Wabasso Beach, Florida
Beaches
There is something about a beach. The salt water edge is a special place, the surf, the wind, the wildlife – all mix to make it a most wondrous spot for us to just be there and take it all in. Most of us anyway, as I must admit there are many times now that we go to a beach and folks have their earphones on or their music players blasting, oblivious to the gulls, shorebirds and sounds of the surf.
I love the beach. I don’t want to blot it out, I want to have it reach me.
I was born inland a bit, but blessed with grandparents that both lived on or near beaches. In the summer, we’d go to my mother’s parent’s spot at Nonquitt, near New Bedford, Massachusetts. Their house was on a beach, a beach that had swimming, birds in abundance and amazing fishing for bluefish and striped bass. Then, later in the summer, we’d go to my Dad’s folks place in Port Maitland, Nova Scotia and there go to the beach and swim (if we were brave as the water was much colder than in New England), watch the gulls and even fish for whatever we could catch which occasionally included stripers, but most often meant mackerel.
When we lived in the Lockeport area of Nova Scotia, we lived right on the shore at the top of the harbour, with a small muddy beach of our own in our marsh, but very close to numerous sandy beaches, including the mile long one across the street from the school I taught at.
Of course, when I changed jobs to work in the School Board Office in Yarmouth, Norma and I chose to buy a piece of land right on the beach. Land that has been in and out of the family for over 200 years and that is right next door to the Provincial Park. Our land includes a large set of brackish ponds behind a beachwall – and also has almost 900 feet of sandy beach on the Bay of Fundy.
The beach draws us in Florida as well, as our family spot here is across the Indian River from three great beaches, so it’s a less than 5 minute drive to get to the sandy oceanfront that runs for over 50 miles along the east coast of Florida, from Cocoa Beach to our north to Vero Beach just south of us. Florida has great beach access, and so we often walk along the shore or go to Sebastian Inlet to watch the surf or try for the fish coming in and out of the Indian River there.
Where the land meets the ocean is a special place, indeed. A place to just be in and watch. Disconnected from modern interference. Just stand there, or sit there, and watch and listen.
Magical.
Peaceful.
Inspiring.
