Wednesday, July 09, 2008

My Element


I have so much pent up energy that I don't know what to do with it. And it's so dang hot outside. I wish I had something to do instead of relaxing all day. I know that sounds completely crazy but I'm driving myself crazy with nothing to do.

Last weekend was amazing - I wish I could hang out with friends and family all summer! It's unfortunate that Texas is so big! I got to hang out in College Station with Nana and then Christina and I went to Houston with Austin for the 4th of July. We had a blast (no pun intended) and then spent the day on the beach on Saturday.

I decided that I have found my element again.

When I was little I would go to the beach whenever I would visit my grandparents. Nana and Papa lived in McAllen, so we would go to some beach (Port something or other) and then Pop and Nonnie lived near Destin, Florida. I loved hanging out in the sand, building castles and chasing the waves.

There are pictures of me as a young child dancing on the beach with my arms outstretched and a huge smile on my face. I loved the beach.

When we moved to England, there weren't that many opportunities to stick my toes in the sand and sit by the water. Let's face it: England isn't known for its beaches.

To be honest, I became disconnected with the beach and didn't care whether or not I got to go. I was excited about going to Galveston this past weekend, but I wouldn't have been all that disappointed if it didn't work out.

For the first time in years, I was able to play in the ocean water again. We had a picnic in the sand and I got chased by seaweed and I rode the waves on a boogie board. Austin surfed and I got a "sand spa treatment" and the girls waited 30 minutes to share a cold shower to get clean. I reapplied sunscreen three times and got slightly burnt and swallowed salty water and dried off in the sun.

It was magnificent.

I was in my element again. I couldn't have predicted that. I never thought I was a beach person.

I want to go back tomorrow! (Except now I'm hundreds of miles away.)

I have decided that I want to live by the beach when I am older. Not too close, because I am scared of hurricanes, but close enough to visit now an then. I want my kids to love the water since I didn't. And if I can't live near the beach, I want to visit one often.

There was one thing I wanted to do, however, that I didn't get to do this past weekend - build a sandcastle. Maybe next time. I guess we didn't have the right tools. Well, that's my next goal: to build a sandcastle on the beach.



-Katie

2 comments:

-Erin said...

You are going to get to go to the beach again when you come visit me in Florida! OK?! We will have lots of fun and we can build as many sand castles as you want! Deal?...Deal.

Ashley said...

How cute are you! (I remember wearing those same kinds of outfits when I was that age, too! Ahh, those were the days.)

Ok, I totally miss you. How's your summer going? Are you getting excited about student teaching?

I hope you have a fabulous day filled with thoughts that smell of sea salt! :)