I Have Stories

The vibe may change, but the feeling of serenity never does ( Despite a few bumps in the road)

Part One detailed life near the beach as a child and young teen. The vibe changed as I started to drive and was able to get to the beach anytime I wanted to.

I was the oldest and learned how to drive first. We practiced with licensed drivers (usually frightened parents) and also used simulators like this:

As for me, I struggled a bit in the confidence area.

I failed my first driver’s license field test due to extreme nervousness. The State Trooper was very serious and looked like he would rather be any other place in the world.

He didn’t speak – other than to say, “Begin now”.

I was so nervous that as I pulled out of the parking space to begin the test, I read the curbside sign wrong. It said: ” Right Turn Only”, and for some reason I thought it said : “No Right Turn”. So…..I turned left and was done before I started and cried all the way home.

I have to add that I did not apply for my license until I was 17. Our High School thought it was a good idea to show 9th graders a non-fiction film about car accidents as part of their so-called safety trainings. I was absolutely horrified by real accident scenes with burned and disfigured corpses. Some girls left vomiting and of course the macho boys laughed through the goriest parts. No parental slips were signed in those days. I never talked about it to my parents. But I did warn friends and family that followed me to stay home sick on the day the movie was scheduled.

I did manage to get my license on the second try and my first trips, (besides the grocery, or as we called it: “food shopping” ), were to the beach, of course.

It was fun to park at the 5 mile long seawall and watch the waves hit the rocks below during high tide. When it wasn’t the middle of summer- we ate pizza in the car. And we also tried cigarettes in the early days. I say tried because we did not have much experience and started with the cheapest and of course, strongest, tasting brands we could buy. If your parents did not smoke- you emulated the people in your life that did. There were a lot of Winstons, Pall Malls, and Bel-Airs in those days. We did get better at it, though….

During the summer- we hit the beach and laid on a simple towel. Nothing like today’s awning chairs and umbrellas. We laid out in the sun using Johnson’s baby oil. The goal being the best tan in the least amount of time. I worked as a Nurse’s Aide during my later teen years and had to make the most of sunny summer days whenever I could.

Our bathing suit choices reflected the over-protective Italian mother look.

This would all change once I went on to Nursing School…

But the freedom and carefree days of lying on the beach and listening to your portable radio were always fun. We listened to local (Boston ) AM radio- since FM was not yet a thing.

There were hits repeated over and over and over again as we laid there for hours. I can still remember every word- even if I did not really like the song.

The songs were all over the place.There was “Kung Foo Fighting”, “Tin Man”, and ” I Shot the Sheriff”. Not great dance songs.

When I think of some of them.. it is no wonder there was a conversion to come called Disco.

Time flew and the tide would come in or out before we left. When the tide went out.. it got very hot, very fast and it was a long way out on bumpy sand humps to cool off in the waves. But it was fun, especially the shallow, rock -free cool water.

As you know, there are not-so great parts of everything in life. The beach was no exception. The worst was getting in the hot car to leave. Rubber flip flop blow-outs happened daily, (before precise machine measurement). There were desperate attempts to keep them on to avoid “fried foot”. The wet towel slide on the “hot top” (asphalt) was the survival solution. Driving home barefoot was the norm and it was so peaceful and relaxing.

Then we discovered these gems. Truly life-changing.

We wore them everywhere/anywhere/anytime and they were basically a wooden shoe. The beach would be covered with them.. but somehow- you always ended up with your own pair.

They looked great with the wide leg “dungarees” (You might call them jeans). We wore them until 1st snowfall.

The beach still held it’s charm in the early fall… but you always could feel the time of bright sun getting shorter every day.

We kept driving to the beach in the winter to eat food in our cars and meet up at the seawall to listen to the waves. In the winter, we could feel the rumble as the waves hit the seawall.

During Nor’easters – we would try to get to the beach to watch the waves come over the wall and onto the road. It was powerful and I guess we were too young to care about car damage caused by the waves bringing ice and rocks with them. It was an adventure dodging them and riding through until the police shut down the roads. Somehow, we never got any damage -other than salt-water rust. All cars rusted out in those days, so it was no big deal.

Our parents brought us to watch storms, and later when we had our daughters, we brought them. They loved it and now try to bring their young ones. But these days the police block off the roads sooner and we are a much softer, weather-man panicked generation. Too bad.

One thing is still true, though. If it is hot and it begins to rain- there is no better place to be than the beach. The cold rain is easily ignored when you jump into the ocean and just listen to the beautiful sound. … (just not during a thunder storm).

I now live about 15 minutes from the beach and that 1st glimpse of the blue Atlantic water always gives me that calm and relaxed feeling, anytime of the year. If you love the beach you will understand. And if you don’t, that’s ok. God gave us mountains and lakes for your enjoyment, too.