If you are lucky enough to go to the beach, then you are lucky enough.

John F. Kennedy once said, "We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came." 

June Sunsets

Long before I was born my Grandfather would say to my Nana, "Lets go down to the beach and see if it is still there." While the beach often suffers severe erosion during major storms there is never any real fear that our dear little beach will disappear from us entirely. It was more of an excuse to go for a walk on the beach during the off-season when the usual beach crowds are back in Manhattan hibernating. Another time when the two of them were sailing on the bay he said to her, "Our children will always come back here." She tells this story and explains that it wasn't necessarily that they would come back to visit their parents but that the attractiveness of  where they live on Long Island would be impossible to stay away from. She was right, not only has my father always returned to the beautiful beaches and landscapes where he grew up, he has infected us with the attatchment and love of that little Hamlet as we grew up.

Childhood days at the beach covered from the sun.

In the off season going to the beach is just an outing with very little preparations and even less commitment. It's a peaceful walk to see the waves. A regular trip can take place in under thirty minutes there and back.

Growing up summertime meant weeks at Nana's with the cousins and days at the beach. A day at the beach in the peak season is not an outing, it is an ordeal. In order to spend a day relaxing at the beach the whole family had to be up early, fed, and sun screened. Everyone trying to get out the door at the same time was not exactly relaxing.  Hours would be spent "getting ready for the beach", and after putting in that much time beforehand you were obligated to stay and relax until dinner.

  After breakfast was over the preparations would begin; packing the cooler with snacks and drinks, counting towels and gathering umbrellas, arguing over who got to use what skimboard or boogie board, and much to the distress of all four children- sunscreen. While the others prepared everything else, one adult would arm themselves with a big bottle of pasty white sun screen and would manage to coat every inch of us from behind the ears to the bottoms of our feet with the dreaded cold goo. Once at the beach it would be reapplied every hour or so, each application would be more annoying then the last as the greasy lotion mixed with the sand and salty water.

Some days unfortunately no matter how persistent our warrior parents were with the lotion, the umbrellas, and the surf shirts, the sun still won and I  (the palest of them all) would come home fried like the poor little Jersey tomato that I am. After years of fighting the sunscreen and being scarred with enough freckles to be confused as a dalmatian, I have become the wiser. Sunscreen is now my best friend in the summer, so are hats, sun glasses, surf shirts, and umbrellas. (My friends love to joke that I am "afraid of the sun" as they lay out and tan. While they enjoy their browned skin now I like to remind them that when we are old I'll be the one with the beautiful skin.)

Once we arrived at the beach we had to find parking, then the whole car had to be unpacked; the cooler with the snacks and drinks, the multitude of towels, the beach umbrellas, skim and boogie boards, and bags of other various tools to keep us busy got carried up to the beach and dragged what felt like miles across the hot sand. Once we had successfully crossed the scorching desert and made it to the water the day could begin.

At the beach during a hurricane, steel walls
exposed and stairs washed away.

After hours of preparations the majority of the toys, snacks, and towels were never even touched. The endless exploring, digging of elaborate holes, catching crabs in the bay, letting them go free in the ocean, and trying to master skim boarding entertained us for hours. A day at the beach is a treasure and I have always known our beach was my favorite place to be in the entire world. Long before I had even left the tri-state area I knew our beach was special.

Summer days at our beach are sensational, sunsets at our beach are spectacular, and winter days at our beach are just wonderful. To some the seashore is a place to spend summer vacations. To us a trip to Nana's without a walk on the beach just does not happen, no matter what time of year or what kind of weather. I've been to the beach on the fourth of July, walked through the sand during Hurricane Ernesto, gone swimming in the bay on my birthday in April, and climbed on top ice chunks in February.  One of the things I love most about the beach is appreciating how no matter how much it changes between visits the level of beauty is always the same.

There are many characteristics of our beach. What makes it unique is how close the ocean and the bay are to each other, close enough that during big storms the seapoose will open up and a river will flow between the two bodies of water. This event only lasts a few days  and only happens a few times

Seapoose opened up in early March

a year so when it does it is exciting news. Their are also big steel walls that are buried deep under the sand to protect the dunes. Every couple of years when a big storm hits the sand is eroded and the barriers are exposed. Our beach is not lined with boardwalks or ugly hotels, our beach is not covered in garbage, our beach is beautiful.

While we always recite my grandfather in saying "lets go see if the beach is still there" the visit is more about observing how it has changed since we last left it. To see the seapoose open, the bay frozen over, or to see the enormous piles of sand dredged up by the town that can be up to four stories high. My Nana and I like to sit and just watch the waves, in reference to a book she owns we call it, "the greatest show on earth".  Like JFK said, we are tied to the beach, once you have fallen in love with the sand and the sea, your life revolves around something new. If you have been apart from the sound of the waves for too long their is an internal urge to smell the salt and feel the wind, no matter what time of year.

Labor day weekend, observing the world
from under our shady hats. 

Before I left the United States for four months I knew I had to visit Mecox Beach. I hadn't been since Labor day and knew there was no way I would make it to Memorial day without getting my fill. On January third I bundled up and went for a walk on the beach. Just as beautiful as it always is I felt relaxed and at home.

I got a valentines card in the mail today from my Nana.  I was so focused on the beautiful card and the note inside that it wasn't until afterward that I found a newspaper clipping she had also included. A big storm hit the North East recently and the clipping was a photo of the steel barriers exposed to the water at our beach. As usual the beach is ever changing to keep us on our toes. Away in Europe I am eagerly awaiting my return to the sand, the sun, and the salt.  I sent her an email thanking her for the card and that I was glad someone went down to the beach to report back to us that the beach is in fact, still there.

"Last weekend's storm caused severe erosion and the loss
 of some of the dune..."