Beach Thoughts

Living in California has given me a new appreciation for the outdoors,  the awesomeness of God, and the smallness of man. On Memorial Day we took an impromptu drive to Zuma Beach. Initially, it seemed as if the weather was not cooperating with us as it was overcast and chilly. Because of this, we left later than we anticipated.

Source

I live in the San Fernando Valley, so to get to the beach you have to drive through the mountains. They are a couple of roads that take you to the beach, but because I have a slight fear of heights I take the road that I feel most comfortable on - i.e. it has more than one lane and there are guard rails. Prior to moving to California, I don't think I ever drove on mountainous roads; I was a city girl and when I lived in the Bahamas the beach was a stone's throw away. I recently visited the Bahamas and I remember my father making a big deal about driving us to the highest point of Nassau. Well, it wasn't as high as I remembered and nothing compared to the hills and valleys in California.

As I drove on Kanan Road and saw the beautiful mountains all around me, my only thought was, "How can one not believe in God? There is no way man made all of this." I thought this as my legs quivered as I traversed the heights. Of course, if you go up you must go down, pressing my foot was gingerly on the brakes as we wound our way down toward the beach.

Of course, it being a holiday parking was initially an issue - but then I said a quick prayer and a parking spot opened up. Actually, two cars were leaving at the same time, which is rare.

As we got out of the car, we realized that we had indeed hit the jackpot. The wind was warm, the sun was out and the waves were beautiful. We situated our blankets and chairs and then I went walking along the shore - one of my favorite things to do at the beach. I saw families just sitting and enjoying each other; I saw children playing in the sand with so much glee; I saw a lady sitting by herself in a very contemplative mode playing with sand while tears ran down her face; I saw couples holding hands and making out. I saw groups of people working out and lone joggers jogging. I like squishing my feet into the seaweed and I wondered what the rocks that protruded out of the sea were covered with. I wondered about the people that lived on the beachfront, "Were they appreciative of nature right at their front door?" Further out, I saw surfers riding the waves. I walked to the end of the beach where there were wall and folks were rock climbing and then I turned around and made the long walk back.

Point Dume at Zuma Beach

The beach was so welcoming I didn't want to leave. I sat and listened to the waves and meditated on the goodness of God while wrestling with certain frustrations in my life right now. But the sound of the waves mellowed my frustration. I reluctantly left the beach after four hours, but if I could duplicate this day I would do it again.

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. Psalm 24:1 [NLT]

The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it. Psalm 89:11 [NLT]

This is what God the LORD says-- the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: Isaiah 42:5 [NLT]

Do you go to the beach? Do you enjoy the beach?

Capturing Memories

Capturing memories - that's some of what I do here on this blog. This year, we didn't have an official family reunion but my long winding vacation served as one. 

On July 16 I left Los Angeles, and headed to NY. My husband was leaving Jamaica and meeting me in NY. Funnily enough we both missed our connecting flights to NY and got in later than we anticipated. I spent the first four days of my vacation on Long Island where I had lived before relocating. I was able to spend a good bit of time reconnecting and reminiscing with girlfriends.

Our old house

Partying with a good friend

The following week we spent in Brooklyn. Brooklyn has changed and is now the place to be. Can you say gentrification? I took the subway, walked, even jogged in Prospect Park a couple of times. We took in Motown on Broadway and it was worth every penny we spent. When I heard my husband whooping after the first song, I knew we had made the right choice. It's a good show from beginning to end. We walked around Times Square before taking the subway back to Brooklyn. In addition we really got to reconnect with family and friends. I got to see how my parents were doing, and catch up on all the family happenings. On the weekend of 7/26 in particular, it seems like everyone was there, though it was not planned.

Grand Army Plaza

Playbill from Motown

Sightseeing with my sister on the Circle Line

The following week we drove to Toronto for a cousin's wedding taking place on August 1st. This was yet another good time with family. The dress code was black tie and the women were asked to indulge the bride by wearing fascinators. Boy, did the women oblige - it was nice to see everyone elegantly attired. On Saturday, we went to Caribana. I've heard of this festival for years and wanted to see how Toronto puts on a party - they did a good job though I might be getting a bit old for it. On Sunday, my Bajan cousins had a picnic and we spent part of the day with them. Then in the afternoon we spent the remainder of the day with my husband's Jamaican family and friends. 

On this trip I used AirBnB for the first time and my experience was overwhelmingly positive. Our host Liz shared her home with us and made us feel like family. Not every BnB experience is this way, but Liz is used to opening her home and letting others in. In addition she lives in a beautiful neighborhood, so on Monday we jogged together and explored. Before leaving Toronto, we drove to Niagara Falls. We didn't do a tour but we saw the Falls and all of the tourist traps.

Me and the girls from Ghana at Caribana

Once we left Toronto, we stopped in NY for a day and then we were off to Maryland to spend a couple of days with my brother. While I love the inside of his house, my favorite part is the outside which I have dubbed "The Meadow", it's that big. I generally don't like dogs, but he has a dog named Lyric which liked me and I, her. I even let her jump on me. In the evenings I played with my niece and nephew. While here, I caught up with my best friend from college - good times.

my new best friend

bff from college

One last hurrah on the last leg of the vacation.

We left Maryland early Saturday morning and came back to Brooklyn. We took my parents out to a lovely Indian restaurant called Baluchis (it sounds Italian but it's Indian). I'm not a fan of Indian food, but after eating here I am. The portions were the right sized and everything was seasoned perfectly. I think this meal made my parents very happy because we started to talk about things that we had never talked about before - particularly their histories.

Now we had to return the rental - so we drove in to Manhattan for the return and met one of our favorite couples from the Bronx. We caught up while driving, stopped by their house, then went to the Cheesecake Factory in the new Ridge Hill Shopping center. It didn't matter what was ordered as the conversation was great. Finally we made it back to Brooklyn.

Our flight was at 6:00 am August 10th, so we didn't get much sleep. My parents wanted to continue talking and then we prayed.

We made it to the airport in time and arrived safely. I fell asleep around 3:00 pm Sunday afternoon and and finally woke up at 6:00 the next morning.

I had initial misgivings about the length of this vacation, but I'm glad we did it.