No Worries
I feel sorry for you if you’re reading this blog. Unless of course you’re sitting on the beach somewhere, flipping mindlessly through your emails. August is a tough time to be staring at a desktop computer. “Out of Office” replies abound. The kids are headed back to college or have already started sports camp. Nobody’s home. Nobody cares. It’s my favorite month of the year to lower the bar.
My recent week at the shore (or the beach, depending on where you hail from) was totally uneventful. I brought canvas bags stuffed with magazines, books and newspapers. One bag was a leftover from the July 4th weekend stash that I never finished reading. Lots of good intentions, but alas, only 24-hours in a day.
I usually don’t have much time for TV. Full (shocking) disclosure: I live in a Cable-free home (but do have a Netflix queue). So when I travel for business or pleasure I tend to overdo the Cable blockbusters and will stay up way past lights out to watch movies.
Last week was “Mob Week” on AMC. With nothing but time on my hands, I literally overdosed on Bugsy, Scarface and The Godfather (I/II/III). I had enough encounters with violence and macho immaturity to last a lifetime. By the time Get Shorty pulled out the arsenal, I had to Get Out. Quickly.
Fortunately the beach was right outside my door. The “quiet” zone of pounding waves, chattering seagulls, and squealing children. The perfect place to think of nothing, to wonder about everything.
I walked the shoreline every day for at least an hour, once in lockstep with a school of porpoises (really!). It’s nice to smile at something that touches you unexpectedly. I pointed them out to a group of kids nearby who then immediately charged into the ocean to get a closer look (hope they aren’t sharks, the city girl thought for one heart-stopping moment…).
One late afternoon I climbed up to a Lifeguard stand, studying the graffiti and wondering what it must be like to be young, tan, gorgeous and able to look at the ocean all day long for wages.
It must be paradise.
In August.
