How to enjoy a beach

Image of family who know how to enjoy a beach, look for shells, skip stones, watch the waves

First, accept sand.

Inhale the salt smell of drying seaweed carried on the wind that whips your hair into fantastic styles.

Let the waves mesmerize you and fool your eye into expecting motion from things that stand still.

Hear the slip of small waves against the shore. Watch others do the same.

Follow, with your eyes, the whorls of bleached driftwood branches.

Obsessively hunt for just the right pebble.

Step strategically to encourage squirting clams.

Run fingertips over the inside of a shell.

Jog in the shallows.

Sit in the lee of a log to get warm.

Let your mind roam.

Look for whales.

Listen to the gulls, they’ll tell you what’s going on.

Watch the silent heron lift off as you come too close.

The kingfisher meanwhile, shrieks at you to get off this ground he considers his, as he flies away to take possession of another spot.

Dig clams, pick mussels.

Just enough for an appetizer.

This keeps the beach inside you for a whole day.

Two days if you keep your clams in cool water and give them cornmeal to eat.

Last, accept sand.

Thinking of the tsunami damaged beach communities of Japan and Hawaii during this terrible time. We all know the ocean isn’t a tame pet, and we all could experience a devastating event any day. To fully describe how to enjoy a beach I guess I should add one more line:

Accept tsunamis.

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3 Comments

  1. Hi Nancy,

    great idea to repurpose an old post – and it’s a really nice one! One of my problems with ‘blogs’ is when great content gets buried in the archives so I’m a big fan of re-purposing!!

    I actually came across your site on MDBP and thought I’d drop by and say Hi and leave a comment. On that subject, in order to help out fellow MDBPers I invite you to leave a comment here and get a free backlink to your site and also to your latest article.

    There’s already quite a discussion going on there.

    It would be great if you stop by and say Hi but in any case best of luck with your blog,

    take care & best wishes,
    Alan

    1. Hi Alan, Thanks for visiting Tidal Life. I agree, it’s too bad that old posts get so buried. I’m impressed that you dug through to find this one. One of the things I want to do with the re-launch of the site is to create some evergreen content. Maybe this is one of the pieces that qualifies. You inspire me to get to work on that aspect. I’ll check out the MDBP discussion. And I really appreciate the the invite.
      Best,
      Nancy

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