Beach Day

Got up a bit before 7 this morning so I could run before it got hot and then headed with L and her roommate to Crane Beach. L is a member so we were able to get in for five dollars apiece. It turned out to be a really beautiful day. L and her roommate both wore bikinis and of course looked fabulous in them; I was in my famous tank/jogbra combo because if I don't wear the jogbra the girls tend to float free. Still I am perfectly comfortable now walking down the beach wearing nothing but the bathing suit, a big improvement for me, especially when I can do it next to one of those fine ladies.

Anyhoo. I was sad to see that neither L nor the roomie was up for a dip in the drink. It was pretty much icy-cold but growing up in NH your first dunk is into water that makes your ankles hurt and gives you a headache so I just consider it something to get over. I dipped myself in a couple of times but didn't really swim. It's nicer to have someone else to swim with, even if you don't talk.

I got a couple of long-ish walks in, but again, due to time constraints and the fact that we didn't want to leave our stuff that long, the walks weren't nearly long enough. I'm the sort who can swim or walk, literally, for a couple of hours at a stretch. With a nice long beach I'm into a swim/walk combo, where you take a dip when you get hot and then head back out on the sand.

It's nesting season for the piping plovers and they were hard at work. There were a fair number of sandpipers as well, and interesting shells, and the dunes, and all sorts of fun things. Normally L is up for exploring with me but for the first walk I went on I went with her roomie and she wasn't all that interested in the nature, something I just don't get.

I did pick up a tiny lavender-hued sand dollar. It fits on the tip of my pinky finger and is just a lovely, lovely wee sea treasure. As I contemplate it now (and after reading this post from Blueberry Pie) I wish I'd run up and rolled around in the sand dunes to just BE in NATURE but of course my big fat ass would have squished all those plover eggs.

On the way home from the beach we stopped for ice cream at a local farm where I saw an ENORMOUS piggy. I had this odd experience where I found myself unable to not talk to the piggy. I told him hello and that he was a fine piggy, indeed. He had black spots and these great, floppy ears, and a beautiful snout. What an animal. A sign outside his pen said he bites but I am sure that for me he would give only kisses.

And now I am back in my apartment with my kitty. I smell of sunscreen and I've got sand between my toes. I can't wait to go back when I have more time to explore the wilder sections of the beach and the dunes. I think I may need to get myself a bicycle though because if you're not a member it costs you 22 dollars to park your car.