Its a funny thing– I have such an odd relationship with the Beach: I love walking on it and hearing the waves but I hate going in the water.  As long as I can walk on the beach or even sit on a bench to take in the view I am happy. I’m just not a big fan of getting wet and cold and dealing with the seaweed and creatures.

We visit Cape Cod every year– my inlaws have a house there and we are invited to be guests every year. The weather this year was just uncooperative with boating and sailing so I was able to avoid dealing with it pretty much this year. I did a lot of walking and biking to the beach but really did not hang out there for long–it was very overcast, windy and “pre-storm” for much of our week.  My hubby did get to sail a couple of times so I did feel bad for him since it was too windy for more than just him on our Sunfish.   The odd thing–if the weather had been more cooperative I had planned  to have him get out our Windsurfer for me to try again–I even found a great 2 piece bathing suit this year that was conducive to being active!

How did I end up married to someone so in love with the ocean?!  He literally would spend his entire vacation on or in the water growing up (his parents rented a place every summer). His parents rarely saw him once he was old enough to be unchaperoned at the beach….he would sail all day and explore. I think he would do the same now if he could. While our girls were growing up I would be on the beach while he was on the water, sometimes with one of the girls, more often on his own. My younger daughter has a ‘boyfriend’ who is also a water lover–canoe, kayak, sail or power boat–he does it all. The irony? My daughter is also like me where she has little desire to be in the water–go figure!

So the funny thing is that the Beach is never the same twice–the tides and currents reshape it frequently. The desire to return though is always there, to find comfort in the ‘sameness’ of the beach; the salt air, the sand, the gulls. There is a pull to being there that comforts a tired soul and makes Life more bearable…..so although it is an ‘odd relationship’ I will return–time after time– to find myself again.