Sea of Embers
The sky burned like a furnace of molten gold, and a lone gull drifted across the horizon as if daring to touch its fire.
Mornings by the ocean often begin in silence. There is the stillness before the wind gathers, before the waves find their rhythm, before the hum of human life stirs along the coast. Yet in that silence, the world feels alive in its own raw way — the tide breathing in and out, the seabirds tracing invisible paths across the air, the sun pulling itself over the rim of the earth. To stand here is to witness a beginning written in light.
The ocean at dawn is never quite the same. Sometimes it is leaden, a mirror of slate; other times it glimmers like glass. But on this morning, it turned to fire. Every ripple caught the orange blaze of the rising sun, every swell glowed as though the sea itself had been set alight. The air carried the faint tang of salt and something else — that metallic freshness that only comes when night surrenders to day.
Seagulls are the first to mark these hours. They are coast-bound wanderers, at home on wind and water alike. This one flew steady and alone, not in search of scraps or company, but with a kind of purpose known only to its wings. Watching it carve through the embers of the sky felt like witnessing freedom in its simplest form. Gulls are opportunists, yes, scavengers even, but they are also navigators of vast distances, reading the shoreline’s clues better than we ever could. Their calls, harsh and familiar, are part of the very language of the sea.
It is in such moments that the shore teaches its quiet lessons. To be solitary yet unafraid. To move with the rhythm of a greater force. To accept the constant change of light, tide, and wind. Standing there, I realised how little control we truly hold over nature’s theatre, and how liberating that truth can be.
Beyond the bird, the horizon lay shrouded in mist, the far hills faint as shadows. The haze was born of the sea itself — warm air brushing cool waves, creating that soft veil where sea and sky blend until you cannot tell them apart. Fisherfolk know this haze well, both a beauty and a warning. It can blind the eyes at sea, obscure the coastline, and turn orientation into guesswork. Yet it is also the painter of mornings like this, softening edges so that all becomes light and colour, not form.
The gull was no longer alone. Others began to circle, their silhouettes catching the light. Soon, the ordinary day would return: gulls squabbling over tidal pools, waves pounding the rocks with familiar force, people stepping onto the beach with coffee in hand. But for those few minutes, there was only fire and flight.
I thought of travellers who came before me — sailors charting coasts by sunrise, beachcombers scouring sand for shells and driftwood, poets writing lines about fiery dawns. The sea has always given us more than food or trade; it has given us metaphors. We look to its tides to speak of change, to its storms for struggle, to its calm for peace. And to its endless horizon we look when we need to believe in something larger than ourselves.
This particular morning left me with one thought: that freedom is not always found in grand journeys. Sometimes it is a single gull crossing an open sky of embers, an ordinary creature made extraordinary by the light. Sometimes it is the act of standing still on the shore, breathing salt air and realising the world is alive around you in ways you cannot grasp. Sometimes it is the acceptance that you, too, are part of that rhythm — one small life in the turning tide.
As the sun climbed higher, the brilliance faded into softer tones. The fire gave way to the familiar blue of day, the sea returned to silver-grey, and the gulls became what they always are — messy, noisy, persistent companions to the shoreline. Yet the memory of that moment remained. A sea of embers. A lone flight. A beginning written in light.
Wild Shores Collection
Welcome to our wild shores, where the two worlds of turning ocean tides meet and dance with rocky, tumbling coasts and serene sandy shorelines. This is our place to taste the salty air that brings so much oxygen to our joy. We explore the ever-present energy of the sea as it welcomes those who ride its tumbling waves, push through placid moments, and absorb its vast expanse.
