A morning walk along the beach has some lovely consequences…I
t is the best way I can think of to wake up all the senses.
With your first step you feel the coolness of a breeze against your face and the sand between your toes…you look around and realize Mother Earth is already putting on a show.
Immediately upon entering you are put under nature’s spell…looking at all the impressions in the sand with all the stories they can tell.
If you happen to arrive early enough…ahead of the inevitable crowds…
you hear the rhythm of the waves and gaze out to where the water meets the clouds.
The clouds…as clouds are wont to do are constantly changing shapes and sizes…
and begin to catch the colors of the sun as, from the east, she rises.
You pause a moment to enjoy the aroma of the ocean…and it sets your senses free…
as you look around and all you see is sky and sand and sea.
While on your walk you begin to see other people…on any given day…
you smile and quickly greet each other as you pass along the way.
Fishermen, people jogging, families out for a day of fun…
people swimming, babies in strollers…a grandpa and grandson.
You see boats upon the horizon, watch and listen as egrets and pelicans soar…
you pass the remains of a crumbling sandcastle built the day before.
When your walk is over…you decide to go in for a cool refreshing dip….
and when you bring your head out of the water you can taste the salt upon your lips.
You might remark at how the water is still cool…even in the last days of July…
then you go out, sit under your umbrella and read a book until you’re dry.
When it’s time to go, you pack up…you take one last look around…and you smile
glad to have spent some time here…even for for a little while…
As you head out you pass more people who are just now heading in…
Your time on the beach is over…there’s is about to begin…
You look back once you pass them…smile because you understand….
They’re about to add their own impressions….their own stories to the sand.
One way, I think, to come to a better understanding of our country…of this land…is to take a walk along the beach…and watch people playing in the sand.
With our first steps onto the sand…one simple thought arises…how before us stretch a sea of people in all colors…shapes and sizes.
This alone makes us smile but we are also pleasantly surprised to watch as an entire circle of life plays out before our eyes.
We see lovers holding hands…we pass a wedding…we sneak a peek…we see another couple…she’s pregnant…their baby’s due within the week.
As our walk continues in the cooling breeze of a Florida Autumn…we see a family with a naked baby…the sand is covering his bottom.
We see families with older children…their sounds drowned out by the oceans roar…running…laughing…jumping…playing catch along the shore.
We see older couples, just like us, walking with elegance and grace…It’s hard to find a person on the beach without a smile on their face.
Here’s a little something, I imagine, every seashore has to teach…people playing on the beach have no labels…they’re just people on the beach!
So, if you want to come to a better understanding of this country…of any country…of any land…take a walk along any beach and watch how people share the sand.
Yes, I imagine that’s exactly the message the seashore means to send…
as we share the sand…
the sun…
the sea together…
how easily we blend.
There was this old couple walking on the beach…an old Grandma and Grandpa…and the more they walked the more they smiled at all the wondrous things they saw.
For they realized as they walked the beach…free of borderlines and fences
How one simple walk along the beach is a treat for all the senses..
Here are but a few things they experienced before their walk was done:
They saw a sky so blue it didn’t seem real…they saw clouds painted by the sun
They saw those same clouds block the painter…and immediately became aware…of how their colorschanged to blue…and there was a coolness in the air.
They saw pelicans glide high overhead…they saw sandpipers dart…and scurry
They saw people walking…some moving slow…others in a hurry.
They saw a sister chasing her brother through the water…her brother laughing…paying her no mind…They saw their father keeping a watchful eye…not too far behind.
They saw fishermen with lines cast…with giant catches in their thoughts.
They saw herons and egrets waiting patiently so see what they had caught.
They saw a child and his mother jumping waves while holding hands…then heading back to shore to make a castle in the sand.
They felt the coolness of the water as they floated on the waves…They saw dolphins and huge ships…They felt the salt spray on their faces and tasted it on their lips.
They smelled the ocean, the sand…and sunscreen…aromas they adore…
They listened to the roar of the ocean as it crashed upon the shore
Sometimes they stopped their walk…this was totally unplanned..
So they could listen to the stories hidden in the wind…the waves…the sand
And when their walk was finished…they were left, as usual, without speech…
glad to be together…
one old couple
walking on the beach.
One reason we are drawn to slow walks along the beach…besides the beauty we are shown…is that every walk along the shore has a magic of its own.
Even though we may walk the same beach…may amble the same shore
each walk is filled with subtle differences than the walk before.
The sand beneath our feet has shifted since the last time that we came…and in all the times we’ve walked this beach…no two sunsets are the same.
It’s possible we could see some errant seagulls, hungry ospreys or graceful pelicans soar…and if we’re lucky a family of dolphins might be swimming just off shore.
There is a good chance we’ll catch a breeze as it rides the waves onto the land…or see the footprints of some animals left imprinted in the sand.
Today we witnessed a beautiful sight as a grandpa and his grandson waded into the sea…and I remembered when that little boy was my grandson…and that grandpa next to him…was me.
As I watched them in the present making a memory that in their life I hope will last…
I smiled as my own memories allowed me to step into my past.
On this walk we saw pelicans…and seagulls…and sea shells hanging in a tree…
We saw a kaleidoscope of colors in the sky as the sun set in the sea…
But seeing that grandpa and his grandson…allowed me back in time to reach…
Reminding there is always as much beauty on the shore…
as there is magic on the beach.
A walk along the beach…with someone whom I love
is just one of the many things I will never tire of
I’ll never tire watching the waves as they paint their watercolor patterns on the land,
the taste of salt upon my lips
or making footprints in the sand.
I’ll never tire of the wind…
how it quickly changes from a bluster to a gentle breeze
as it scampers across the sand
and exits through the trees.
I’ll never tire of searching for that unique shell
one I’ve never seen before
or wondering how all these shells have found their way onto this shore.
I’ll never tire of the clouds and sky and the grandeur of the view
of how the white sands of the beach blend with the ocean and sky blue
There is a simple beauty here
It is soothing
hypnotic
surreal
It always amazes me when waking on the beach
how wonderful I feel.
and how blessed I am to be sharing this walk
with someone I love…
perhaps the most important thing…
I will never tire of…
He loves to walk along the beach…where a perpetual sea breeze blows.
He loves to walk in his bare feet and squish the sand between his toes.
When asked why he walks the beach…he smiles…and with the wind tousling his hair
he speaks about about his happiness…and the riches he finds there…
“Where else but on the beach,” he says,
“where the water meets the land
can you touch the stars in the middle of the day
and find treasures in the sand?”
Walking on the shore
Beach
Beach
Feeling the sands between
My toes seeing the waves
Hitting the shore
Beach
Founding seashells on the
Shore some are big some
Are small some are medium
They come in different sizes
And shape walking back to
The car looking back and
Seeing the beautiful sunset
Behind the ocean and the
Beautiful clear calm water
Beach
© Amanda Kay Hill
1/7/17