What a fantastic day

This was our view walking back towards the boardwalk.

Sarah and I had a correlating day off. This doesn't often happen. Our first plan was to go kayaking for free on the Hudson and then catch Harold and Maude in Bryant Park. But kayaking turned out to only be between 5 and 7, not ideal for movie-in-the-parking. And then when I awoke this morning at 9:30 (it is a beautiful beautiful thing when I just naturally wake up this early), I had the brilliant idea to go to the beach. Something I tried and failed to do a week or so ago. And boy howdy am I glad we did.

Sarah is not very tolerant of travel time. (Yes, she will have to get over this in South America.) And since it was kind of late by the time she woke up, we decided to do Coney Island instead of a couple of other free beaches attainable via public transit. It's slightly closer. And when I say Coney Island, that does not mean we planned to go to the amusement park. No no no friends. I do not feel the need. So we gathered our bath towels, beach reads (Sarah's: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger, Mine: No One Belongs Here More Than You, Stories by Miranda July) and iPods, heading out the door for the D train.

I have not previously enjoyed that much beach time in my life. I remember a childhood trip or trips to the beach. North Carolina? Virginia Beach? I'm not sure. I remember something we called sand crabs (are they actually sand fleas?), dead jellyfish (creeeeeeepy!), and my dad and maybe Catherine holding my hands so I could go out into the ocean. A wave surprised me, I drank some sea water, and burped really loudly. Oh and boogie boards. Retrospectively, I don't know why the sand crabs didn't freak me out more, because I'm pretty sure they would now. But we were totally into capturing them and playing with them. Weird.

One college summer I spent a day on the Mediterranean coast in Italy, in a very small town with a fantastic ocean view (rocky though), called Livorno. But I was in too-ashamed-of-my-body-to-wear-a-suit mode and spent the day lounging on the rocks fully clothed. Much to the disappointment of my good friends Logan and Sylvia who were enjoying the sparkling blue waves without me. I loved all the Italians though, they have such a different attitude toward their bodies. No shame at all. No matter what shape and size you are. Different mentality than Americans.

So today was absolutely delightful. Coney Island beach is fairly trashy and dirty when compared to many other beaches, but still, for my first real beach experience in years, nice enough. Sarah and I just lounged, played cards, listened to iPods, waded into the waves briefly, and lazied away hours with the sound of water in the background. Sarah also protected me from this guy who dug me a little too much. We were out of the city for a brief respite (do not get me wrong I LOVE NYC), and I loved sitting on the subway in our beach get-ups instead of day to day wear. Since I work retail and whenever I am working I am aiding and abetting other people in their day-off or vacation hurrahs, I find special pleasure in flaunting my time-off activities. Hahaha, I see you young woman, heading to work, well guess what? I am obviously heading to the beach! How does that feel? Yes, Seph0ra certainly brings out the ugly in me sometimes.

So here we are back at home. A day of achieving nothing but relaxation behind us. And I am A-OK with that readers. Because a beach day here and there is what summer is all about.

And yes, of course I wore plenty of broad-spectrum sun screen. I am a Seph0ra Bot after all.