Ashizuri Cape Holding my scarf in place, I couldn't look away from the lighthouse and waves

I walked out to Tengu no Hana at Ashizuri Cape on a winter afternoon. From here, you can see Ashizuri Cape Lighthouse. I spotted it at the tip of the tree-covered cape and felt a little relief: I'd made it. Then the sea stretching out beside it caught my eye too. Somehow, there was even more I wanted to see than before I came.

I held the scarf at my chest with one hand and lowered the phone I'd been holding in the other. Each gust from the sea swept my hair across my cheek. I watched with my shoulders slightly hunched as waves hit the rocks, white spray bursting and vanishing. The sea never stayed still for a second.

I meant to use the lighthouse as a landmark and watch the sea, but my eyes kept drifting back to the waves. I watched a big wave come in over one rock, only to see another reach a different one. Where would the next one hit? I thought I was just taking in the view, but before I knew it, I was waiting for the next wave as if we'd arranged to meet.

I turned back to the lighthouse and laughed a little. I'd come thinking I'd take a photo, but I kept following the waves with my eyes. With the lighthouse and sea side by side, my attention kept going back and forth between them. I kept a hand on my scarf and told myself to stay just a little longer.

Even after I picked my phone back up, I didn't raise it to take a picture right away. Part of me wanted a photo to remember it by, but I also wanted to hold on to the feeling of the wind on my cheek and the time I spent waiting for the next wave. After I'd decided to leave, I looked back at the lighthouse one more time.

At last I pulled my scarf tight and left the cape. When I got back, I wanted to tell my friend about the lighthouse and how watching the waves had made it so hard to leave. After such a long journey, I hadn't expected the simple act of taking in the view to mean so much. I want to see that winter sea with my own eyes again.