All to the Seaside

So, I just got back from the beach a couple of hours ago, and good Lord am I exhausted. Of course, I woke up super-early this morning to pack the car, then I drove all the way back while my mom snoozed the day away. I am so the man of this family. The week was great, though, and I really enjoyed getting a chance to relax and chill out for a few days. I ate some delicious seafood; I watched several gorgeous sunsets; I did a little shopping (in all honesty, I probably far-exceeded my credit limit, but I was on vacation, right?); I read three great books. It was fabulous.

I also spent a large amount of time taking part in one of my favorite beach pasttimes: nosily staring/eavesdropping on the people surrounding me, or, what is commonly referred to as, "people-watching." I truly feel that I could "people-watch" at the beach forever. There are endless people and happenings that fascinate me, and I love playing that game where you try to figure out the backstory for surrounding groups. Do other people do that, or is that just me...? Here are a few of my favorite genres to observe: The high school couple, whose parents are undoubtedly less than two-hundred-yards down the beach and have given them very specific limitations as to just how far they are allowed to go on their walk. The tell-tale signs that always give these couples away are 1) braces 2) excessive PDA (and you know exactly what I mean here... hand-holding, piggy-back rides, pretending to throw the girl into the water, blah blah blah) and 3) a freshly purchased t-shirt from the it-establishment for teens at the beach (it's okay... I went home and immediately put on my Fudpucker's t-shirt, too...). Next, I love to watch the huge haven't-all-seen-each-other-since-this-time-last-year family/friend groups. They're loud. They're often drunk. They're multi-generational. They have a small army of tents and coolers. At least one member is out on the beach at 8AM, and the last one doesn't leave until well after dark. They're playing loud music. There's always a rousing game of kickball or volleyball going on. They're hilarious. I can't fail to mention the older couple who you wish would take their intimate moments inside their condo. Or the kid who stands on the balcony and screams down to his dad on the beach. Or the ghost family who looks as though they've never seen the sunlight, who you believe will have third degree burns before they can all get their sunscreen on. It blows me away that I was able to get even one paragraph read with all of this going on around me.

There is one thing that, even after all of the times I have been to the beach, I still cannot seem to grasp. Have you ever noticed those people (it seems, more often than not, to be women that stand out) that, whether they've just walked out of their condo or they've been laying under the July sun for the past six hours, just look good all the time? These people are a constant source of fascination and wonder for me. I look at them and just wonder how they do it. Some of these people don't ever put their hair up, and if it's up it's stylish and perfectly windblown. They don't look sweaty. They don't look hot or uncomfortable. They don't have sand all over everything they've touched. Again I ask, how do they do it? I start to sweat before I've even walked out the door. No matter how careful I think I am, I manage to get sand inside of everything around me--my phone, my iPod, my waterbottle, everything. I guzzle water constantly because I am so hot I feel like my face might melt off. The wind has its' way with my hair and makes it stick out at odd angles. Maybe someday I'll figure out this mystery that continues to allude me...

In closing, I've included pictures from a few memorable beach trips over the past several years. I have had many an experience at the beach, and there's one thing I know is true. The beach is a place that makes me think. As I observe the people around me, it makes me think about relationships. It brings back memories of trips taken before and the people who made them memorable. It tempts me to think about the future and dream of what could be. As the sun sets over the white sand and the clear blue water, it leaves behind a tinge of hope and the idea that tomorrow can be anything we make it.