Reflections on the Sixth Week of Spring - At the Beach

Manatee Beach

 

4-27-19

Manatee Beach, Anna Maria Island, Florida

Hi, Joyce. 

I hope you’re enjoying lots of family visits.

Spence and I visited my brother Bob in April. When Saturday dawned hot and sunny, he suggested we make our “obligatory trip to the beach” in the morning before the temperature rose to scorching for us northerners (85ºF, 29ºC) . Bob couldn’t manage the sand with his walker, and he’d been to the beach many times. He preferred staying home. 

 

Lots of people didn’t. After a rainy week, they swarmed to the beach. We crept on the causeway in stop-and-go traffic then circled the beach parking lot with dozens of other cars. After a 20 minute search, in and out of the lot, we got a space 3 blocks away.

Picnickers crowded tables and grills under shade trees. Near the water, tents and towels covered the sand―packed as close as downtown buildings. Spence and I tiptoed through the maze to the water. Children built sand castles. Young women sunbathed in skimpy bikinis. Swimmers bobbed. A kayaker and children on inner tubes rose and fell on swells. The breeze carried fragrances of seaweed, barbecue, and suntan lotion. 

 

Spence and I walked in the surf away from the crowd. Foam bubbled around our ankles. Sandpipers―pecking the sand for morsels―skittered in and out with the waves. Gulls swooped close to our heads. Kee-ow, kee-ow, kee-ow. The sun blazed. 

 

I’d planned an hour stroll in the surf, but the sun, the crowd, and the sand disappearing under my feet with each receding wave wore me out. After 30 minutes, I had enough beach. Like my brother, I could imagine staying home on a sunny Saturday.

Love,

Janet

 

Gulf of Mexico with Waves, Kayaker, and Sandpipers

If you are interested in seeing all eight postcard stories of my Visit with Bob, use this link: https://sites.google.com/site/wellswoodpa/vacations/visit-with-bob