Saturday, August 15, 2009

My Crazy Local Beach (Eastern Point)

I took the kiddos over to our local beach this afternoon for a few hours. We go there several times a week, varying in time and duration. Sometimes I've taken Toby there for an hour while BJ stays home during Norah's naptime. We like catching hermit crabs and Norah is getting more used to the water, even venturing up to her waist (my knees)--while she's clutching my hands in a death grip, of course.
This is a great little beach. It's eight tenths of a mile from our house. It cost $30 for a season parking pass. (Seniors get one for $10.) People who want to pay for just a day are charged $20 on the weekend or $10 on a weekday. It's never extremely crowded; we've always gotten good parking and a great spot on the beach. I've seen a lot of mothers with their little kids, but haven't gotten the courage to strike up a conversation with any of them. This beach also has its fair share of old, orange, wrinked women who do nothing but sit in their chairs and gossip or sleep all day. I've seen them on several occasions. There are also a lot of grandmas or "aunties" that are similar shades of burnt-orange who sit in chairs by the water and yell at the various kids (grandkids and what have you) they've brought along with them.
Toby always seems to find some kids his age or a little bit older that are looking for hermit crabs or building a great sand castle or hole in the sand. So he occupies himself pretty quickly, and then I busy myself keeping Norah amused.
Today Norah found two small balls near the water and immediately claimed them as hers. (This happens a lot with the smaller kids, of course; every toy they see is theirs for the taking. We always seem to come home with one toy missing and a new toy acquired with each beach visit.) This grandma/auntie lady in the chair closest to said balls sees Norah pick them up and says "Oh, she can have those. I just got them today at the dump!" I turn to see Norah chomping on one of these balls like it's a huge piece of candy. I try to be polite to the lady "Gee, thank you, um, we'll get them back to you..." while trying to pry them from Norah's mouth. This lady continues on, "The Groton dump is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I guess for people having garage sales. You just go grab whatever you want. I got myself a nice lawn furniture set, you know, we're always having company..." At this point I had to just smile and walk away because Norah was heading down the shore in the opposite direction. I just couldn't get it out of my head that this lady had said she got these toys at the dump! And that Norah was putting them in her mouth!
These are the types of people that I see at our local beach. They just leave me laughing and wondering: would my mom end up like one of the grandmas if she lived out here? Would I want to end up like one of these little old orange ladies? (They are this burnt-orange color from sitting outside all day every day; it's kind of creepy looking.)

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