SnapPeaPod of Flourish

[ismo]

It was another beautiful day, and this time we did managed to pull ourselves together and drive out to the Lake. We had backpacks with sandwiches, water, reading materials, towels, sarongs, and sunscreen. And we had hats. We set out into the woods en route to the Coast Guard Trail. Just as we were turning on to the trail, we were hailed by a woman who was also hiking. She kindly wanted to inform us that she'd been on the trail yesterday, and it was underwater at one point. I was perplexed for a minute, and then I realized what she was talking about. Because the water levels are so high, the interdunal ponds and wetlands have expanded greatly, and at the low point of the trail, it was covered with water. We decided to go there anyway and see what happened. We ended up having to bushwhack our way in a wide circle around the wetlands. It was a mini-adventure that ended successfully as we found our way back to the trail and dry land. Then we hiked over the foredune and tried to find a way down to the beach. It's been eroded back to bluffs that are now, I'd say maybe 4-6 feet high? Not easy to get down for these old bones. As a child I'd have jumped down happily, but not now. We did find a doable way down eventually, and parked ourselves on a narrow bit of sand. We swam, ate sandwiches, and basked happily, wrapped up in towels and sarongs to keep from crisping ourselves. Reluctantly, we walked back along the beach, up to our ankles and knees in splashing and surging wavelets. It was a day full of healing sounds and colors, the kind caress of well-loved places.