Sun, Sand, Surf...and Exfoliation?

I woke up today with the realization that it would be like no other day.

No more waking up before the sun even has the chance to. No more rushing out the front door with two bags strapped to my body, thermos in one hand, water bottle in the other, and keys dangling from my already compromised fingers. No more long, dragging, endless, soul-sucking days.

Summer was finally here!

Today, I spent it with a lovable little boy, a friend I knew for a while but only got to really know in college, and her two little siblings that seemed to be miniature replicas. We started out our morning with a breakfast only McDonald's could provide: warm, fatty, and semi-appetizing.

We played tourists for a day and spent a good hour trekking through the crowds of pale-faced, colorful creatures we were imitating. We were good. Though we could never be pale-faced, we were just as colorful, just as bold, and just as eager to take a picture of every leaf and grain of sand we could point our cameras at.

Water flowing over smooth rocks only nature could arrange. Click! Glittering, green peaks that kiss the sun. Click! Packed red dirt that become soft, red sand after repeated trysts with the ocean. Click! Click! Click!

By midday, we got tired of the tourist life and turned back into locals and headed for the beach. It would've been a perfect end if it weren't so windy. On a normal day, the beach protected by a reef on one end and open on the other, would be calm, blue, clear, and soft. On this windy day, it was salty, hazy, and harsh. After an hour of ocean water getting into our eyes and sand exfoliating our skin, we gave up and left. Even with the wind, it was good to get some sun, sand, and surf.

It really wasn't some other day. It had right amount of stillness, the right amount of energy, and the right amount of harshness. It would make for a memorable beginning to summer.