cliffs. A light crashing sound and a clucking noise as the waves got trapped underneath stones and tilted mountain ridges. Not as deep water now, bottom changed from bluish to turquoisish. I felt the need to throw off my bikini and swim naked.
As I turned around the island on the NE:ern side, a tiny bay with thousands of perfectly rounded melon and avocado sized marble rocks exposed themselves through the shallow water. Striking colour combination of the white stone, the water and the mellow sunlight making an attempt to penetrate through the heavy cloud blanket.
I let the board float free with the paddle atop and wrangled myself out of my swimwear. Touching the round stone bottom with my feet, embracing the chilly water with my body as it embraced me. Closed my eyes and sunk my self below the surface. Cold and crisp, a light icy shock wave washed away the outside world. Silence beneath.
Used the side of the cliff to get back up on the board. Cold wet hair slicked to the back. Skin covered in goosebumps. Everything damp as the air around me. Back at circumnavigating the island. Up in the air, down by the water. What is real in this beautifully weird world anyways.
