I felt like a kid....smiling ear to ear...eager and ready to jump out of the car and onto the beach...my beach....my little strange piece of Long Island ....where the waves makes me happy.
It is not a logical thing...and I know it.
I pushed the car seat back....and prepared myself for the cold encounter. Zip up vest, wrap scarf around neck and face, tug hat down over ears and pull on leather gloves. There ....I was ready.
But where was my beach??? the sprawling beach of lot #5???????? Where did it go?
There was so little sand and so much water....It must be some type of winter tide effect because in the summer...not only are hundreds of people sunning themselves but there's a natural walkway next to the ocean where folks stroll up and down getting their toes kissed by the longest reach of the waves. Where did it go?
Well my glorious little haven was just that......little....but it was still beautiful...and even though I told myself not to bring back more shells...more rocks.....my pockets soon bulged with booty.
And then I noticed my cheeks felt like fire and my fingertips were numb even with gloves on........there must be something I can do.....I couldn't leave this soon........and then I had an idea.
I would sit down and curl up under one of the hollowed out sand dunes...the ones shaped like gentle c's and see if snuggling down in half a sand igloo would protect me. I found a perfect dune.....and immediately I was out of the wind and warmed by the sun...in fact...the winter sun was shining at such a perfect angle to the dune... the sand radiated heat....and I found myself toasty.
I sat and just listened to the waves...I realized there was a distinct pattern to the sound.....a deep rumbling sound as the waves crashed on the sand bar about 30 feet from the beach and then a gentle splish spash as the lesser waves hit the beach.
Whoosh- splash-whoosh-splash...whoosh-splash....what pattern was this?
I laughed...of course....it was like the LUB-dub....LUB-dub....the classic sound of a heartbeat.
The lub thunderous ....the dub softer.
Maybe it's the heartbeat I recognize on this shore....maybe it's this rhythm which pulls me each time I'm near Long Island to find this stretch of sand.....maybe my own heart revels in finding a pattern it knows....just as people revel to find their soul mates.
But this was enough analysis....and in a few minutes I became sleepy and relaxed deeper into the sand. I watched seagulls drift on the current.....and little killdeer run on the sand.....and occasionally...lovers...companions....walk briskly hand and hand on the thin strip of beach.
Eventually the angle of the sun changed.....and I knew I had to leave....I had a few errands to run....things to pack....things to ready so I could fly home today.
I stood up and reluctantly brushed the sand from every crevice in my jeans and jacket and hood.
Such craziness to lose your heart to a spot on a congested island.
I stood for a few more minutes.....and said goodbye to my beach.....and visualized how it would look in summer.....and that is the image I took home with me.
