“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 855 (Monday) – vitamin sea

The bonds of inertia were broken. This morning, drinking coffee on a vacation day under the sun shining in a big blue sky, I got the idea to go to the beach. "Beach" in my adult life has always meant Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. As a kid, it meant Long Sands Beach in York, Maine. 

The first challenge was digging out the swim suits and then trying them on and hoping for one that actually fit. Pandemic fluffy muffin tops were an impediment in swimsuit land. Of the four or five bottoms, one fit enough to be passable and not painful. 

Having been several years since the last summer visit, there was some rust on the memory of what to do before going to the beach. Lotion, reading material, notebook, blanket, towel, hat, long sleeves, water, were rounded up. 

Bag on shoulder and ready to walk out the door, I realized breakfast had been forgotten and it would be pushing noon when I arrived. A slice of Scala bread was smeared with peanut butter and devoured and finally, after an hour of preparation, I was out the door.

Brief break between blanket attacks.

The ride north was easy. It took one quick loop around Ashworth Avenue and Ocean Boulevard to determine that all the metered parking was full and choose a parking lot. Most were charging $20 but one was charging $10. 

About an hour after leaving the house, I was sitting on the beach on a blanket that is usually used more like a rug because I forgot the beach chair. I had also forgotten a pen after spending five minutes looking for the notebook to write in.

The light breezes were just assertive enough to keep launching umbrellas and flipping them inside out. While I was reading Yankee Magazine, I spotted an umbrella in motion and headed right for me. I extended my left arm and caught it by the edge of the fabric. It was a smooth catch, almost as if I had trained for it. I was quite impressed with myself, but the umbrella owner looked right through me and didn’t even acknowledge the deed as he retrieved his lethal projectile. In his defense, it’s possible I’m almost pale enough to be nearly transparent.

Umbrella arsenal.

Not far away and downwind was a cluster of chairs and umbrellas that looked like a compound. Barring a major shift in the direction of the wind, I seemed to be safe from the path of that particular umbrella arsenal. 

In addition to flipping through Yankee, I read some Kerouac (Desolation Angels), took photos, and watched the sea gulls. Many, many people stupidly left food out on their blankets and went to the water. In their absence, the birds descended. Gold fish crackers and Sun Chips were under attack at one blanket. People nearby shooed the birds away and covered the food with blankets and towels. The birds moved to another destination.

After two hours on the beach, it felt like time to do something else. The sidewalk menu at the Sea Ketch was studied briefly. Very briefly. It was a digital display board and before I could look at half of it, it changed to a different graphic. I wasn’t hungry enough to deal with menus and dining alone and left to walk down the Boulevard. There was a shop I drove past on the parking search that had Hawaiian print shirts on a rack on the sidewalk, but I gave up after passing a couple shops that weren’t the right one and headed to the car.

The beach was relaxing. Clouds moved in which made the sun less scalding. The water was refreshing and comfortable and not the usual foot numbing temperature. The change in scenery was needed. It's amazing the difference a few miles and a visit to the sea can make.