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August 17, 2005
Oh I do like to be beside the seaside..
Today we took ourselves off to Hunstanton on the North Norfolk coast. The weather was just right, warm without being blazing hot, clear blue skies for miles and a gentle but refreshing breeze. For my sake we had to pause and eat our sandwiches (and yes they did have sand in them. Oh the cliche) on the beach alongside the town as much to Mr PE’s disdain and embarrassment, I am a sucker for all the tacky seaside-ness. Ah the aroma of donuts, candy floss, chips swimming in grease, seriously dodgy looking seafood stalls ... No I wouldn’t actually allow any of that stuff to pass my lips, I just like the smell OK.
Then there’s the people watching, the inevitable old couple with the flip up sunglasses one of which is always wearing socks pulled half way up his calves. We even saw a biker family, the Dad had the word ‘Bollocks’ tattooed right across his back. Who am I to comment on whether I thought this was the most stunning tattoo I’d ever seen. He was bigger than me after all.
After ten minutes or so I let Mr PE take us a little further along the beach. It was I admit much quieter and altogether better for the soul. We studied some rock pools and found a rather large crab who promptly scuttled under a rock and sat there exercising his pincers and glaring at us, just in case we were so much as considering picking the beast up. (Well I wasn’t)
Littleone did the sandcastle thing and collected a whole sunhat full of shells, rocks and other stuff that is no doubt about to litter my carpet. I lazed around on the beach towel, occasionally reading but mostly staring out to sea, or resting my eyes and listening to the waves gently crash into shore. Mainly I spent the time pondering what it is that is so comforting about the sea. Is it the memories of those halcyon summer holidays spent with my grandparents on the south coast? Or maybe it goes far deeper than that, I always feel slightly claustrophobic inland, by the sea I tend to feel like I can breathe more easily both physically and mentally. I decided that perhaps Kate Chopin got it right when she wrote,
‘The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamouring‘ murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to loose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace.’After that brief interlude of navel gazing I was undoubtedly in need of some gaiety, so I donned my two-piece (nope you certainly don’t get to see that every day and no I shall not post the photos) and swam out to sea. I mean proper swimming, with my feet leaving the sea bed and everything, none of this wussy paddling rubbish. If you are going to do it then let the waves crash against your back and carry you, there’s nothing like it. Even now, hours later I can still feel the salt tingling and bringing my skin to life. Oh and of course I’m finding sand in places I didn’t know existed and no doubt will continue to do so days from now. But even that is part of the fun, what better than to still be finding souvenirs even when you thought the memorable day was long gone.
Posted by purple elephant at August 17, 2005 09:59 PM