Not Those Sinking Sands

So the reason I haven’t been around recently, is because I’m on vacation for the rest of the week. It’s nothing special, just spending time with family for a few days while the weather is warm. The picture above is from the layover in Washington DC, taxi-ing to the gate.

Here’s another photo, from inside the airport. If you’ve never flown into Reagan National, I really reccommend it… the airport sits just across the river from the National Mall and as you fly in all the monuments are visible out the aircraft windows. It’s really something to see, even if you are dissatisfied with the current state of the US government. You may not be able to see it, but to the left of the plane here is the Washington Monument, peeking out of the background.

That was the other day though, I really wanted to talk about today. It was decided, as I now have a young nephew and a young niece that we would all take a trip to the beach and let them wear themselves out playing in the water.

This is the beach at Nantasket, MA. We were there at high tide, so there wasn’t much sand that was left dry but that’s ok, it’s more fun to leave some footprints and wet sand is much easier to walk on than dry sand. It’s hard to be cynical and upset with the world at the beach. In Ohio, we have lakes, but a lake is a relatively small concept, easy to wrap your mind around and internalize as just another obstacle in your life. The ocean on the other hand is completely different… its size dwarfs you and in its presence you can’t help but be calmed.

The fact that you can see my shadow in this one is proof positive that I’m an amateur photographer 🙂 Nantasket isn’t a pristine beach, being very close to Boston proper… the sand is quite rocky and brown. It is a nice beach though, and I think we all had a good time.

After wading a bit, and a picnic lunch I was wandering about the beach looking for treasures. Just little shells or stones, nothing exotic or really unusual. There is a species of mussel in this area that has a purpleish shell, and I found a few bits of those, and a few stones that look like calcite. After that I was just digging my toes in the sand and took a picture of that.

It’s actually a bit unusual that we went to the beach, normally a vacation with the family in Boston operates under one rule, and that is vacation time is family time. In the real world it translates into sitting around the house, alternately watching televison and arguing about what to watch next on television. Anywhere we go, and anything we do follows a strict set of family traditions, that are near unbreakable and taboo to even acknowledge. Of course, this is my inherited family and these traditions are not mine, a fact I’ve had to learn to internalize as my attempts to suggest alternative activities have led to some pretty awful arguements between my wife and I. I’ve been to Boston several times now, but I haven’t seen Boston, and that is something I regret.

One more from the beach, sorry for the ‘mature’ content but I found the wrapper amusing. How does something like this end up on a public beach, and what does it say about the user who just left it there after whatever dirty deed was done? If you’re going to defile a place of beauty in such a way, at least clean up your mess afterward ok?

Until next time.