This week’s inspiration photograph was a welcome contrast to the weather we’ve been having here in central Virginia–it was five degrees Centigrade upon waking this morning, and the forecast is for snow on Friday. That’s enough to make one long for tropical shores.

I grew up in a land-locked county in Virginia, and, in fact, didn’t learn to swim until I was an adult because my mother managed to instill a fear of water in me. Having a significant other who owned a boat was impetus enough to be more safe while out on the water, and luckily my local parks and rec gave adult swim lessons. It was one of those times where you learn something and wish you hadn’t wasted all those years avoiding it.

I loved swimming and loved being in the water. The SO and I eventually bought a house on a tributary of the Patuxent River in Maryland, and we vacationed at a lakehouse owned by him and his brother in eastern Connecticut. Both places got me out of being a pool-only swimmer. Then, there was the ocean.

Today’s 100-word story is “And When We Go Back to the Sea.” In addition to the photo, a quote from President John F. Kennedy also inspired it:

“All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came.”

If you don’t see the link on the story title, go to the Friday Fictioneers tab at the top of this post and click on it. Then, you can select the story from the drop-down menu.