early november at the beach

We had a gloriously warm day in early November.  And it happened to coincide with a teacher development day and the kids were out of school, so we headed to the beach with the Timothy’s.  We stayed all day long, played with the tide as it went all the way out, the beach stretching longer and longer before us.  We watched snails, caught crabs, searched for sand dollars.

I love the winter beach.  I love it even more than the summer beach.  It just feels like a gift to be out in the open, with all that fresh air and beauty wrapping us up in the cold.  I feel loosed from my winter cave and my eyes are soothed as they're flooded with the stark loveliness of winter.  

As the tide went down and the big kids were digging for crabs and clams in the rocks Emmeline and I discovered lots of little snails making their trails through the open sand.  Aren’t the beautiful all in a row?  We watched them move so slowly across the wet earth.  Steady and slow.  It made me long to move slow.  Eva even took the kids so I could go on a solitary walk (with quiet little Peter on my back) and think and let the beauty of it all sink into my bones.
   

I think spontaneous trips to the beach with my kids on eerily warm winter days will be a part of this stage of my life that I’ll miss most.  It’s magic.