A Performative Moment - Ocean View

I sit in my car. Parked on a road that looks straight at the ocean. At first all I see is what I already know about the ocean. Blue/Grey color, constant motion, splashing. Breathe in…breathe out. I see surfers' torsos in a collective on the far right side of this tapestry. This is where I'm supposed to be looking. I've seen it now, so I open my book to read…

But I quickly put my book down and stare up at the ocean again. Thinking - not seeing. Then I see again. Then I choose to see more.

I look to my right at the pattern of succulents arranged in their concrete planters. Some tall and green and prickly. Others small and black and curvy.

I see cars pass by in the corner of my eye along the road that runs parallel with the coast. Suddenly, I notice that I can see their reflection in the window behind these succulents as the car drives on.

Then I notice there are two window panes and two reflections.

Then I see my car as myself. Twice. And somehow I am surprised. I didn't recognize that I am a part of this world. I am looking AT it, but I am also IN it.

Slowly my eyes drift down, wondering what other details I might be missing.

Scratches and indentations in the concrete take me to the construction site that this once was and the thrill the owners must have felt in their ocean front purchase.

Suddenly, I see two men enter the frame I've created. Both drenched in sweat. One with a ladder and one with a squiggy coming to clean the windows I've been staring into.

How Funny - I think - the many layers of reality.