I just had one of those days at the beach that reminds you of why I can’t afford a house in South Florida. Everyone wants to live by the beach.

Worked all morning, then came home, had a salad and some ice cream, tossed on a bikini and some flip flops and headed out the door. I didn’t realize until I got to the beach that I had forgotten my cell phone and wallet, but once I was there I didn’t give it a second thought.

It was sunny and hot but the wind kept the edge off. The water was warm but still refreshing. It was clear, no deeper than my waist for at least a half mile out, with no slimy seaweed or sharp rocks or scary fish. When I was trying to swim out as far as I could, I actually had to stand up and walk halfway to the buoy marking the swim zone, because it was so shallow my knees were scraping the ground. On the way back in, I rode the waves as they broke over the sandbar.

From the beach, the water was a million shades of blue, each one prettier than the next.

I talked to a toasty brown surfer dude and loaned my sunscreen to some teenage girls on vacation. I read a bad mystery and fell asleep for a bit – something I can rarely do in the sun.

When I got to my car, the meter was expired, but no ticket.

Two hours later, I feel like a new person.

A lot of people really hate South Florida, but I’ve always loved living here, and I’ve always tried to make a point of appreciating what I have – my backyard is a place millions of people spend millions of dollars every year just to get to for a week. I think this is the first time since I have started working mornings that I have taken advantage of afternoons at the beach.

I’m not going to make the mistake of taking it for granted, ever again. It won’t be the last time.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 24th, 2006 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.