On the beach in Padanaram, MA, where Ellen and I married in 2008, I got a chance to walk with my grandson, finding various kinds of shells (clams, mussels, oysters, scallops, snails); examining the mother-of-pearl inlays inside different ones; talking about gulls dropping shells so they break and the gulls can eat the clams; finding a delightful plenty of hermit crabs scurrying around the shallow bottom in the water inhabiting a riotous variety of little snail shells; touching and smelling different kinds of seaweed; watching the tide go out, then – rapidly – come back in; feeling how the wind changed with the changing tide; reassembling the scattered skeleton of some kind of large fish -- skull, backbone, tail, fins; watching the rotating bridge opening every hour on the hour to let sailing boats pass in both directions, into and out of the harbor. What a marvelous shared adventure!
I also got some “alone time” to just be, enjoying the beautiful sunshine, at our wedding spot.
I’m really glad we had a chance to create new memories for ourselves at this spot that seems to have such momentous resonance in my life – from childhood, from our wedding, and -- now – from a delicious day spent with my beloved family.
We left Padanaram around 4, and, not wanting to be caught in traffic going back to Providence, went down the coast, past New Bedford, toward Cape Cod. We found a lovely town beach at Mattapoisett. The beach was deserted, though the bright sun created a seductive warmth on the sand. The kids flew a kite and built sand castles, a single gull tenaciously wading near them, unwilling to give up its peaceful afternoon to noisy kids.
It was a memorable and thoroughly enjoyable day that will provide beautiful memories for many years in the future. A day like this is a treasure, a feast of love and deep peace, to be savored over and over.
Day at the Beach September 15 2009
A day at the beach – perfect as a dream:
Warm and sunny -- with a light, cool breeze
And fluffy clouds against an azure sky --
Clear expanse of sandy September warmth all to ourselves.
Wavelets lap wetly at the shore, as the tide goes out,
Then -- quickly turning -- rushes back, with shifting winds.
Hermit crabs, each wearing a unique and borrowed shell,
Scurry underneath the warm, clear water – exploring.
The kids fly their kite, then build a castle in the sand.
A lone gull sits, his shadow growing longer as the sun descends.
We’re in a seaside painting –
A joyful time to harbor in our hearts, forever.
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