Clouds and Waves

I took this picture yesterday as thunderstorms were heading into town. This picture doesn't do them justice, but the clouds were awesome. They were so dark on the bottom and so brilliantly white on the top, they reminded me of big ocean waves that were about to crash against the beach. The crazy thing is, when I think of those kinds of waves, I feel terrified. It's like an "Oh crap!" feeling. There's only one time in my life I can think of when that feeling started.

On our honeymoon, Brett and I went to Disneyland and the beach. On the day we went to the beach, we went later in the day, so it wasn't long before the tide began to change. After swimming for a little while, Brett started getting tired and decided to go hang out on the sand. I decided to stay out in the water for a little longer. Oh boy, how I wish I hadn't. Just a couple minutes after Brett left me, the waves started getting a little bigger, and a little bigger, and a little bigger. I started getting a little worried, so I decided to head for shore. Just as I was about to try to ride a wave in, I turned around, and a HUGE wave was headed my way. The first thought that came to mind was "Oh [crap]!" (That's not really what I thought, but I'm editing it to PG.) I was scared! The waved crashed over me really hard and tossed me around for a second. As soon as I was able to regain my footing, I yelled for Brett to come help me. He quickly jumped up and started coming in after me. A wave pushed me closer to him and he was able to grab me. Unfortunately, another waved sucked him out a bit just as I reached a place where I could stand, and then another wave slammed him into me as I was running into shallower water. My foot got caught in the sand just as he hit me, and I twisted my ankle really, really badly. My ankle started to swell quickly and we still had a bit of a hike to the car.

I barely made it back to the car and worried about how I was going to get around Disneyland the next day and the next. Needless to say, it was painful getting around for the next few days, but I was still able to enjoy Disneyland and the other places we visited. (Looking back, I probably should have gone to the ER to have it checked out, but I didn't want to have to deal with that on my honeymoon.)

Now, whenever I see big waves, I always think of that "Oh crap!" feeling. That's what those clouds reminded me of. Luckily, they're just clouds, not waves.