A wonderful way to describe bobbing on the sea close to the sheer cliffs of the islands, and edging towards still, alien, unembraceable bodies.  And that perfect phrase, ‘intimate with hugeness’.

‘Afloat on the ink of the green sea, it is like being in the elephant house at the zoo, intimate with hugeness, pushed up next to a herd of still, alien, unembraceable bodies.’

See also a quote-rich mosaic review of this magnificent, entrancing book: a love letter to islands and a paean to the sea. 

Source: Adam Nicolson, Sea Room: An Island Life (London: Harper Collins, 2013 (2002)), p. 78

Photo credit: Matthew Kane at unsplash.com