Lessons from the Beach

Ah well. I am a lucky lady.

I got to take a trip!

In October, I spent almost a week at the Chief Learning Officers Conference at Laguna Niguel, California.

Have you been there?

You'd know if you have because it is a beautiful place! You can click on the picture to see it in a larger format.

I've been overworked lately and so it was a blessing to have some time to take a little bit of a break (the break was mostly because the Blackberry went down AND the conference didn't have the typical free wi-fi that I'm used to at other conferences). So, I took plenty of breaks to walk the different beaches in the area.

I stayed at Dana Point which is just a couple of miles south from Laguna Beach. The conference was held at the Ritz Carleton which is the hotel in the upper right of the photo and the large cliffs drop down to a beautiful place where surfers try to conquer the waves.

Every day I took an hour or two to just walk and think at the different beaches - Dana Point Beach, Laguna Beach, and Huntington Beach - all south of LA, but north of San Diego.

First, the feelings and senses of a morning walk:

• Mesmerizing - the rhythm of the water lapping on the shore was mesmerizing. It always takes me off to another place and yet I'm very clearly present.
• Smell - seaweed, cold humidity, freshness and leftover campfire smoke mixed in the air most mornings. Yet, it was so real compared to the fake hotel air and cheap plastic of rental cars.
• Invigorating - between the fresh wind off the ocean, runners on the boardwalk and the feeling of cold sand under the feet, there is a feeling of renewal AND that no other day in the past matters and no day in the future. Just right there and then. There is also a feeling that I can walk forever and feel healthy and fit.
• Reflective - there is something about staring off into the horizon that forces the thoughts about where I am, where I'm going, and what I have to change. It makes me think of how I need to be more and figure out what path I have to take to do so.
• Gratitude and Amazement - I feel at one with the sand, the sky and the water. The wild life is amazing and seems to come out of nowhere frequently. Shells, seals, sea gulls, crows, dogs, cats, whales, cranes, and gnats. For some reason beaches and mountains bring these feelings out in me more than anywhere.

One of my most frequent thoughts taking the walks had to do with the rip tide and various currents that splashed up on the shores with great vigor. The surfers sought them out and I found myself waiting with anxiousness to capture the perfect wave crashing moment. It seemed like all the opportunities were on the edges - the edges of the waves, the edges of the beach, the edges of the cliffs, etc. The middle was safe and calm, but the edges offered the most excitement and opportunity. I know in real life that can be a good thing and a bad thing. Hmmm. I'll have to think more on this thought.
Anyway, good little trip. We won and award that I got to accept which was pretty funny ...or not. I accepted an award for a project I led, but that our president got to claim. That's how it works when you are the little guy and have to report to "the man." Ha. Ah well. I have it pretty good.
One of my most favorite parts of my week was choosing to drive up the Pacific Coast Freeway from Laguna Beach to LA on the way to the airport, which is where I took a break to enjoy Huntington Beach during a time of year where hardly any people were there. It was great fun watching the dozens of surfers wait for the perfect wave. Many would wait 15-20 minutes at a time. Really interesting. Some of the less experienced would try more which I guess gave them the practice they needed to become experts in time.
All too soon it was back to the East coast to catch up on the pile up of work projects, home improvements and catching up with relationships. (-:

A week after getting home I realized that I did not really need to sell my house and go live on the beach after all. It would be just fine to visit periodically. (-:

Footprints in the sand - my size and others

At the beginning of the summer, I vowed that I would have a summer!

In blogs and on Facebook I always hear mothers talking about how awesome it will be for the kids to be out of school and how they are so excited for the pool, family trips and relaxation.

My past five or six summers have been highly stressful work saturated summers which subsequently turned me into a transparent light version of myself and drastically stressed out sun worshipper wannabe. Having a fiscal year that ends in September means that the entire world dumps money and projects on us from June - August with the expectation that we are somehow going to complete them by October 1st. Whatever.

Not so this year. I've taken at least a couple of days a week to swim laps after work and have at least driven to a beach or two and waded in the six inch deep water. Getting a slight tan has been nice, especially knowing that I've been able to do it after 4:00 p.m. on most days and so I at least feel like it was "safely" achieved. Plus, who can complain of real ocean air, sand grating between the toes, and a few McDonald's wildberry smoothies along the way.

It is enough.

Just enough to make me feel like I've had a summer. Now it is August and even after about 40-50 days of humidity/heat that is WAY over 90 degrees, I still want more.

And, I got a little more.

This week, for work, I got to travel down to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area, a little southeast of Richmond. That is quite the drive. Without traffic I'm sure it can be accomplished under three hours, but when is there no traffic going toward a beach? Or, shall we say 100s of beaches? Or, say, those people that decide to bring the beach (er, pool) with them and plug up traffic? (Which, ironically, by the time I finally got close enough to take the picture had subsided).

Along the way, I decided to take some back roads since I wasn't going directly to Norfolk, and ended up driving through Newport News, VA. I used to get a catalog in my teen years selling clothing supposedly from Newport News. It showed attractive people (kind of like Ralph Lauren models) wearing  Sperry Topsiders, posing on yachts, and sporting white teeth, tousled wind blown hair and beautiful tans. So, I've always wanted to see Newport News.

It's got a big bridge over the James River.

