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Being as close to the ocean as we are makes living where we do quite pleasurable.  We are separated from the Atlantic Ocean by barrier islands but our house is only 3.2 miles from the beach.  We were at the beach almost every day when the girls were growing up.  As they got older, they would go with their friends and hang out all day throwing the Frisbee, playing volleyball, soaking up some rays, swimming, surfing—just doing those teenagers-having-fun-at-the-beach type activities (pretty sure there was plenty of flirting with the boys going on as well.).  When the two older girls come home now, they still enjoy going out to the beach.   Our two younger daughters are in college just downtown so they can still go to the beach whenever the mood hits.  Hubs and I enjoy the occasional walk on the beach and, on one of those barrier islands I mentioned, you can let your dog off leash during certain hours and Tucker LOVES running free on the sand-but the water?  Not so much.

 While our girls were little, I often thought how incredibly cool it must be to grow up living so close to the beach.  When I was growing up, we vacationed at the beach every summer.  We had to drive three hours to get there and we had a blast.  Only for one week each summer though.  I never entertained the thought of ever living at, or even near, the beach but, that’s exactly where I landed following grad school.  My BFFatthetime had moved to the area the year before and was working at a landscape nursery.  She had been trying to get me to move down here for a while so I decided, on a whim (because that’s how I did things back then), to come on down and try it out.  If I was to be completely honest I would have to mention that, in an effort to further entice me to come, she told me all about the son of the landscape nursery owner who had just moved back from California and—‘OMGheissoHOT! I can’t date him because B wouldn’t like that (B was her hubby at the time) so I want someone I know to go out with him.’  I just happened to be available at that time so I gave it a go.  I was at the nursery having lunch with BFFatthetime when this very HOT guy walked in.  He looked at me and said, “Well, who’s this pretty lady?”  And that was all it took.  That was Hubs and from that day on, we never looked back.  The moral of that story became, “Watch out for those sweet talkers!”  

 After nearly THIRTY years of living so close to the ocean, I realize that moving away from it would not be an easy task.  I’ve grown accustomed to the sounds, smells and sights that are found only at the coast.  And they’ve become part of who I am.  I can’t imagine a day without, at the very least, a slight ocean breeze blowing through the trees when I look out the window.  At night, when the wind kicks up a stir, the sound of the waves crashing on the shore will lull me into a peaceful sleep.  When it’s a foggy, early morning, the low, deep sound of a lonely fog horn gives me such an abiding comfort deep inside that I can actually feel myself relax-mentally as well as physically.  Going outside and taking in a deep breath fills my nostrils with that salt air smell and, when I close my eyes, I can actually feel as though I am on the beach with the sun and wind on my face.  The colors of the ocean take on hues that can only be seen within its waters- a green that can pale an emerald, a blue so deep and bright that the sky gets jealous, and a gray that can make anyone appreciate a cold winter's day. Standing on the shore and watching the shorebirds provides hours of entertainment.  The pelicans that soar over the water's surface and, in a matter of seconds, dive head first into the depths for their breakfast; the cries of the seagulls as they search the shallow waters for a morsel or two; the way the sandpipers flit back and forth as the surf breaks and then flows back out to sea. And no matter how many times I see the dolphins leaping out of the water I still become giddy with excitement.

I've lived here for nearly 30 years.  I've loved here.  I've raised a family here.  It's part of me.          

It's day 3 of NaBloPoMo.  Our prompt today was:  How far away do you currently live from where you were born? How did you get there?  The theme for the month is "In a word" so my word for today was FOLLOW.

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