Catalyst - Issue 001 Catalyst Issue 001 | Page 79

5am: It’s still dark out. We just dropped our third counterpart off at the airport and are flying down Route One in silence. Usually, I’m that annoying passenger that wants music on all the time and channel switch a million times to escape commercials…but this morning in the early darkness I welcome the silence. We’re nearing my favorite corner after La Jolla and I eagerly anticipate it. From out behind the slopes and slants, through the early morning glow on the horizon, I see it. The waves crashing only 15 yards from the car. The common relief I always feel on this drive washes over me. The 5am haze in my eyes burns off immediately with the anticipation to see the waves. The windows are closed but through the silence I can still hear the faint whoosh of the waves and the birds wishing each other good morning. 20 minutes down the road and we both silently agree to stop at the donut shop we always pass on the bus but never got the chance to try. Two giant glazed donuts, a walk up a mountain of a road, and one right turn S I X T Y later and I’m walking down what will instantaneously become my one of my favorite spots in the world. I’m usually too talkative, but today the familiar silence of the last hour feels to cozy to leave, like a bed at 7am in the winter. After slipping off my shoes and feeling the cool damp wood underneath my feet, I descend the wooden stairs to meet the ocean. Cutting through the fog with each step until the cold sand meets my feet. We find 3 rocks on the shore and each choose one. We sit silently watching the overhead surf being carved and maneuvered by the dawn patrol. The familiarity I felt in somewhere I’ve never been was unparalleled. I had been living in Southern California for 3 weeks now and for the first time it felt like home…like somewhere I’d always been and always would be…a place I’d come to think, or swim, or hangout with friends. At this moment I knew I was home and I couldn’t help but smile. T H R E E 79