Tag Archives: #beach

We made it through January!

Finally, the 3567 days of January have passed!

I saw the photo above on Facebook on 22 January. In fact, I shared it on my personal Facebook feed.

Making it through those ten darker than dark weeks has been a slog.

It feels like a moral victory to see light in the sky now when I finish work for the day around 4:30pm.

While those ten weeks are recognised as the darkest in the northern hemisphere, my own personal “dark days of winter” timeline is measured a little differently.

Regular readers of my blog already know how much I love the beach. The beach is my happy place. It’s where I go to think, to recharge my batteries and to feed my soul. I’m fortunate to live less than two miles from a small stretch of beach. Several times a week, I’ll walk there after work just to feel sand under my feet and to hear the water lapping ashore.

However, when the clocks change at the end of October, it becomes dark too early for me to walk there when I finish work. Visits to the beach become limited to the weekends until the light begins to return to the sky.

The key date for me isn’t 22nd January. It’s 1st February.

It takes until 1st February for the day to be just long enough for me to walk to the beach, walk along it and get far enough through the journey home to be back on the section of road that has streetlights before it is pitch black.

So, here we are, finally into February. Hallelujah! My daily beach walks beckon”

Now, if it would just stop raining!….

credits to the owners of the top image – littlepinelearners – image is tagged

Blue Beach Time (poem)

A sea of blue

Blue chairs

Blue umbrellas

Blue skies

Blue ocean

Blue aura

A sea of calm

Independence Day (acrostic poem)

Invitation to all to invade the beach

Not a square inch to spare

Decisions… Decisions about where to stop

Eventually settling on a sandy sunny spot

Preparations are key

Everything is set up just so

No tents allowed…sorry Mr Lifeguard

Duly noted, sir

Equilibrium restored

Now to soak up some sun

Charging my batteries

Emotionally restored

Daring to hope for a better life

Anxious about what my future holds

You have this under control, girl.

Oceanic Healing (poem)

Each wave soothes my hurt

Each wave that caresses my feet soothes my soul

Each grain of sand between my toes helps to fill the cracks in my heart

The sun’s rays bring new warmth back into my heart

The solitude of the ocean allows my broken body and soul peace and time to heal

Each wave crashing in on the shore pulls away the layers of pain and hurt and anger.

Each wave restores me just that little bit more.

The enormity of the ocean teaches me that there’s a vast world out there on the horizon 

The pull of the waves against my legs reminds me that I am strong 

The beach, the ocean…they are teaching me that it’s OK to feel alive and happy again 

Gone to the beach….

Normal blog service will resume next week 🙂

What will you choose to do?

A few months ago, a close friend gave me a piece of advice . (I may have mentioned it on here before – can’t quite recall at this precise moment in time) Paraphrasing slightly, what they advised was to keep writing, keep taking lots of pictures, lie on the beach and stare at the sky. Basically- do more of what makes me happy.

Those words have echoed back at me regularly over the past 9/10 months and, wherever possible, they have been words to live by.

Taking time for yourself in this crazy world isn’t selfish. It’s called self-care. It’s essential.

So, what have I done?

Well, I’ve kept writing and typing Book Baby 7. I’m onto my second notebook and I’ve typed 10 000 words.

I’ve taken hundreds and hundreds of photos. Very few of these have people in them and, of late, there have been more than a few flowers. Here’s just one to give you a flavour ( absolutely no idea what kind of flower this is but I love it!)

I haven’t sat on the beach …yet…but I have walked it many many times over the months.

and I’ve stared up at the sky…

So, what have you done to make you happy?