Day 1113 Kites, Seals & Fireworks

 

Some mornings I struggle with what to write about—searching for a photo, a topic, or resorting to writing about nonsense. But this morning, I had the opposite problem: my mind was buzzing with so many ideas that I couldn’t settle on a single image to capture the day. Kites, company, seals, music, fireworks, fire pits... where to begin?

The day started with me scurrying around, packing towels, snacks, and all the whatnots for a day at the beach. The air felt notably more fall-like as I settled into “my spot” on the sand, but even the cooler breeze couldn’t keep me from jumping into the beautiful ocean.

One of the day's highlights came when my brother-in-law made my kite-flying dream come true. He showed up with a kite, did all the hard work, and let me bask in the glory of seeing it take off and soar steadily into the sky. As we sat back, proud of our shared success, we noticed a seal popping its head above the waves, darting along the shoreline. And of course, once you spot a seal, the lookout for a fin begins—since where there are seals, sharks usually aren’t far behind. Fortunately, no fins appeared on the horizon, and our seal continued enjoying its swim.

My daughter joined me for the afternoon. After a couple of hours of sitting, watching the waves, and soaking up the sunshine, she turned to me and said, “So this is what you do every weekend.” The unspoken “nothing” in her tone made us both laugh.

Eventually, I had to practically set an alarm to pull myself off the beach and head home for a quick shower and change before heading to GBC for dinner and music. A Blondie tribute band was playing, and to my surprise, they managed to fill the night with hit after hit—it turns out Blondie had more songs than I remembered! They absolutely rocked the beach.

While we were dancing and carrying on, fireworks suddenly lit up the sky like it was the Fourth of July—a surprising but magical bonus. I had invited a couple of friends whose son works at the club, and they were overjoyed to see him in action, snap a family photo, and give him a quick hug before he rushed back to work.

Every time I go to the club, I seem to run into someone I know. This time, it was a friend I hadn’t seen in at least ten years, since she moved away. After big hugs, a couple of photos, and a quick FaceTime to her daughter so we could all say hello, we danced together like no time had passed at all.

Though fall is definitely creeping in, time seemed to stand still last night. We wrapped up the day sitting in Adirondack chairs around a fire pit, listening to the waves crash and enjoying the fire’s warmth as the cool night air rolled in.

From start to finish, it was a picture-postcard summer day and night—one of those golden moments that stays with you long after the sun sets. Here's to soaking in every last bit of summer before the seasons change.