The Worst Place on Earth

Once again the temperature today has made all outdoor activity unbearable. I went to the grocery store this morning and thought seriously about setting up a lawn chair in the freezer section and waiting out the summer there. Its cool, clean and it has an abundance of ice cream; what more could a person want?

I am so not a summer person. I hate the heat, I get wicked sunburns, even through shade umbrellas and hats and there is no worse place on this planet than the beach. Its sun and sand and bugs. You have to slather yourself with sunblock and then the wind picks up a bit and suddenly you are stuccoed with sand. The water always looks dodgy, the bathrooms are primitive and there are far too many people wearing far too little fabric for my liking. There is not one thing I like about the beach, nope not one!

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Well, okay ... there's one thing I like about the beach. I like that my kids are fearless water babies. I like that they can play and swim and use their imaginations for hours. I like that they all turn honey brown, from head to toe, after a day at the beach. I also love the fantastic pictures I take of them every summer as they ride the waves and hunt the sharks of their imaginations.

Here are a few of my favourite pictures of my beaching wee ones from over the years.

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. ~Russel Baker