A lesson on beaching

My skin looks like the ripe red color our tomatoes never have the chance to live to before they get eaten by squirrels.

I organized a beach day for our Intervarsity group. What else can you do to beat this heat? Sure, it was dangerous, considering the high sun and the exposed skin and the 103 degrees, but it was worth the risk. Right now, however, I wish I had reapplied sun screen to my back, a place I usually can't reach. Every other part got a turn three times, but I guess I lost track of my back.

The water was cold and refreshing, but deathly salty. Second to the Dead Sea I imagine. The waves were incredible. I've never had so much fun bobbing up and down as I had today. You can hardly call it bobbing since the current was so strong... It was more like a free falling experience once you were lifted to the top of the wave, and were on the way down.

Getting out of the water was a bit tricky, because you had to wait for a little calm, then swim & run with the wave to the shore, hopping and kicking your knees high like you used to in gym class. Getting INTO the water was deadly. The waves never seemed to want to settle enough to let you in, almost like it just wanted to spit people out and keep them out. For example, I jogged/ran into the water, hoping to make it past the crest of the oncoming wave. Fail. It plummeted me to the pebbly-shelly sand, dragged me upshore while filling the bottom half of my bathing suit with all of the above-mentioned pebbles, shells and sand. I struggled to get up, wary of who might have seen such an embarrassing crash, and simultaneously checking to see if A) my suit was still on, and B) if the pile of garbage in my seat was visible to anyone. Sure enough, just as I was regaining my balance, another wave knocked me down, and sucked me out to sea. I was finally safe in the water, and could address the pebble-shell problem.

I'd love to go back to the beach this summer. Endless waves = endless fun until your meter ended.