It was a hot one today. I know… It’s August, but still the air was heavy and the breeze light. Even if we had a running boat (it’s been a few weeks of repairs for the old girl) it was definitely not the kind of day to melt on a mooring. So, when I received an invitation from my son’s girlfriend to join her mother and grandmother for lunch and a beach day, I had to say yes.
It’s been a minute since I have been near the water without a boat involved. Packing up beach chairs and towels. Maneuvering around the sand to find the perfect spot. Being surrounded by people who have set up their own section of sand with coolers and an assortment of beach toys, umbrellas, and a vast array of things that probably needed a U-Haul to transport down to the shoreline.
This is so much different than boating, where I have a canopy to protect me from the sun and everything at my fingertips. It was hot, sandy, and there was lots of sound.
But the same way the gentle sway of the boat can lull me into contentment, so did the loud laughter of the children who were splashing in the water and building sandcastles. It was the rhythm and the song of summer. Watching the young parents, exhausted but happy, felt like flipping through a camera reel of memories from when my kiddos were young. Time spent close by their side on the shore and in the water, searching for juice boxes and water to keep them hydrated. Gallons of sunscreen applied to protect the bodies of the young and old. The air was scented by coconut and seaweed that had gently drifted to shore, mixed with the occasional breeze that brought a whiff of the restaurants along the beach line.
I came home salty and sandy. All bonded to my body by sunscreen, which I obviously didn’t put on enough, as I saw when I looked at my red face in the mirror. A quick rinse washed away the remnants of the day, but not the looseness in my shoulders or the feeling in my body from a day well lived.
I don’t have photos because I was just in the moment. I was snapping memories in my mind, not on a camera roll. I can replay them just as easily and will when I remember a perfect summer daze because moments like this stay with me forever.