waves and water

I have never considered myself a beach girl, but I think maybe I'm starting to understand it. 

Best month ever continues.  I went to the beach with Nick on our day off. It was cloudy and windy, and we barely managed to avoid the rain by the time we left. 

But I think it was my favorite trip to the beach ever. I did the normal beach things, read on the sand and such.

But this time I tried swimming in the ocean, a concept I've never really caught onto before.

Don't the waves pull you around? Don't you get smacked in the face by salty waves breaking on your head? Don't you get tired?

They do, and yes, and not as much as you'd think. 

Swimming in the ocean is dangerous, it's almost hypnotic the way it pulls you in and makes you want to swim out further, swim till you can't see land, and stay there. Once you swim out past where the waves break, to where you get tossed around more but not smacked in the face as much, it's so fun you just want to find bigger waves. 

Or at least I did. And even though I can tread water for a long time, the salt I guess helped a lot because I really didn't get tired. 

But I just loved floating on those waves. I loved the way the current would tug me one way then another. I liked the way the waves tossed me around.  I liked how once you get out far enough you can no longer hear the waves hitting the shore, and can no longer feel the cold deep sea water at your feet. 

I guess it's silly that I've never thought of swimming at a beach. I mean, I love swimming! But most people I go with don't even go in the water, much less past where you can touch. 

But I loved it! It made me see the appeal of beaches. Now I'm torn. I've always loved rivers and streams, the sound of rushing water, floating along, avoiding rocks. 

But riding on those waves was fun. 

I guess I'll have to try surfing next. 

All in all, it was a successful trip to the beach. 

I guess it's been a pretty wet weekend all overall. Nick and I went to see the last show of the Shakespeare in the Park series, not Shakespeare at all but a concert of a musical that Paul Simon wrote. The music was beautiful, the lighting a hot mess, and the whole day was drizzly. The concert itself was delayed by rain and it kept raining lightly throughout the performance. Here's all the umbrellas in the theatre before it starts. The tickets are free if you're willing to get up early and wait in line. We waited in line for a show last year and it was awful. At least this year, even with the rain, the music was truly lovely.