A few summers back, my family and I took a trip out to Flagler Beach, Florida, not too far from Daytona. A few days into the vacation, the girls had gone out for a shopping trip, so, because there was a slight drizzle, my Dad and I decided to just chill out and watch some TV until the weather decided to calm down. This was a vacation that will never be forgotten.
My ears perk up as I notice the quieting of the rain against the window. I get up and walk over, pushing the roughly sewn curtain to the right side of the window, gazing out into the world beyond. Though it was still overcast, I ask my Dad, “Can we go down to the beach now since the rain has cleared up?” He holds one finger up, gesturing for me to wait a second, and whips out his smartphone to check the weather radar, nodding his head in approval of the forecast.
“Let’s go,” he says to me. I make sure to pack up all of our favorite beach toys: the paddle ball and paddles, the beach ball, and our boogie boards, the sand from the day before on all of which grating against my hands and skin. With everything loaded, including our towels, umbrella, and drink cooler, we set out for the beach. I breathe in, the salty air suffusing my nose, and I squeeze the warm, rough sand in between my toes. …show more content…
Looking out to the ocean with its overcast sky, I can hear the rolling thunder, picking up on the small rumbles that are followed by a larger one which I can feel move the air around me, far off in the distance and the waves crashing down in front of me. I pick up the soft, wooden paddles and hand one to my Dad, hitting the rubber paddle-ball over to him which made a “thunk” against my paddle. He whacks the ball back to me, forcing me to dive into the sand to volley the ball back over to him, the sand scratching against my skin irritatingly. We set the paddles down in the sand next to our towels under the green umbrella and get ready to go for a swim, applying our sunscreen just in case we get cloud burn. I pick up both of our boogie boards and throw my Dad’s to him as if it were a frisbee, and we both launch ourselves into the warm waters of the Gulf, the water filling my nose and mouth with that familiar salty tinge. A few minutes pass and both of us have caught some relatively tall waves because of the wind coming in from the storm. We sit on top of the water, the waves rolling underneath us, and wait for next good one to come by. I’m looking at my Dad as we talk about who knows what, but then I take a glance behind me towards the shore and notice it’s unusual distance from us. “Dad, we’re pretty far out, aren’t we?” I ask. He replies with, “Nah, we’ll be fine.” A minute or two pass, and I look back again, the shore farther than it was before at a good seventy yards from us and slowly yet noticeably growing smaller as it gets farther and farther from us. I shakily look at my Dad again and say, “Dad, I think we’re too far now.” He nods in agreement, so we attempt to swim back only
My ears perk up as I notice the quieting of the rain against the window. I get up and walk over, pushing the roughly sewn curtain to the right side of the window, gazing out into the world beyond. Though it was still overcast, I ask my Dad, “Can we go down to the beach now since the rain has cleared up?” He holds one finger up, gesturing for me to wait a second, and whips out his smartphone to check the weather radar, nodding his head in approval of the forecast.
“Let’s go,” he says to me. I make sure to pack up all of our favorite beach toys: the paddle ball and paddles, the beach ball, and our boogie boards, the sand from the day before on all of which grating against my hands and skin. With everything loaded, including our towels, umbrella, and drink cooler, we set out for the beach. I breathe in, the salty air suffusing my nose, and I squeeze the warm, rough sand in between my toes. …show more content…
Looking out to the ocean with its overcast sky, I can hear the rolling thunder, picking up on the small rumbles that are followed by a larger one which I can feel move the air around me, far off in the distance and the waves crashing down in front of me. I pick up the soft, wooden paddles and hand one to my Dad, hitting the rubber paddle-ball over to him which made a “thunk” against my paddle. He whacks the ball back to me, forcing me to dive into the sand to volley the ball back over to him, the sand scratching against my skin irritatingly. We set the paddles down in the sand next to our towels under the green umbrella and get ready to go for a swim, applying our sunscreen just in case we get cloud burn. I pick up both of our boogie boards and throw my Dad’s to him as if it were a frisbee, and we both launch ourselves into the warm waters of the Gulf, the water filling my nose and mouth with that familiar salty tinge. A few minutes pass and both of us have caught some relatively tall waves because of the wind coming in from the storm. We sit on top of the water, the waves rolling underneath us, and wait for next good one to come by. I’m looking at my Dad as we talk about who knows what, but then I take a glance behind me towards the shore and notice it’s unusual distance from us. “Dad, we’re pretty far out, aren’t we?” I ask. He replies with, “Nah, we’ll be fine.” A minute or two pass, and I look back again, the shore farther than it was before at a good seventy yards from us and slowly yet noticeably growing smaller as it gets farther and farther from us. I shakily look at my Dad again and say, “Dad, I think we’re too far now.” He nods in agreement, so we attempt to swim back only