The Beach at Bridgeport, Essay Example

The beach at Bridgeport is unassuming at first glance. One has seen something similar a thousand times before on common picture postcards. Yet for me, it remains something radically different. The sand feels like the paper of the same name, but in a way that evokes serenity and peace. The manner in which the sun strikes the water is like light hitting an alien surface. Perhaps nostalgia for a place affects these perceptions, but if nostalgia ultimately means another world, the feeling when I visit the beach at Bridgeport is the equivalent of space travel.

When I first walked into my favorite coffee shop, I was struck by the strong scent that suggested one thousand different cultures at the same time. Walking towards my seat was like travelling through dozens of different countries with only a few footsteps. But the familiar voices and conversation created a state of homeliness despite my journey. The place remains special to me because every time I visit, it is able to synthesize in one location this feeling of distance and familiarity.

When I see my cousin, I almost immediately always laugh. This is because he will begin conversation in an uncanny manner, with some witticism or bizarre fact and observation that is completely out of joint with my daily routines. It was as though he was constantly looking at the world from a different angle, which only he had access to. But, perhaps, after further reflection this is a common trait in my family. I remember the same characteristic in my grandfather, whose commentaries in conversation were always anomalous to the entire world around me. This different way of looking at the world enriched my world and I can only say that I am grateful for this similarity in my family.