Sunday at the Beach

I had decided a few summers ago that I just wasn’t a beach girl. We were in Florida, we were broke, and I missed the mountains so much I could physically feel it.

Things change though. People change, and one day you find yourself standing on a beach with your feet in the sand and the water, the sun on your face and your back, and you are in love. [*Disclaimer-my heart is still in the Rocky Mountains, but they are far and in another life so for now I will love the water.]

*****

He said we would leave at 7:30 so even though Ashley and I hardly slept we were up and ready to go almost on time. We sat together at the dining room table eating cereal, drinking coffee and talking about whatever it is people talk about over breakfast.  

We should have known better. Time is a relative thing here. I was raised to understand that when someone says a time they mean it, and you should always be early just in case. Here when someone says a time, it is probably just the first number that came to mind and you should just be ready to entertain yourself with whatever else until…whenever. It really isn’t that big a deal though. It’s sunny. It’s warm. Life is beautiful. Enjoy being lazy. You’ll eventually get there.

And we did. After a beer run, two bathroom stops, a gander at some gators from a bridge, a few terrifying turns here and there, and more than a few negotiations over what language should dominate for the day we finally made it. We trekked across the brown sand and rocks, up over a rocky land mass jutting out into water and dropped our stuff under a palm tree in paradise. White sand and blue waves called our names and within minutes we were flipping and bobbing in the clear, salty water.

And so the day went. Sandy beach to salty sea and back and forth again. By the end I was the kind of tired that just leaves you staring off into space with no desire to move or speak or think or even sleep. The sun has dried your worries, the sand has rubbed them loose, and the water has washed them away to find you on some other rainy day.

*****

I have never been much of a beach person. I’ve always been bored, and annoyed by the scratchy persistence of the sand clinging to everything it touches. But I am in Costa Rica now so I guess I’ll just say Pura Vida!