The Walkway to the End of the Earth

As the waves crashed in and the sun reflected strongly off of the golden hued sand, I remembered why I fell in love with this place. There is something to be said for finding peace. For once in my life I had found that. I could breathe in and be content to contemplate everything and nothing all at once.
As surfers frolicked in the chilly winter Pacific ocean, I let the water wash over my feet and the bottoms of my jeans. I meandered up and down the beach, Kirk reluctantly tagging along behind me, responsibly toting the shoes I had discarded almost a quarter mile back in favor of the free feeling of sand beneath my toes.

After spending a good deal too long looking at the seascape and observing birds, crabs, and all manner of seaweed, Kirk demanded I start the trek back. I reluctantly agreed and proceeded to leisurely lug back to where we had started to take the stairs and then the steep hill back to where the car was parked. My stroll was so leisurely in fact, that when I saw the ominous steps that headed distinctly away from the sand, I just kept walking. A few hundred yards away stands Scripps Pier. The pier dips deeply into a huge underwater canyon, and the University of California makes good use of it.

I stood beneath it contemplating this most unusual view of this commonplace shore staple. I found myself looking down a long hallway- a path way to the end of the earth. As I toyed with the fantasy of grabbing scuba gear and seeing for myself just how deep the water was at the end of the pier and what strange creatures were sitting just feet away from unsuspecting surfers, Kirks impatient calls penetrated my thought process.

As I trekked up the steep hill back to the car, sand stubbornly clinging to my feet and pant legs, I let my mind wander.

The pier was as I perceived it to be. Sure, its a valuable research station. And a giant, and a surf hazard, marvel of modern engineering, landmark and even a hallway to the unknown. The world ends and another begins at the end of that Pier.