Myrtle Beach Daze

Sorry I didn't post yesterday...I spent my precious last few minutes with my family before I had to head back to Florida...but I have two posts in one here...and to my family, still in MB...I miss you terribly...

I returned for a while to the place of childhood vacations...memories abound...loved ones gone are missed...my sisters and I take a walk on the beach...As a family, we are beach people...we have always loved the beach and the ocean...we love to walk on the sand in the early morning and late evening...some of us like to bake in the midday sun...

Sunday after I posted the sunrise and the ocean view, my sisters Pat (middle) and Meredith (right), and I went for a walk...as you can see from the photo...we have no sense of humor...I had asked them to look like they were walking...and this is the pose I got...I dubbed it the 3 Tops and a Couple of Bottoms...

There were some 17 of us by midday...and everyone was going to the beach...no questions asked...so we packed coolers...swathed ourselves in potions...gathered towels, chairs, beachmats...and off we took...

this is what the beach looked like...a veritable ocean of people...bodies and booties and umbrellas and towels...as far as the eye can see...

As you know I am in the studio by myself most of the time...what you don't know is that I do not do crowds...ever...I don't Christmas shop in December...I don't go to movies...I don't go to crowded anything...but I was going to give it a try and stay with my family for an hour...I was okay until I walked out into the ocean to get my feet cool...the sand was 185 degrees at least...when I turned around to take a photo of this scene, I had a full-blown panic attack of some sort...I said "I'm outta here..."...and I sprinted like OJ through the airport...hurdling bodies and dodging bellies and coolers...back to the stairs...onto the boardwalk...across the street...through the guard gate...back to the beach house...Oh My...

The picture does not begin to capture the crowds...if you look at right you can almost get a feel of the scene...it was high tide so only a small portion of beach was available for all the people from the big condo/hotel and all the people from Oceanside Village...and any other random people who were brave enough to want to be on that section of beach at that time...even the ocean had standing room only...people were shoulder to shoulder...No, not me...I went to a craft fair...nice and cool and full of beautiful handmade treasures...

During our early morning walk...my sisters left me to meditate in the sand while they walked further...I can only go so far...so I found this wonderful sprite of a child collecting treasures with her daddy in the early morning... she had a net and a purple bucket to fill...

She reminds me of me...seriously looking for treasures from the sea to call mine...her daddy helping her...it took me back...to a time long ago...when I first learned of the ocean and the beach and how they calm my soul...and fill my heart...and enliven my spirit...at an age like this little one I knew I must live by the sea...and I am blessed that I do...

Today's aMUSEment - what calms your soul and fills your spirit?...resolve to take a few minutes today to do these things...and make a plan to do them more often...

U Be Creative Today!