What if...

I was just catching up on Kelly's blog, she has post or two about her recent trip to the beach. To some, a beach trip in February may sound odd, but not to me. To me it sounds like heaven. As I read the post, I actually felt my scalp tense and small lump form in my throat, as if I could cry. I don't think I even realized I loved, and missed, the beach quite so much. A trip to the beach is like entering a parallel universe: I'm still me, the world is still turning, but everything feels different. Each day, time seems to pass slowly (measured only by mealtime and naptime), but in the end, the trip is over all too quickly. I love the smell of the beach...a little salty, a little fishy. I love that moment in the drive where you realize you're close enough to breathe in that beachy air so you roll all the windows down (even if it's cold outside). I rarely wear make up at the beach, I like dirty hair at the beach, I love the way a hot shower and clean hair feel after a day on the beach. I love sand. Sure it drives me bananas in the moment but it's the signature of the beach. Unexplainable sand, How'd sand get in here? sand. I love the way a walk on the beach feels like such hard work as you navigate in the wet sand yet the walk can go on for miles before you tire of the experience. Then you realize you have to turn around and walk back! I think the beach is just in my blood. I grew up just over an hour from some of the most beautiful beaches, the gulf beaches. I was born in a beach-area hospital, maybe babies born where their first breath is of salty air just crave the beach in a different way. I'm not fisherman, not a boater, not a water sport fanatic. All those things are fine and good but to me, a beach is a beach, no additives needed.

Beach memories. Day trips as a kid. Aunt Terry loved the beach, she'd pull her low beach chair just into the surf. Surely her heavenly mansion is a beach house. Trips with Amy and her family, her dad fully dressed under an umbrella. Senior year spring break at Mamoo's house. David's marriage proposal at sunset (then he refused to let me wear my diamond until the sand was washed from my hands). Newly pregnant and nauseous at the beach. Lily's first vacation at 4 months old was to the beach; newly pregnant again, but didn't know it yet :)! Sitting on the deck with Sheryl and Mema watching the dolphins in the surf, too many to count, and wouldn't you know, every child in the house was napping! So we enjoyed them by ourselves, dolphin watching never gets old.

Just last year we took our first non-Florida beach vacation and I must say, NC did not disappoint. Sunset Beach proved to be "different" but equally satisfying to a beach starved soul. The waves were rougher, swimming felt more like an athletic sport than a casual dip, but the feeling, it was the same. Maybe even better because of what a NC beach vacation represented to our little family...that there was life, and beach, outside of Florida.

So here it is Februay, and all I can think of is the beach. (Thanks a lot, Kel) A warm, sunny day on the beach would be ideal, but honestly, I'd take it anyway I could get it right now. Anyone up for a little road trip? Sweaters instead of swimsuits, but the sand and waves are just the same.