Write about the beach: Your favorite memory of a trip, what you love, what you hate. Would you live on the coast if you could, or is it better just for a visit?
I never knew you had to exfoliate your feet when I was younger. The reason is that I spent so much time at the beach that the sand took care of it for me. Growing up I was blonde with dark roots, tanned for as much as a pale girl could get. When I would sweat, I smelled like ocean water. I was as close as I could to being a mermaid.
In college, everything changed. Growing up, I could go to the beach for free. The idea of paying for parking was, and still is, ridiculous. In Boca, they had very limited free parking. Now I had to have money to go to the beach. The beach was supposed to be the only place I could go when I was broke. Where I didn’t feel pressured into spending money. Instead of going to surf or hang out with friends like I did in my youth, most of the people now wanted to drink. Sometimes they would play games. However, something was just different. A trip to the beach was just a side stop in the day instead of being the whole day. Going to the beach felt more like a chore than it did as a relaxing escape from life.
When I moved to the mountains of Brazil, I realized how much I missed living near the ocean. Even though I spent less time at the beach, the option was always there. But in the mountains, I was five hours away from the closest beach. It felt like someone took a part of my soul, knowing I couldn’t escape there whenever I wanted.
My stint in Brazil was short and the first place my best friend took me after landing was the beach. During the flight, I knew my marriage was over. I had not wanted to admit it to myself, but sitting there watching the waves break on the shore, I could focus on everything that happened on my sixth month journey. There is just something about the sun and sand that washes away the pain.
While I was adjusting to my life back home, I took advantage of going to the beach every day. It was fall, and the air was crisp. The waves were building and even though I had part of my life out of storage, I never picked up my surfboards. I would sit on the sand and write. My friends and I would head to the beach at night. Running around in the shore break. Some nights, we were crazy enough to swim with the sharks. Not actually with them, but growing up in Florida, you knew the sharks were more active at night.
Autumn at the beach has become my favorite time of year. It rejuvenates my soul and fills me with hope. While most people are mourning the loss of warmer weather, I relish in the cool breeze. The biggest reason behind this is autumn at the beach is the first time my husband kissed me. We had been spending more time together. One evening we were sitting near the pier at sunset talking. Eventually, we were both quiet. You could feel the tension. Out of nowhere he asked, “Can I kiss you?” and I laughed, saying, “Don’t ask, just do it.”
