Calm After the Storm

And I was complaining.

Silly me.

What a wonderful weekend at the beach.

I am not an early bird. Anyone who knows me well knows this. Even as a little kid, I fancied sleeping in. Let's just say getting up by 10:00am on a weekend is early for me. But Saturday at the beach my wife woke me up somewhere around the area of 7:00am. At first I scoffed at the idea and wanted to go back to sleep, but with the impending tropical storm, she urged me to come see the beach, pre-hurricane, and I agreed.

Once I showered quickly and made myself a cup of instant coffee, we went out there. It was gorgeous, definitely a sight to behold. The waves were crashing in fast as if to say 'you ain't seen nothing yet' and the sun was shining right over the horizon. We sat on a blanket and took pictures with our cell phones. The sea air felt refreshing to breathe in. This was just one of those moments I have talked about in a previous blog called "Clarity". This was one of those 'glad to be alive' moments. With all the hubbub and news forecasts of the impending weather disaster we were about to have, we found perfect peace Saturday morning on beach.

The storm everyone was worried about turned out to be a fascinating sight. The rain did get annoying, but the sight of the actual ocean during this storm was incredible. The main thing I was worried about was losing power in the condo. This didn't happen. Good company, my newspaper,crossword puzzles, yahtzee, a couple of good movies, and junk food made for a very nice Saturday inside. There was no place I would have rather been.

Oh, and I can't forget, my wife loves to rib me about this, but I am kind of an oddball in that I love watching the local Ocean City channels. You know, the ones with DJ Batman standing in front of some random O.C. location and telling you about what's going on at the beach this week? I can watch this channel for hours. Don't ask me why.

I love going out to breakfast in Ocean City, we did that twice. We got some ribs at J.R.'s for dinner(ehh.)

We even got a chance to get on the boardwalk before the storm started. It was cool to see it pretty empty with the rides shut down. They had even taken the cars off of the giant ferris wheel on the pier in preparation for the storm. The water rolling around at the end of the pier reminded me of a lighter version of something out of the movie "The Perfect Storm". I understood the true meaning of the term 'the calm before the storm' on this morning.

On Sunday the weather turned out to be beautiful. We got some much needed beach time this day, and the ocean was extremely rough, exactly how I like it. Being in the water having to fight the current constantly pushing me down the beach reminded me of being a kid again in the water. It reminded me of being so little and young that the waves push you all the time anyway. Heck, I even wiped out a few times. It was a flashback to childhood summer vacations all over again.

And what would a trip to the beach be without some genuinely overpriced candy from Candy Kitchen?

People tend to criticize Ocean City, Maryland for being "trashy" or "dirty". And sure, it's no Bahamas. I have no misconceptions about that. But I love it there. It brings out the kid in me. It's just so comfortable. I always feel a slight depression leaving. I feel jealousy for other people who are just getting to ocean city when I'm on my way out. I find myself seeing people walking along coastal highway and thinking to myself "Man, that person probably has a few more days left here. Lucky."

I love the memories being at the beach invokes, and the hope it creates for creating new memories in the future. After all is said and done, I realize it's not just being there that I love, but being there with the person that I love.

It was a good weekend. I have the sunburn to prove it.