From snail to sand

My day began with a snail on the sidewalk outside my front door.  I was bleary and barely awake as I drove my son to work.  When I got home, I made the bed and then lay down for a few precious minutes before starting my day again.

All was calm, all was bright until nearly 2 PM when I had to pick up my son from work.  Soon after, it was time to pick up my youngest son from school.  I knew that after I picked him up, we’d have to drive to Legoland to turn in some paperwork for his new job.

Instead, when he climbed into the car, he told me he needed to go the School District Office to get his work permit signed before he could deliver it to Legoland.  After we arrived at the District Office, he was informed he needed his birth certificate.  So we drove 15 minutes home to retrieve that document, then finally, on to Legoland.  By the time we got home we’d been in the car for over two hours.

That’s why I had to throw together dinner in twenty minutes before driving my daughter to the church for her final AWANA night.

After waving good-bye (and transferring responsibility for her to my husband), I drove directly to the beach.  I parked, carried a chair down the stairs and sat down to watch the green waves curl on themselves, dissolving in a white froth of foam.

The skies were gray so instead of tracking the sun as it slid down the sky, I watched the waves and the surfers and the clouds and the thin places where the light glowed.

I took photos until my phone died.

Then I carried my chair back up the stairs and drove home feeling soothed by the rhythm of those crashing waves and the hissing foam and the surfboards bobbing in the distance.