To The North Sea

Flashback to mid-March. Out of LA's urban roar, into the utter quiet of an island in winter. I am standing on Texel (pronounced Tess-el), the westernmost and largest of The Frisian Islands in The Wadden Sea. This archipelago stretches northeast from The Netherlands to Denmark, with a population of roughly 80,000. Texel itself is composed of seven villages, economically dependent on primarily Dutch and German tourism in the summer months. 
But it is winter now, when I love the sea best. I haven't seen a soul all afternoon, save for one weathered fisherman hauling in up the beach. Now, the wind whips across my face and howls over honey-colored dunes. A single lighthouse stands in stark relief against the gray sky, calling to mind the myths of childhood. There is a loveliness to this lonely place, in the melancholy cry of gulls and the distant moan of freighters passing.