The sound of the surf would stir him awake at night. Sometimes it startled him, but that was when the scent of salty air accompanied the sound, which brought about memories that only night could. In the darkness, he would lie awake in bed and try to gauge the tide by how near or far the waves were breaking on the shoreline. Then, each morning while shaving, he would look at himself for a long time in the mirror then and explain he had been living in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and hadn't seen the ocean in 48 years.