Daily Ins and Outs

Daily Ins and Outs

The morning brings the beach walk with all its pulls and pushes–not just the tide but also those happenings that draw me and mark the differences between the days...those ins of what I know with the outs of what I choose to notice.

The two blonde boys–almost white–were not there this morning. The motion of their running  or playing paddle ball was sucked out of the scene.  The last time I saw them they were with their mother as white-blonde as they were. I assumed that they were tourists, probably renting an apartment or a room in front of the beach volleyball nets. Maybe they had gone home. Or perhaps they had just decided to stay in because of the foggy weather. 

I had a full glimpse of the beach-cleaning process, possibly because I was five minutes earlier than usual. In reality, only one worker was working, raking seaweed into the mouth of a plow while the other two chatted. The stench was strongly   leaning on the morning air as   I neared the end of the long stretch of sand. I found the culprit on the walkway leading to the boardwalk: another huge plow, already full.

Seagulls and pigeons walked in the vehicle's smooth wake or through rolled up wheel tracks. Sometimes the birds tucked their legs under themselves to make a quick, soft resting place. Most of the seagulls were vigilant as they fixed the sea.

The crunch, crunch of the sand clumpy from the rain was the same in the morning as in the afternoon. Only the people had changed as the day went on. In the morning there were the usuals in the water: those brave souls known as polar bears. In the afternoon a few kids' heads dotted the water as well as a couple of couples.

There is one person who has peeked my curiosity day after day. He does exercises near his chair on the mat in front of his day tent. He must live in an apartment by the beach because I've never seen him there at dusk: just all morning and maybe in the afternoon. It is almost like he has set up a mini throne on a beach that he owns. The other day it seemed like a friend passed by to say hi to him. I wonder what language he speaks. Would it make sense to say hi?

What are the constants and variables in your surroundings?

Photo:   <a href="https://pixabay.com/es/users/maybros-9207674/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3462449">Michael Osmolovsky</a> en <a href="https://pixabay.com/es//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3462449">Pixabay</a>

Text: Kristen Mastromarchi