A Sandy Spot to Sit

A Sandy Spot to Sit
The view was mostly a never ending wash of blue, or so it seemed. The end didn’t look any where near the start and the bright sun glinting off its surface was blinding yet beautiful on any good day. Dillon Beach was a common beach visited by thousands each year. Most of them repeat visitors to the ocean front. Before you can even venture onto the deep and distant beach you must climb the treacherous sand dunes. Abounding, booming, impending- the dunes lay pure and virgin just waiting to be knocked down and scaled by a multitude of people. Trudging through the thick layers of sand managing to get sand in every crack and crevice you start to wonder why you even started this hassle of a journey. After the treacherous climb an overwhelming breath of relief happens knowing you just have a little farther to go until you see your true place of mental relaxation. The mounds of sand divide and an opening appears as if it was only a mystery a few minutes before. With a few shocking blinks and a quaint little smile you know everything was worth it; you’ve made it. The beach has a surrounding area unlike its flat smooth bottom; a sort of u-shaped corral that was keeping the sunshine in until the very last minute of sundown and the clear ocean air that reminds you of long lost summers. It has towering rocky cliffs that were pumbled by the tides at rapid speeds and other smaller rocks attached that have slowly been washed away. The inside of the u-shape corral was a flat smooth beach front. Their was division from water to sand like that of oil and vinegar. The sand is warm from being baked all day by the exhausted sun and burns your toes with each step. It gave you all the more reason to run and jump to get closer to that sweet and harmonic place we call Dillon Beach.
Towards the middle of the beach you get to the rougher rocky sand that was stiff with dry ocean water and infused with old sea rocks and dried kelp. Just a few steps ahead of that was the soft and comforting sand that had been dampened with the washing up of ocean water. It was squishy and smooth and soft and cushy and gentle and peaceful; an overall exfoliation scrub for your soon to be wrinkly toes. If you dare, the water is only a few half steps ahead of you. The light green and blue water was overwhelmingly cold in the winter filled with tingles of the skin and shocked nerves or refreshing and cool in summer that sends a sense of enjoyment through your body. No matter the season the beach brings many happy moments and well shared memories to most.
The physical aspects of the beach can bring out different sides of those who bask in its comfort. Some come to the beach to think and clear their head in the hopes that by the end of their visit they have a new outlook on their current situations. The way the water washes and the sun shines can make a person stop and think for a while. For some it’s every little thing that happens to be floating through your mind. For others its all the bad luck that’s swarming around them and the unfortunate chain of events that has kept them feeling hurt and overly exhausted. It was a very versatile visit for anyone who sat on the beach for more than a couple minutes at a time. For the four year old who sat down next to his best friend it was inevitable: The beach was a just another place to cause trouble and dig holes; to build a magical world with a castle made of sand and a princess that ruled over all the sea creatures. For the fifteen year old girl who drove herself their on a small wim the beach was her get away. She came to think, to ponder, to visualize what her life would be like if it weren’t anything like the one she was currently living. She has her mind on the boy that one day told her he loved her and the next told her it was over. She was annoyed about the math test she just failed and scared for her first high school party she was invited to; For her life couldn’t get any worse in her eyes. It was like a bad nightmare that got worse every night and each nightmare worse than the night before containing a new monster or fear to keep her afraid of the world. For the twenty year old man who was watching his soul mate and future wife splash around in the ocean water that she rarely ever got a chance to see due to her unfortunate cancer spreading cells it was a day that was a deep breath. It was the day he had been waiting for to come; a day of relaxation in months they had gotten to spend together. The day wasn’t spent in doctors’ offices and hospital beds like every other day the week before, but together as a couple that could act normal and happy for a few moments without over thinking reality. And for her it was a place she could go where people weren’t constantly feeling sorry for her; where she could go to spend every minute happy and not sad or angry at her current state of self. The young man- a mixture of tall and skinny, masculine and dignified, bold and brave- was grinning from ear to ear with a look of utter amazement as he gazed upon the beautiful woman standing in front of him. He never looked at her like she was a sick patient or felt sorry for her, but treated her like the fearless, outspoken girl with the poise of a ballerina he had crushed on so hard back in 9th grade. For that she respected him more than anyone in the whole world and always knew that no matter what happened she not only needed but wanted him by her side for the rest of her adventures through life. To most the older woman with the running shoes, nike hat, and golden retriever running by her side was a beach commoner. She ran the beach with her precious dog Max everyday not only to stay in shape, but keep the young pup healthy. To her the beach was just another place she went everyday; another bullet point on her day-to-day routine. She’d seen the beach once. She’d seen it twice. She’d seen it a third time. It was all the same a never changing landscape that would look the same no matter what for the soul fact that she never payed much attention to what was going on around her. Deep down there was a reason for her tedious return to the prominent Dillion Beach. Her husband’s ashes lay spread out and abysmal in the rocky bottom of the Pacific Ocean. His roots were here his whole life and it was only right for him to be rooted here for the remainder of his legacy. The beach was a large part of his childhood and the running woman knew this. She ran to keep him happy and to remind him that for everyday after he passed she still loved him all the same; no matter a small spec of ash or in actual human form she still would cherish the vows they promised to each other and wouldn’t break these promises for anyone. I observed these many things without a word. The beach was a silent place that didn’t need voices or noise to explain itself because the people who traveled there told its story. The people were the reason the beach was so loved and without them it was a blank dull canvas of a place; a pool of water surrounded by some speckled dirt that had no tourists or visitors. The people that come to clear their minds and act human for a while are what makes Dillion Beach such an uplifting and peaceful place.
The sand a path and the people its walkers; the ocean a painting and the visitors its observers; the kelp a home and the fish their inhabitants; the beach for thinking and the water for swimming; The cliffs a hug to give and the common people to receive it; A grain of said for every thought as every thought poured in a grain of sand; the beach used to clear the mind as the people are used for the beach to feel wanted; The beach a single place and its uses another; Yet Dillion Beach thrives on the overwhelmed people that come to seek answers and is observed as a safe haven for people to transfer to a more humain world and think their own thoughts and decisions Through.

-Jamie C. zero period honors english 10