A Day at the Beach

 

Jesse walks into the water.  I watch him go and take note of the spot he chooses to slip beneath the surface.  Ever the Mom, and even though he is 13 and has played in these waters many times over the years, I look up often to search for his bright yellow swim trunks, reassuring myself that he is safe.

 

The water is calm today and the breeze just enough to temper the Florida sun.  I am lulled into believing that we might not get sunburns this time – almost.

 

Sand, sea, sky, and sun.  Our days at the beach bring magick to the mundane and allow us to deliver even the simplest things into the Goddess’ vast hands for safekeeping.

 

We prepare for the beach as we prepare for ritual.  We check the weather – rain and cold won’t spoil the trip, but will change our list of things to bring.  Today it is downright gorgeous – an auspicious beach day – and we choose simply:  a blanket, two folding chairs, water, sunscreen, towels, and a notebook and pen for me.  To anyone else it might appear that we are just two more locals on the beach.  They don’t recognize our blanket as altar, our acknowledgment of the sand between our toes when the shoes come off, and our nod to the Sun as we spread the SPF 70 on our faces, shoulders and backs.  They can’t see our appreciation as this perfect breeze instantly clears our heads of a week’s worry and confusion, or our gratitude when we wade into the salty gulf as if returning to the womb.

 

I look up from my journal and see my son’s feet – just his feet – above the water’s surface.  That brings an honest smile.  I love the child he has been and the man that he is becoming.  I measure his growth from one year to the next on how high his feet rise above the water as he somersaults in the waves.  He’ll soon brave deeper waters, and I may need to find a new measuring stick.  But not today.

 

Today is a calm day.  Not too hot, not too cool.  Not too windy and not too still.  Not too noisy and not too hushed.  It is a day of connections and few inhibitions as we reach for a little unconditional, universal love.  It is the beauty of Tiphareth on the Tree of Life.  I touch everything from here and I am touched in return.  It is the heart chakra, open to healing and offering to heal.  It is the Buddha accepting all and the Christ absorbing it.  It is Kwan Yin being perfectly still.  It is the sixes of the Minor Arcana of the Tarot – glorious, serene, transparent and restful.  And it is the Lovers of the Tarot’s Major Arcana – a marriage of opposites, and a blending of the elements to perfection.  Once again, I am reminded that there is nothing truly mundane about this life at all.  If I am bored or restless, it is because I have chosen to forget that Spirit is in all things.  Today I choose to remember with all of my heart.

 

I look up as Jesse calls me, asking me to come into the water just for a while.  “Soon,” I respond. 

 

Days like this, nothing much spectacular happens, and that is all right with me.  This is a still day, a pivotal day, a day to honor All That Is, without asking or needing to ask for more than this moment … this day at the beach.