TWO WAYS OF WALKING ON A BEACH

Part I

This morning I was walking on the beach with Cate, my 2 year old and here are some of the things I saw.

1. Undeveloped male body (skinny, maybe 15) and an over-developed female who were awkwardly flirting with the waves and each other.
2. Underdeveloped male body who had likely wasted hundreds of hours with weights so his body could be covered in tiny, but firm looking, muscles. He was playing dance music and talking with four bikini women.
3. A shirtless man wearing black cowboy boots and black jeans with a brown paper covered bottle at his side. His sunglasses hid his eyes, but I did wonder if he was alive, he was so deep in the sand.
4. Club La Veda with "party with thousands" on the sign and for some reason, the kind of ad billboards that you see at baseball games. I am disturbed at what games might be played there ... the main supporters were Trojan Condoms and American Eagle.
5. I saw other things not so bad, family playing together, leathered old people stretching out for another smoke, more bikini women.

It wasn't until we started back that I realized my daughter never saw any of these things. She was completely transfixed with delight and fear and wonder at the ocean waves. Or was looking down at her feet walking on the soft wet sand. There was something incredible and unusual before her eyes and feet and so she directed all attention toward the beautiful curiosity we call the beach.

I followed her lead and stared into the vastness of blue water and down at our wandering feet and down at her brown head. Wonder began to do its work and I felt more childlike. My daughter and I were both walking along the beach, but it took me watching her to be pulled into the present moment, a precious moment that would be over and done with within the week. The sea is vast and always moving. The waves roll and toss in joyful patterns, lapping at our feet and it took my daughter Cate to show me how to enjoy them.