Crazy is Good

Going to the beach in December. That’s crazy! And this comes from someone who grew up in a town where people build snowmen out of tumbleweeds and who then spent her college years in a place where people shop for Christmas trees wearing tank tops and flip flops. Even so, while I was packing a bag full of beach towels, buckets, and shovels yesterday morning it just felt a little unnatural. We aren’t supposed to go to the beach in December. But I’d seen the weather forecast for temperatures in the upper 70s and I got this crazy idea in my head.

That’s the funny thing about ideas- sometimes the craziest ones are the best ones.

Our December beach trip was one of the best afternoons the boys and I have spent together since Josie started school and left us to fend for ourselves. Typically we spend that time running errands or catching up on housework. Occasionally we’ll play in the back yard or bring out the play dough, but in general we are just biding our time until Josie gets home. That’s what made our crazy beach trip so much fun. It was a special, spur-of-the-moment adventure for just me and my boys.

The beach was practically empty when we got there a little before noon, with the exception of some committed surfers and a few boardwalk strollers. We dropped our bag, stripped off our shoes, rolled up our cuffs, and ran out into the surf.

Jamie was the first one to reach the water and Johnny followed quickly after. Jamie was a good sport about the cold around his ankles but Johnny let us know immediately how un-pleased he was.

We retreated back to where the sand was warm and played with some buckets and shovels.

It took a while for the excitement of being at the beach to wear off enough for everyone to notice their growling tummies, but once they did we had no choice but to break out the peanut butter sandwiches. We were joined quickly by a huge flock of seagulls eye-balling our lunch and Jamie loved chasing them away again and again.

Then it was back into the sand we went and while Johnny dug, Jamie searched for shells.

I, of course, enjoyed every precious moment and photographed as many of them as I could. It was a fantastic care-free afternoon!

So if a beach trip in December is crazy then crazy is definitely good. I hope that we have many more crazy, good trips in our future. Especially since I recently decided (or rather, gave myself permission to) embrace this new chapter of my life. There are likely to be crazy new adventures waiting for us behind every corner, if we only have the will to search. Sometimes we have to ignore that something inside that is telling us we “shouldn’t.”  It’s living proof that many times the only thing standing between us and a great new adventure is our own stubborn selves.