Holy cats this post is way more of a tease for future posts than anything on one particular theme tonight. You can look forward to future posts on the oddities that are bosom control (or lack thereof) in warm weather vacation locales, the apparent drive for ongoing PDAs when waiting in hot, leg cramp inducing lines, the beauty of an ocean beach, the ridiculousness of time-share sales pitches, and some observations of the Disney machine.
What I will tell you today is that I played in the surf today, in a swim suit, going under, and in water up to my waist. This is a first for me. I am a midwestern flatlander, there is no doubt, and I saw Jaws at a VERY formative age, and the closest I come to having a phobia of any kind is the ocean - between rip tides and sharks and anything else that might lie in wait for me beneath the waves (but mostly sharks), I have had a few opportunities to swim in an ocean before today and always backed out. Today, I not only went in, but I encouraged, cajoled, and ultimately forced my older daughter to stand there with me and face her fears too. About two hours later, when the younger daughter wanted to go back in after digging in the sand and collecting shells, as she and I waded out, the elder came along. And we played and laughed and she made no further mention of being scared. Yay! I got the urge to then wade out further and try to swim into the waves (the tide was coming in), just to see what that felt like. And then I realized the Jaws theme (dah dum dah dum dah dum dah dum...) was playing in my head. So I called it good and went back to play with the kids. It was gorgeous at Clearwater Beach - that fine white sand is just a miracle. Sean and I decided then and there that we need to have a beach vacation sometime soon - with a location on the beach so we can just walk out at all times of the day and night to enjoy it.
I am recharging, for any who are wondering. I don't want to go home though, and I certainly don't want to go back to work, but I'm hoping the week-long distraction will give me enough stamina to get through it for a while again.
What a wonderfully fun way to recharge !!
ReplyDeleteWe splurged a couple of years ago and rented a house in Clearwater Beach. It is a gorgeous there.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you saw some interesting sights, especially during Spring Break.
The recharge you are feeling comes through loud and clear in your post. Good for you!
Until I was in my thirties, I spent time at the ocean in varying degrees, from 2 or 3 trips a week in my teens to varying amounts of time as I got older. I never, I repeat, I never went to the shore, without going in the water. Did not matter how cold it got up here in Santa Cruz, or Manchester, Eureka, I could no more go to the shore without immersing myself in the water, than I can go mornings now, without posting.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, being scared silly of scary movies, I never saw "Jaws."
I'm a water fanatic. I get in, don't want to get out. This is true of anything from a creek to a swimming pool to a lake, but especially of the ocean. I don't know what it is, but I really do feel like being in the water speaks directly to my soul somehow. Does that sound corny? Anyway, glad you got to have positive ocean experience to offset the trauma of Jaws. (I've never seen it all the way through.)
ReplyDelete