It does have a beach (many of them actually), that I discovered right before crossing the bridge.

It also has a ton of ships which I couldn't get good pictures of while driving over the bridge. There are gorgeous homes along the waterfront properties, but elsewhere it appeared a little dilapidated with lots of stores closing and a few characters riff raffing about. That seems to be the look of a few ocean side cities.

The great thing about the entire western side of Virginia is that the shoreline has so much character - bays, rivers, outlets, inlets, etc. It creates so many extra hundreds of miles of beachfront that couldn't be possible if it was a straight coast like say - Oregon.

But, I digress.

So, I spent my moments at Newport News and then continued on to my destination - which I will neither confirm or deny because I went to a "facility." I had to be escorted everywhere which is always funny since I don't do anything that requires such mannerisms.

Lucky for me, my cousin and family were visiting her parents (OK, my cousin's wife and the kids - which is called what?) in Virginia from San Jose, CA and so we got to meet up at Yorktown.

(I do not like self-portraits - especially on 100 degree sweaty days, but this is all I have of me and Lorena)

What a great place! I've never been there even though it is right there by Williamsburg!

Williamsburg is a great colonial town, but at almost $40 a person it isn't something you stop at every time you drive by. However, Yorktown is much cheaper and there is a great little beach area.

(Only five of the kids are my cousins. I know, the "only" part is all relative)

(Trying to figure out if that was a jellyfish in the water)

(It is a fairly large dead jellyfish which was then escorted up on the sand and buried by some little people that felt it necessary.)

Besides the beach there is free parking, a shuttle bus that takes you to Jamestown and to the little Yorktown settlement as well as festive music playing the evenings on the green.

It was great to spend a couple of hours seeing relatives and relaxing before heading back towards DC. I'm definitely going to take a trip back this way!

I got to take yet another bridge away from Yorktown and towards DC. Instead of the typical freeway, I took the back way up through beaches, corn fields, marshes and little towns. A great diversion (except for the torrential downpour part) from day to day life - just being able to drive somewhat in the right direction home.

(Disclaimer: Don't try this while driving like I did. One hand was on the wheel at all times....maybe)

Anyway, good little trip for many reasons.

To see some bird stereotypes in action.

To get weirded out that my phone knows where I am before I do.

And, to leave my footprints in some sand.

As well as some sand in the car.

Summer footprints - ah, time to hit just one more beach!

Life's a Beach - details and horizons

After a long week of "working until midnight" days, I decided to take a little jaunt by myself to the shores at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.

Like many drives around the Mid-Atlantic, most of the road is accompanied by forest after forest of trees, with a few breaks to see what lies beyond. Small towns, farmland, ponds, oceans? Who knows with all these trees.

But, off I went away from DC.

It is amazing what 20 miles outside of DC can do - relaxation begins to come back, as well as the shock that people still live in trailers and there are easterners that own four wheeler bikes.

Shame on me for becoming a "city-folk."

This is true America right outside of the granite halls of "justice" and "peace."

American flags, old trucks, fish/bait shops, and dirty old convenience stores lined the way. All good scenery, but the beach beckoned.

Without planning, I didn't have a particular destination in mind. That is, until I looked at the map and saw "Point Lookout State Park" listed on the bottom tip of the peninsula.

The tip of the peninsula ensured that I would be in that place nearest to Atlantic Ocean.

And, there it is! Where an old military hospital used to stand, one remaining building, a whole lot of rocks and a few stray fishermen - Point Lookout at the edge of the peninsula.

Since the beach was a ways off, and cluttered with too many people, I took to these rocks.

It was a bit hot - like over 100 degrees - and I had to wear my white hat to wart off the extra rays beating down and making me sweat. Yes, sweating while standing in a sea breeze.

However, it forced me into a few interesting observations.

First, the importance of viewing the horizon and seeing "the big picture."

(No, it isn't bad photography. The water isn't really a pretty color and the sky was a bit hazy)

Secondly, the importance of looking a bit closer.

(All the rocks had shells nestled up between them)

Third, how looking closer opens the mind. The realization that if there were a few shells, there must be more and perhaps some that I'd like to take home.

So, I walked further - near the guys that were fishing.

And, I found a special little spot. A tiny beach just for people like me - wanting alone time with the water, sand, heavens and breeze.

Looking closer, I started to find my shells.

Is it just me or are shells glorious when you pick them up and then a little less so when you get them home? Even so, I feel like a little girl whenever I pick up a shell - especially if I turn it over and it is extra shiny or contains an unusual array of colors.

My little treasures had to be put on display before I made my final selection from nature.

And, even more fun than swimming in the ocean is walking along it dipping the toes in the water as the sometimes tiny waves lap at the feet.

So many little details that I didn't see from a distance to be enjoyed.

And yet, so many little details two feet away that could cause problems.

Ah, these relaxing times to re-think life, ponder the grander of the heavens and the scariness of the ocean's depths. To see the horizons and see the details. All of the details. Up above and down below. To feel the details in the wind, the sand, the heat, the jellyfish, the shells, the worn down tree branches and the water.

Details and horizons all wrapped up into one solitary experience.

I say life's a beach - horizons and details.

And, if God can put that much effort and care into a little beach, just think about what He can do for me or you.

Next road trip - finding out His details for me.