Pleasure and peril. Joy and disappointment.

With change the unyielding constant.

Our lives and the beach have much in common, each forever in flux, but made sane by routine.

The first beach walks post tropical storms Ian and Nicole were a gob smack upside the head.

We were ‘spared’ when they went wide right and left, respectively, but they were still a serious macro-aggression against the beach.

The dunes were blown away and ‘shaved back’, making the beach significantly wider; and many of the landmarks (e. g. George’s tree, Jenifer’s tree) are now somewhere in Bermuda.

Newly visible are parts of the beach we’d not seen before, and it’s still a daily adjustment.

But the tide keeps tiding with its irrational predictability, while the beach survives and re-forms.

The dunes will regenerate, an option I wish was available to my liver…

That’s how nature operates; the beach endlessly re-configuring, while the tide charts for 2984 are already available.

A benefit of the storms has been a forced reconsideration of our beach.

One can ‘walk up or walk down’, particularly at low tide, and they are dramatically different views.

I guess one could ‘walk middle’, but where’s the fun in that?

Walking up puts one near the newly exposed trees, which had been hidden by the dunes.

Walking down puts one near the waves, which haven’t gone anywhere.

My Captor and I both beach walk as part of our daily routine: I take the early shift, she heads out shortly after.

I say it’s for “alone time”, but she walks too fast for me.

We breakfast together after, comparing notes on “Who’d you see?” – the walkers who are part of our beach routines.

My list includes: The man with the Tennessee dog (not his wife, but a Bluetick Coonhound), the woman who looks like a character from the ‘Herman’ cartoon, 2-3 people with distinctive wave technique, and the running man/stopping dog – the dog stopping a quarter mile from the man’s turnaround point and waiting for him.

There are days when I stop and wait for myself to return…

My Captor’s list is much more extensive and includes multiple people she talks to – my greatest fear, that someone will speak to me.

Which finally happened – and I survived.

A woman flagged me down and introduced herself. Tally then told me I reminded her of the tortoise, always moving forward, no matter the pace.

I think it was a compliment.   

Or it could have been a reference to the day I fell backward and couldn’t get turned over.

But it occurred to me that My Captor and I must be part of other routines: When they arrive home do they speak about that “nice woman, who’s so friendly” or “that guy with the ear buds who waves, but in an off-putting way”?

Thanksgiving’s aftermath reminded how boring, yet cleansing, routine can be.

Four fantastic days of family and fun. Equally fantastic, the quiet after their departure.

But best not to let routines become too routine, lest we forget to appreciate them.

During each walk I pause at the midpoint to scan the beach and surroundings, reminding myself how lucky I am – and it will never look exactly like this again.

Carefully considered, being part of someone else’s routine is mildly pressure-ful: Who wants to be the cause of a ‘bad day’ for someone else? Your wave or “good morning” may be seemingly insignificant – but a highlight in their day.

Haven’t seen Tally since our ‘talk’, but when I do, I’ll (grudgingly) take the ear buds out and ask how she’s been.

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TO ENHANCE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THIS POST, PAIR IT WITH THE FOLLOWING SONGS:

Sausalito   Conor Oberst

Hair blowing in the hot wind
Time hanging from a clothespin
There’s no sorrow that the sun’s not gonna heal
Smell the leather of your new car
Drive through the desert after nightfall
Sleep on the shoulder, keep the stars all to ourselves
The kind of love that makes my back hurt
Wearing nothing but a T-shirt
She’s turning over on a mattress made of air
I close my eyes, I see a staircase
Leading upwards into blank space
All of creation makes a sound too soft to hear
So I remain between her legs
Sheltered from all my fears
While bikers glide by highway shrines
Where pilgrims disappear
I know that trouble’s been your good friend
Catch your company on the weekends
Catch your company even once your mind was made
You said, it’s over and it’s finished
Now a headache’s all you left with
We’re no different, I’ve got debts I’d like to pay
We should move to Sausalito
Living’s easy on a house boat
Let the ocean rock us back and forth to sleep
In the morning when the sun rise
Look in the water, see the blue sky
As if heaven has been laid there at our feet
So we remain between these waves
Sheltered for all our years
While bikers glide by highway shrines
Where pilgrims disappear
Where time takes icebergs
Where fields burn westward
Where pilgrims disappear

Senses Working Overtime  XTC

Hey, hey, the clouds are away
There’s straw for the donkeys
And the innocents can all sleep safely
All sleep safely

My, my, sun is pie
There’s fodder for the cannons
And the guilty ones can all sleep safely
All sleep safely

And all the world is football-shaped
It’s just for me to kick in space
And I can see, hear, smell, touch, taste
And I’ve got one, two, three, four, five

Senses working overtime
Trying to take this all in
I’ve got one, two, three, four, five

Senses working overtime
Trying to taste the difference ‘tween a lemon and a lime
Pain and pleasure and the church bells softly chime

Hey hey, night fights day
There’s food for the thinkers
And the innocents can all live slowly
All live slowly

My, my, the sky will cry
Jewels for the thirsty
And the guilty one’s can all die slowly
All die slowly

