I know. I live in Abilene, more than 400 miles from the nearest coast. I haven’t actually been to a beach since last February and I won’t be near one until September. Given a choice between mountains and beach, or cool weather and warm, I’m usually a mountains, cool-weather person. (Why else would I have chosen to go spend a year in England?) I haven’t had a tan since 2005.
Recently, however, for some reason, I’ve been daydreaming about beaches of all kinds – rocky, pebbly, sandy; cool and grey and windy; soft and golden and warm under your feet. I’ve bought new linen trousers, painted my toenails bright purple and started wearing my Hawaiian necklaces – pink shell and silver hibiscus – again. And I’ve finally started on a massive scrapbook from the month I spent in Hawaii in ’05. I ordered three fat envelopes of photos from Shutterfly and have spent hours flipping through them, arranging them on patterned paper, scribbling captions underneath. I’ve closed my eyes and remembered the scent of plumeria flowers in the night, the feel of soft, salty trade winds on my face, the grit of sand left in the bathtub and the acidic bite of fresh pineapple in my mouth. And I’ve found myself longing for a beach again.
Maybe it’s to do with the soft, humid weather we’ve had in Abilene, accompanied by a few dazzling spring storms, which puts a few waves in even my pencil-straight hair. Maybe it was reading Honolulu, Alan Brennert’s stunning novel about four Korean women who emigrate to Hawaii in 1915 or so. Maybe it’s the evening hours spent on my front porch, listening to the wind in the trees and watching the evening light change from blue to gray to gold.
Whatever the reason, I’m feeling beachy. Anyone want to go chase some palm trees with me?
(Makapu’u Beach, where we played in the waves for hours)
cakes, tea and dreams 
You can come stay with me anytime… walk to the beach and lay in the hammock to your heart’s content.
This is lovely. The pictures are amazing. I would go to Hawaii with you! My favorite part of this post is ‘I haven’t had a tan since 2005’. Very funny.
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