My daughter, the nurse, works a double shift before having two days off. She texts me from job #1 and asks what I have planned for the following day. I'm not going to lie -- I am in the midst of a major reorganization of my house. My plan is to stay home and work on the huge mess that used to be my abode, but I check the weather. It's supposed to be beautiful in the morning and a little sketchy in the afternoon.
Beach morning! Well, beach morning with one codicil: I have to curb my speaking at the beach so my kid can rest after her double shift.
I offer to drive so she can nap as needed after working 3 p.m. to 7 a.m. When we get to the beach, I take a short walk, expecting her to be snoozing when I pass by, but she is wide awake, waving to me from a beach chair, so I cut my jaunt short and join her. She has a speaker set up with music playing. We get into an animated conversation. (So much for curbing my talkative nature.)
After an hour, we decide it's water time. The ocean is cold, but we are boiling hot. My daughter goes in first; it takes me a while longer. There's something about getting one's shoulders wet in the chilly water that doesn't bode well, but it feels great once it's done. We get out, sit in the sun for a while, and gab more while listening to music. I read about ten pages of a book before we're ready to hit the waves again.
When we venture back to our spot, we need to haul all of our stuff back about eight feet because high tide is near, and we are parked too close to the incoming water. There's little left for space except the large boulders of the breakwall, so we grab flat areas of granite and set up anew. At this point, she finally sets up her towel, sprawls out on her stomach, and dozes for a while.
We are about twenty minutes shy of running out of parking meter time when we decide to pack it up and head home. She needs real sleep, and I need to get back to the disaster that has become my house. Last minute toes in the sand, and then we're back in the car heading inland just as the clouds start rolling in.
Perfect timing; perfect day. Best of all, post-beach early afternoon means my daughter gets her sleep, and I get the house in semi-order. Win-win all around.
