We went to the beach this morning, only a 5 minute drive for us. The front end loaders were out, moving the sand from the shore line up to the dunes to fortify them. Quite a few people were out in their swimsuits enjoying the beautiful day soaking up the sun ands staying clear of the water. The surf is kicking and the rip is very apparent. No surfers were in the water at all, which kind of surprised me. Very few houses were boarded up or even had their shutters closed.
One idiot, in my opinion was in the surf, about a little below his knees, holding a young child. You have to understand that the warnings are everywhere that the surf itself is dangerous and that caution is to be used and they stress that you should really stay out of the surf. My son's father took him out on the jetty one day when the wind was kicking up, not too serious, but enough for a big ole wave to come along and send them flying. Thank God he held on to him. He brought him home to me almost right away, my son's back was covered with cuts and bruises, as were his arms, he was about 3-4 at the time and was still crying from the pain. My ex's arms were ripped to shreds. This had been a fairly freak event. The man in the surf today was a freak event, he was just a freakin' idiot.
I'm one of those people who can't stand to be far from the ocean. I think I have salt water in my veins. I crave seeing the ocean and smelling the salt air. But, I respect it, it's a force to be reckoned with and it doesn't discriminate.
On the way back over to the mainland there was a Coast Guard helicopter flying low over the bay, on the mainland side of the bridge were rescue units and patrol cars and a Marine PD rescue boat. I guess I'll fnd out what it was all about when I get to work tonight.
I took some pictures, the ocean was absolutely beautiful today, I'll try and get them developed and scanned this afternoon.
Posted by Mickey at September 17, 2003 1:53 PM