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Beach Bucket List: Woods Cove
I was thinking. I don’t really need to say anything about this post. I can just put the pictures up and that pretty much says it all. :)
We didn’t intend to go to Woods Cove. It wasn’t on our white board list that I have scrawled about eight beach names on in black marker in the kitchen. We just ended up there. We drove south, found a neighborhood, found parking (a total lucky break) near some stairs to the beach and we went!
Joon and I parked it on the sand and I set up shop painting.
Poor Joon wished she had brought her swimsuit but it was an impromptu trip and we gave her no time to even think about it. At the time it seemed like it would be cold at the beach but you just never can predict how warm the sun will feel when you actually get there. Sixty-five degrees in the house can feel chilly but sixty-five degrees in the sun at the beach can feel perfect for sunbathing and then catching some waves after you’ve properly heated up.
The waves were big at Woods Cove. I’m not sure if that’s because of the shape of the land and how the waves hit the sand or if it was just big wave weather that day. But it was really fun for Bug and her boyfriend to do a little bodysurfing. What was really cool was that there are really big rocks out in the surf that some braver swimmers swim out to and then jump off. Sometimes they are submerged completely in the water and it looks like they are Jesus walking on the water. I don’t know if I’d have the guts to play around rocks and waves but it was fun to watch.
All in all it was a pretty good day. I really like this new bucket list tradition we’re up to. The kids and I agree that we don’t need to travel much this summer since we already live in a travel destination.
I take pictures and paint postcards. They play in the waves and sand. It’s not a bad way to while away the days.
Afterwards I took them to Rubys and they ate their weight in hamburgers and milkshakes. Teenagers CAN EAT!!!
When we got back home the kids disappeared, each to their own world in their bedrooms and on their phones but they left behind the evidence of a good day. When I saw the towels and damp cut-offs draped over the chairs in our front patio I had to snap a picture because it felt so much like a good old clichéd summer snapshot. After the long pandemic winter I am so happy for summer, even though it technically isn’t here yet.
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Crickets
I just wanted to pop in here in the spirit of the way I used to write and post a little update on my mental health. Things have been hard. But haven’t they been hard for everyone? I think we are all suffering PTSD from 2020 and worried 2021 is going to serve up another regular daily diet of fear. I’m not going to check myself into a mental hospital or anything and I’m still eating and sleeping and taking care of my kids like a normal functioning human being, but it’s just been a little hard.
Something that has helped me: crickets.
We have new neighbors. They are renters. They are here on a tennis scholarship. They are from Belgium, Germany, Spain and a few other places I don’t remember. There’s five of them I think. They are also full-on ravers. If I wasn’t trying to sleep I would actually really dig the music the deejay of the group spins nightly. He’s really good. Like Avicii good. Even though I can only hear the base and a few other rhythms, I catch my mind listening interested. Unfortunately, they are hot-blooded males driven by their animal instincts and not the fear of covid that I am and their nightly raves involve lots of people (girls) coming over to party. Thankfully the raves are reserved for Friday nights, I think… we’ll see if it kicks up again tonight. So when they open the door for a smoke break or for someone to puke, it’s super loud and difficult to sleep through.
I don’t hate them though. Payam has talked with them and asked them nicely to turn down the music and they do. Sometimes they only turn it down from a ten to and eight but they do listen. We have their cell numbers and they always apologize the next day. So we don’t hate them. They are just kids.
But what I’ve learned to do to help this situation is to use a white noise app on my phone. I’ve used white noise lots of times but recently I’ve really enjoyed the sound of crickets. It’s so weird and cool. I turn them on and I’m immediately transported back to my trailer-living days in the sticks. It’s night, the air is warm and dry. It’s dark outside but I can see my tomato garden in the moonlight. I’m laying in bed with Bug snuggled next to me and Holly, the dog is sleeping at my feet. Her tail thumps when I say her name.
Even though the days that I lived in the sticks were super scary and stressful (you remember them, you read them. Hello, meth head neighbors…) I have a lot of fond memories. Even the cockroaches that scurried in all directions when I lifted an old rotted piece of plywood in the backyard brings back good memories. Yes, it was terrible at the time but I survived and I found strength in my desperate situation. I know I will find strength in my new desperate situation. I rest in that thought and gently fall asleep.
Isn’t that cool? Who knew crickets could bring that out in me? I love the sound of crickets. I bet everyone has a sound like that, that transports them to another time. It’s kind of like how smell transports us back to our Grandma’s cooking. Nostalgia. We love nostalgia. All the trauma of the past is hidden and we remember the good times with a warm happy glow.
I’m curious. Does anyone else find funny memories flooding back when they listen to different sounds on a white noise generating app? Please share. I think I might listen to them all and record my memories. If I don’t fall asleep first!
