Both look a bit clumsy, but content.
Embraced by the shallow water a father plays with his baby while somewhere in the distance, equipped with a greasy bottle of sun lotion, a mother runs after two excited toddlers. Men busy themselves playing building house and mounting parasols. Women tap their feet into the refreshing crystal clear water, laughing. Isn't that wonderful?
In what seems to be an ongoing competition for longevity, two well-tanned seniors are strutting up and down the beach in not-so-secret display of the remainders of their youth. Further away a big tattooed men throws himself heroically into the rolling waves, while his (impressed?) girlfriend stands timidly at the shore and watches him. With his wet hair now stuck to his forehead, he is also watching her. Keen on her reaction, her affection, he is waiting for some kind of sign.
In the safety and harmony of the group, shaded by merchandize parasols, others snack away on whatever they brought along for the beach picnic; sweet canned fizzy drinks, sandwiches and popsicles are passed around the blue family-size icebox in solemn silence.
The heat is relentless. The sun loves to shine. Burnt flesh and burning sand surrender. A pair of middle-aged women half-sit, half-lie in colorfully striped foldable chairs alternately reading about history and romance, and staring out onto the sea, observing the finest beach culture...
Under other circumstances this would be deemed phlegmatic, highly passive and inefficient but here at the beach it is not only acceptable, it is kindly required behavior: In the mid-day summer heat our brain frequencies slow down dramatically. There is not much excess energy left to argue or complain - Could you imagine war now? - and a general feeling of contentment lulls everyone and everything that is part of this uneventful, one might even dare to say peaceful, play performed on one of nature's most grandiose stages.
At the beach we are stripped down to our basic humanness: The very nature of interpersonal relationships becomes more apparent; our hard edges become, often literally, softer. Like seals basking in the sun, silent groups of people sit or lie together, gaze out across the sea, letting out occasional sounds of happiness. Gathered in large families, we are strengthening social bonds by grooming, or in order to defend our territorial flights of fancy we find ourselves helplessly drawing invisible demarcation lines.
Cheerful playfulness (or played cheerfulness?), patient observation, subtle and not so subtle acts of domination - As it happens some lucky ones are promenading the beach of life.
Here in the sizzling sunshine - sheltered by the group, the holiness of the family, protected by the larger beach clan - we need not to preoccupy ourselves with the diligently learnt worries and fears from the urban underworld. Couples are walking naked hand in hand along the ocean shore as if this was the better version of Eden. Cuddly dogs take a swim. Our dropped worldly possessions become sacrileges to the sands of time.
Here we can be the beautiful naked human beings that we are. With our lovable flaws and sagging skin, our make-up-less natural selves shine back at the sun that is shining for us.
Physique, beachwear, social circle, and conversations - like well-paid psychic spies people check on one another, without a doubt and nonchalant. Here everything is laid out in the open: The beach as a mating ground, medieval market square, place of worship, open-air spa, gym, countless star hotel… Yet perhaps the underlying and most intriguing question we have for our fellow beach creatures is: How do you spend your time doing nothing?
Except for the skillful maneuvering above or in the water - this graceful and elegant dance with nature for reasons of pure enjoyment - life at the beach remains mostly motionless, with the universe’s elements weighing down on us, we are all simply waiting for time to pass. We may be waiting for our departure, either from this realm or another, or we wait for nothing at all. Any thoughts and ambitions are swept away by the salty sweetness of the sea breeze…
A short philanthropic beach-friendly essay written for the happy. (Unearthed from 2014.)