These Are the Moments

These are the moments that are imprinted on one's soul.

We are camped on a small, powdery soft white sand beach with a medieval watch tower across a very narrow channel. It is located at the most north western tip of Sardinia proper, Torre Pelosa. To the north is Isola Asinara, a national park. Water laps softly a few meters away. A dark threatening sky with dramatic clouds floated towards us from the west. A few distant flickers of lightning flashed and a near full moon ocassionally peeked out of the cloud cover to spill scintillating sparkles on the water, a channel which had been the softest, palest most translucent turquoise imaginable upon our arrival at about 6 p.m..

And this idyllic evening, near Stintino where we'd lunched earlier after a direct crossing of Golfo dell Asinara from Porto Torres, was shared with kayaker Constantino Lifrieri from Sassari. He drove about 30 kilometers to meet up with us and to share our beach with Sardinian pastries, flat bread, peretta cheese, home made red wine, water, and a few surprises which kept appearing from his bag; Sardinian yogurt and chocolate! Constantino knows how hungry and thirsty paddlers can become as he himself has done extensive paddling of the Sardinian coast including the Maddalena Islands and the French island of Corsica. He speaks five languages; Italian, English, French, Greek, and ancient Latin. He creates stained glass windows and also teaches sea kayaking. It was here in Sardinia where sea kayaking grew in popularity in Italy, and Constantino and I discovered that we'd met briefly in 2003 when I paddled the Maddalena Islands in the busy tourist month of August. Constantino kept both conversation and wine flowing as we sat on the beach on this calm, cool evening.

René and I sincerely thank Consantino for coming to visit us and for his generosity. Mille grazie!