Down By the Beach!

It was a wild weekend. Maybe the best. Definitely up there in the top 5 road trips of all time.  It had it all. Exhaustion. All night drives. New Orleans. Jazzfest. Friends and family whom I got to catch up with and hug.  But first, we got the beach.  Beach snobs -- of which my husband is a card carrying California- raised member -- may poo-poo the Gulf of Mexico's detritus strewn brown sand beaches and suspiciously warm waters. But man, did we ever have a good time. I think May might be the perfect time for a beach romp in Texas.  The summer is actually too hot for anyone to comfortably lay about on the shore and the Gulf Stream's too tepid to be refreshing. But in May, when the temperatures hover in the low 90's, it's as close as you get to perfect.

And having a kid at the beach -- not a toddler but a full on running, skipping, jumping, sandcastle-making, seashell-hunting, wave-jumping partner in shoreline enjoyment -- it's just the best thing ever.  I can't believe how cool it is to experience everything with Lisel these days. I keep being blown away by how idyllic this whole trip is; how pure her enjoyment of these moments can be. Watching her skip across the sand blows my whole cynical adult malaise to shreds.  And I realize how lucky I am to experience the world this way; to be aware of the wonder. Because when you're a kid, the wonder just is. But starting in your teen years you start to replace the wonder with boredom and irony and anger and whatever helps you deal with the crushing complexity of the world.

But with Lisel I get to be where ever we are, now.

It's just the best.