Hot summer days always make me think of cooling off in the ocean. I love racing through the shifting sand, and the sound of my slapping feet on the hard-packed grains by the water. That first dive over a rolling breaker into the ocean is the best.

I prefer the ocean over a swimming pool because it feels alive. The texture of the water is different, the smell, the sound. I especially love it on a windy day, when you can hear the blown grains of sand hissing as they slide over each other, propelled by the gusts.

I love writing by the ocean. It’s inspiring, even if what I’m writing has nothing to do with water or the beach. There’s just something about the atmosphere that sends my muse into overdrive.

It’s hot today, and I’m thinking about the ocean…but I know a lot of folks don’t get supercharged like I do about it. So, today’s prompt is about water. I’ve listed several ideas to get your started…

Here’s Your Prompt:

• Write about the ocean. Write about high tide, or low tide, or neap tide. Tell us about when the water reached your thighs, or your waist, or your neck. Write about something that washed up onto the shore.(Well, I had to at least list it, right?)
   
• Write about a river, a pool, a stream, a swamp. Write about river rocks, uneven footing, slipping into a deep hole, diving into the deep end, learning to swim, the smell of the bog, or swamp people.
   
• Write about being in a safe harbor, in hot water, a mile above sea level, or something that won’t hold water.
   
• Write about singing in the rain, taking a bath, or rubber-de-duckies.
   
• What if you found you could suddenly hold your breath for long periods of time underwater? What if you found you could breath water?
   
• Perhaps you’re more inspired by quotations…
   
  • “Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.” (From Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
     
  • “As water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.” (From The Old Testament: 2 Samuel Chapter xiv. Verse 14.)
     
  • “For water continually dropping will wear hard rocks hollow…” (From Of the Training of Children, Plutarch)
     
  • “Love in a hut, with water and a crust, Is—Love, forgive us!—cinders, ashes, dust.” (From Lamia. Part ii., John Keats)