And all the world is biscuit-shaped
It’s just for me to feed my face
And I can see, hear, smell, touch, taste
And I’ve got one, two, three, four, five

Senses working overtime
Trying to take this all in
I’ve got one, two, three, four, five

Senses working overtime
Trying to taste the difference ‘tween a lemon and a lime
Pain and pleasure and the church bells softly chime

And birds might fall from black skies (woo-woo)
And bullies might give you black eyes (woo-woo)
But to me they’re very, very beautiful
(England’s glory)
Beautiful
(A striking beauty)

And all the world is football-shaped
It’s just for me to kick in space
And I could see, hear, smell, touch, taste
And I’ve got one, two, three, four, five

Senses working overtime
Trying to take this all in
I’ve got one, two, three, four, five

Senses working overtime
Trying to tell the difference ‘tween the goods and grime
Turds and treasure and there’s one, two, three, four, five

Senses working overtime
Trying to take this all in
I’ve got one, two, three, four, five

Senses working overtime
Trying to taste the difference ‘tween a lemon and a lime
Pain and pleasure and the church bells softly chime

At the Beach  Avett Brothers

I know that you’re smiling, baby
I don’t even need to see your face
Sunset at the shoreline, we are laughing, breaking up
Just like the waves
Are you feeling, feeling, feeling like I’m, feeling
Like I’m floating, floating, up above that big blue ocean
Sand beneath our feet, big blue sky above our heads
No need to keep the stressing from our everyday life on our minds
We have got to leave all that behind

Well, I have got a sister
And she has got a baby with brand new eyes
And her daddy is an engineer
And they just took her to the sea for the first time
Now they’re under, under, underneath a big umbrella
Summer, summer, summer time to help us forget, nine to fives
We have got to leave all that behind

I have worries to give to the sea
We can walk dear the pier is farther than it seems

Midnight at the shoreline, fireworks above us
A screaming bloom
They’re sent by some teenager and kid whoever you are
I am thanking you
Now we’re dancing, dancing, dancing with no music
What is happening, happening, happening and no feelings
Except this is right
We just had to leave all that behind


Under the Boardwalk  Rickie Lee Jones

The Drifters, of course, but this is a fun cover

When the sun beats down, and melts the tar upon the roof
And your shoes get so hot, you wish your tired feet were fire-proof
Under the boardwalk, down by the sea
On a blanket with my baby, that’s where I’ll be

From the park you’ll hear the happy sounds of a carousel
You can almost taste those hot dogs and french fries they sell
Under the boardwalk, down by the sea
On a blanket with my baby, that’s where I’ll be
Under the boardwalk, out of the sun
Under the boardwalk, we’ll be having some fun
Under the boardwalk, people walking above
Under the boardwalk, we’ll be falling in love
Under the board-walk, board-walk

Under the boardwalk, down by the sea
On a blanket with my baby, that’s where I’ll be

I want to go to the beach   Iggy Pop

I wanna go to the beach
I don’t care if it’s decadent
I don’t know where my spirit went
But that’s alright

I wanna go to the deep
Cause there’s nowhere I want to be
And nobody I want to see
But that’s alright

Particles of pain in my brain
I guess they’re here to stay
They work their way inside
And I can’t hide or even walk away

You can convince the world
That you’re some kind of superstar
When an asshole is what you are
But that’s alright

Waiting, hating the shit life throws my way
Hating, waiting to make my escape

I wanna go to the beach

Good Vibrations   Todd Rundgren

The Beach Boys, of course, but this is a fun cover

I-I love the colorful clothes she wears
And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair
I hear the sound of a gentle word
On the wind that lifts her perfume through the air

I’m pickin’ up good vibrations
She’s giving me the excitations (oom bop bop)
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations (good vibrations, oom bop bop)
She’s giving me the excitations (excitations, oom bop bop)
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations (oom bop bop)
She’s giving me the excitations (excitations, oom bop bop)
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations (oom bop bop)
She’s giving me the excitations (excitations)

Close my eyes, she’s somehow closer now
Softly smile, I know she must be kind
When I look in her eyes
She goes with me to a blossom world

I’m pickin’ up good vibrations
She’s giving me excitations (oom bop bop)
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations (good vibrations, oom bop bop)
She’s giving me excitations (excitations, oom bop bop)
Good, good, good, good vibrations (oom bop bop)
She’s giving me excitations (excitations, oom bop bop)
Good, good, good, good vibrations (oom bop bop)
She’s giving me excitations (excitations)

Ah, ah, my my, what elation
I don’t know where but she sends me there
Oh, my my, what a sensation
Oh, my my, what elation
Oh, my my, what

Gotta keep those lovin’ good vibrations a-happenin’ with her
Gotta keep those lovin’ good vibrations a-happenin’ with her
Gotta keep those lovin’ good vibrations a-happenin’

Good, good, good, good vibrations (oom bop bop)
She’s giving me the excitations (excitations, oom bop bop)
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations

Na na na na na, na na na
Na na na na na, na na na (bop bop-bop-bop-bop, bop)