Portrait of a Stormy Sea

Every now and then, I find myself falling into a low creative energy phase, where I find myself mechanically producing work or worse, becoming exhausted of fresh ideas and novel perspectives. In an earlier post about visiting the mountain, Jabal Shams, I had wondered whether I was a beach or a mountain person - however, following several recent beach visits, having taken advantage of Oman's increasingly pleasant weather, I can now safely declare that a trip to the beach revitalises and re-energises me in a way quite unlike other.

It happened to rain today in Muscat; considering the fact that it only rained a handful of times last year in Oman, for instance, rain over here is definitely a statement event, so to speak. During my childhood, the mere darkening of the sky and large drops of rain polka-dotting the ground would be enough to turn any day into a holiday; we would happily get drenched in the rain, the rain-soaked world having become our playground. In fact, it was only after I moved to UK for my higher studies and having to encounter grim gray skies and vapid cold rain day after day that I learnt to call it bad weather. Yet, over here, the sight of a sky graduated in all hues of gray still imbues the day with a sense of play and relaxation, a welcome departure from the daily monotony of cerulean blue skies and sunshine.

I impulsively visited a nearby beach after the rain had finally petered down to a drizzle and it struck me that it was one of the few times I had visited a post-storm beach. The sea was mercurial and slate-blue,  the waves contemplatively and authoritatively arriving upon the shore while the dusk sky above was a quietly dramatic melange of colors. Lightning would splinter the sky at sporadic intervals, causing the sea and beach to be dramatically lit up, the light picking out the gleaming wet pebbles and sand. Furthermore, due to the rain, the beach was more or less desolate apart from assorted objects that the sea had hurled towards the shore; while walking down the beach, I would meet the occasional jogger or a father and his young daughter- yet,  we would swiftly pass by each other, too immersed in our own thoughts and worlds. Suffice to say, it was an unique beach experience, walking in the waves while rain drizzled upon my head and the lightning spotlighting the world, as if photographing it.

Here are some pictures of the beach at twilight that I was able to capture via my phone; apologies for the pictures' quality in advance...

Aftermath: the storm sky

Mercurial sky and sea...and Muscat lights gleaming in the distance

The storm draws to a close...and the night begins