Serendipity

Day by day, I drive down the freeway, past the ocean and on to work.  We've only been here about a year and a half, but I haven't stepped on the sand once. 

As I drive by in the morning, I think how wonderful God is to have given us such beauty to see.  It's right there.  I've been to the pier, but not on the beach.

Yesterday, we remedied that for a while.  Our friends from SLO came to visit bringing their two kids and a couple of kites.  They invited us to join them for a time on the beach.  It was late in the day, but we decided just to leave the food cooking and have a little serendipity.

We drove to the beach by the pier and parked.  Wild margaritas and beach weeds were blooming.  The sky was crystal blue and the ocean calm.  We walked past the greenery across the thick and crunchy dry mud left from last year's serious storms.  I like to look at the cracked mud and think how much of it there must have been to last this long and finally dry out and wither.  Beth's bare feet felt the points.  The five kids raced through it as if it wasn't there.  Rob and I slowly crunched our way along, eyeing the sand just ahead. 

There is more beach litter than I thought there would be.  sticks, bamboo, branches of some sort or other and myriad rocks of all shapes and sizes.  We found huge rocks in a ring and a young boy putting the last one in place as we were arriving.  His task finished, he disappeared down the beach. 

The kids, except for Lupe, ran to the water's edge and back again, begging us to let them get wet.  Four weary parents said "not today".  Undaunted, the chased each other, put together kites that wouldn't fly and built imaginary forts and castles with rocks and sticks.  I took pictures.  Rob and I sat on some rocks for a while.  Beth and Mark (younger than we are) ran with the kids.  Kayla discovered some pretty rocks she wanted to take home.  I found a sandstone "skull" with round spots for the eyes and nose and the remnants of a sea creature making a beak-like mouth.  The sandstone took a ride home with me.  I loved how the iron pyrite in it made it glisten in the sun and the reddish and gray colors swirled around each other.

Tired, Rob and I called the girls to go home.  We hugged Beth and Mark, the kids complaining that it was much too soon.  Isn't it always when a serendipity comes along?  Daily life just has to step in to end it.

For your perusal I have added pictures above, without comment.  Just enjoy. 

God's blessings be upon you today.