As I near the end of this long stretch of glistening Southern California beach, my legs are getting heavy and tired. Plopping down on the warm sand, I dig my toes in and take in the scene before me. Between the breakers and shoreline, a group of brave, eager beginners maneuvers a pod of primary-colored kayaks toward the cresting waves. Two impossibly young, fit instructors bring up the rear. One of them slashes swiftly through the water toward a student struggling to get the hang of heading his red vessel straight into the swells. Instead, he gingerly sidles his boat up parallel to the waves, unwittingly setting himself up to be broadsided and capsized by the next big one. His boat tilts and tips. My mouth turns dry, and I look away. Suddenly, I’m five years old again, my skinny frame slamming and scraping against the ocean floor as I’m tossed and tumbled like a sweatshirt trapped in a spinning dryer. Memories of that experience have kept me out of the ocean for too many years—only gingerly wading up to my knees.
Into the Waves
Into the Waves
Into the Waves
As I near the end of this long stretch of glistening Southern California beach, my legs are getting heavy and tired. Plopping down on the warm sand, I dig my toes in and take in the scene before me. Between the breakers and shoreline, a group of brave, eager beginners maneuvers a pod of primary-colored kayaks toward the cresting waves. Two impossibly young, fit instructors bring up the rear. One of them slashes swiftly through the water toward a student struggling to get the hang of heading his red vessel straight into the swells. Instead, he gingerly sidles his boat up parallel to the waves, unwittingly setting himself up to be broadsided and capsized by the next big one. His boat tilts and tips. My mouth turns dry, and I look away. Suddenly, I’m five years old again, my skinny frame slamming and scraping against the ocean floor as I’m tossed and tumbled like a sweatshirt trapped in a spinning dryer. Memories of that experience have kept me out of the ocean for too many years—only gingerly wading up to my knees.