Sand in your pants

 

The following are several things my family and I brought back with us from our recent trip to the beach.

1-Few things are more awe inspiring than when the sun meets the ocean and then bounces off of it. One morning, I went to get something from the van and I was stopped by God saying hello.

2- My wife spoke profound truth when we were leaving the beach on Saturday to go back to our hotel room. And I quote, “You know you’ve had a good day if you got some sand in your pants.”

3-Why is it of the things you can get at the beach the best ones are free. Like seashells that God gives to the ocean and in turn the ocean gives back to us. On top of this, every day God and the ocean repeat this process.

4- This may be of no significance to you, but it is of major importance to me. I did not get lost on my way down to the shore or on the way back to be precise. It pays to plan ahead, rather than wing it and pay the consequences when I get lost.

5- Please read this carefully and do not read into this, since I am an ex-exterminator. The hotel I was staying at passed the bedbug test. Never found any yet, but it’s definitely a trip ender if you do.

6- Fed the seagulls, twice to be exact. Maybe, the best part of the trip was when my family and I and threw bread, strawberries and cheez-its to a whole flock of them. Man, was that a feeding frenzy, sort of like Alfred Hitchcock’s, “The Birds”. Scary, cool, good fun.

7-One dollar ice cream cones are always good. After I purchased the cones my wife suggested we sit down on the porch of the shop and just chill. There we were, the girls with cones, me with a coffee and good tunes on the radio for our listening pleasure.

8-The beach by moonlight is special, very special. While we ate our ice cream, my wife told a story of a man who is blind, who on a moonlit night can ride his bicycle. The reason being it is the only time of the year that he can vaguely see. Now, that is cool.

9- Had a close encounter with the crane game. Years ago when I was a much younger father my eldest daughter and I had a thing when we would go to the candy crane game. It’s an awesome machine because as the motto says play till you win. So, there I stood with my two youngest daughters and watched them play till they won. It was a good moment to be alive, to remember, yet while still moving forward.

10- It is good to brief moment to feel melancholy. At times during the weekend, I would think of my son, now 21, and when he has was much younger and his hair was naturally yellow. In my mind, I could still see him catching a football on the beach, swimming in the pool, playing in the arcade and walking on the boards. Then, I would realize he is in college and be happy for the man he now is.

11- Nice to be surprise appreciated. Few things are better at the shore than fudge and to top it off, my daughter, Sianna decided to buy some for me. The only thing better is when it is on sale, which it was.

12- When doing something for the first time always properly introduce yourself. Since this was my youngest daughter’s first trip to the beach, I jokingly encouraged her, while we were on the beach, to say this, “Hello ocean, my name is Lia.” Although there was no reply, it seemed like the appropriate thing to do as the both of us shared a good laugh.

13- Good to finish well. There are few better ways to end any trip than to arrive home and find you have pizza left in your cooler, from the night before. Awesome.

Now, there is always something good to be had when you spend time with your family, even if you don’t get some sand in your pants in the process.

Swavel