If there is one thing that we appreciate, it’s a trip to the beach. We keep a bag of buckets and shovels and of course, a kite in our car, just in case the urge to visit our favorite beach might happen to strike. This is something that I used to crave doing with my kids when we lived in Pennsylvania. I would sit at my window and watch the snow falling in late March/early April, dreaming about the days when a drive to the beach would take only 10 minutes. I love the snow—the first couple dozen times it falls each year. But after the 5th month of snow, I start jonesing for the beach.
I do love the mountains, but there is something in my being that just needs the beach.
I love the way the wind whispers to us and the sound of waves crashing on the shore.
I love the feel of the sand in between my toes.
I love the sound of my children laughing as they play and their silence as they are digging and discovering things on the beach.
I love watching the girls look for sand crabs. They watch them bury themselves in the sand as the water covers their home and bubbles appear where their hole is.
I have loved seeing each of them discover the beach for the first time—watching them bury their feet in the sand and of course lift a fistful of sand to their mouths with their chubby little hands (yuck!—live and learn).
Most of all, I love how powerful the ocean is and that I can just feel the power of God in that place!
Well, now that we do live just 10 minutes from the beach we have visited it often. Hooray!
The last time we went, the sea turtles had nested and we were hoping to get a glimpse of some babies making their way to the ocean. This usually happens and night and (as I read somewhere online) after approximately 54 days gestation. Some of the nests were empty, but some eggs had just been laid that morning! The turtle tracks in the sand were just amazing to see. I’m so sad to say that my pictures of the tracks were lost.
Every time we visit there is something new. There is something new to explore. Nothing has been disturbed or developed. It is all serene. Natural. Untouched. Waiting for those precious little feet and hands to make their marks in the sand.
