sleepy little seaside

Every time I come back to Florida through a sleepy little seaside town, it makes me miss Florida just a little bit more. Being near the beach is as good for my soul as being near the mountains. I need sun and sand just like I need snow and sandstone.

I was walking along Flagler Avenue this morning in New Smyrna Beach. The little tourist shops are just opening up, the locals are going about their business, waiting for the tourists to arrive. Me? I set foot in one of those little tourist traps that I'd never have ventured into except when drunk to get a trinket for m'lady. Joking with the storekeep about that fact, she laughed and said she gets more business from locals than tourists. Go figure.

So how to remedy this little problem in my head? I need to move to Springfield. The beach is a day trip away. Capitol City is field trip accessible. There's an elementary school with inept teachers, a moronic principal, and a bumbling superintendent. I'll be running the joint in six months. Mount Springfield has snow for that fix; it snows often enough to start my own snowplow business on the side. Minor league baseball, kids' sports teams, hiking trails, all-you-can-eat seafood restaurants and a top-notch watering hole called Moe's.

I am of course referring to the Springfield with Evergreen Terrace and a Kwik-E Mart and Bart, Homer, Lisa, Marge, and Maggie. Too bad I'm not a cartoon...

crash bam boom

weather conspired to keep her away from the beach for much of this weekend. mom's rain gauge said about four inches over the last two days. this morning, we got lucky. up and out by 9:30, we got a picture perfect beach excursion. blue skies, small crowds, hot sand, warm surf.

early on, little kids running around. no screamers, just cute ones toddling about. a toe-headed girl that was the spitting image of her mother. actually, she looked a lot like the coppertone girl, bare butt and all! two year-old boy wandering up the beach to the parking meters with his dad's hat on, oversized kids' clothes, gait like a fawn on new legs. independent little fella was captured after a walking up the dune and negotiating unsuccessfully with dad to amble down the road. a mother teaching her early elementary daughter how to dog paddle in the surf. me wondering if i'd either recognize any of these young moms as classmates, or if they'd know me.

as the morning shifted to afternoon, the teenagers, stumbling out of bed, looking angst-ridden and hungover showed up and flopped down, promptly asleep in the sand. right about the shift change occurred, the clouds started to roll in. she and i made it back to my parents' just in time for the afternoon rains to start anew. perfect time to pop in a dvd and fall asleep on the couch.

here i sit, her back in virginia, me still awake, my equilibrium still bobbing in the surf, my soul sated from the calming waters of the atlantic. how i missed them so!